Dr Beat and Aki Ra: Giving hope

Last Saturday night together with Jenny we attended a cello concert at a local children's hospital. The cellist as Beat Richner, or to give him his full title, Dr Beat, who runs the hospital. The performance was extraordinary for many reasons.

Firstly, he plays very well and has a limited repertoire of mournful, solemn Bach but music perfectly suited to the occasion. He engages his audience, who have paid nothing for the concert, in a 90 minute explanation as to why he is in Siem Reap and why he plays the cello. So its music and talk, plus a film documentary. Not the usual diet for those used to the hallowed music halls of London or elsewhere.

Secondly, his purpose is to outline the problem facing children in Cambodia. They are poor and there are no normal places to help them unless they have money: which they do not. He has been in Siem Reap since 1992 and has helped, he says more than 6 million children but only less than 10% of his money comes form the state. The rest is the result of donations at such concerts and elsewhere. His work is phenomenal and he also trains Cambodians to be doctors, nurses and so on. The film shows his meeting with the Swiss President in 2005/6 and she seems to be unable to comprehend the depth of the problem he is dealing with but the scenes of apparent chaos at the hospital tells rather more. Its not chaos just that there are so many people, perhaps 1000 per day, that the masses of sick young humanity is hard to take.

Throughout the 'concert' he repeatedly says he is not being political but of course he is and he strives to make the point that western attitudes are killing children. Apparently people are being told that Cambodians do not need the best drugs, treatment and so on because once helped they will catch it again, so why waste money. They cannot understand western medical technology so we should only give them simple things. Well, he says that is nonsense. He has the death rate of 0.5%, that no one treated for TB ever gets it again and the hospital has the best ration of success to cost in the world. Who are we to doubt him? What, again, was hard to stomach were the appearances of the King son of the ex King Norodom Sihanouk as well as the leading politicians in the film most if not all of whom are responsible for the terrible state of the medical provision that exists but who turn up to be present when the cameras are about. Then slink back to their air-conditioned palaces and private health care in Japan/China/Korea/Europe/USA.

The land mine museum is a small place and run by a remarkable Khmer called Aki Ra. He says he is about 40 but does not know for certain. His name is Japanese but all of his life he has lived with other names he does not like. An ex Khmer Rouge child soldier he laid land mines and admits to carrying out various atrocities until he fled to the government side. Now he works with the victims of land mine accidents as well as training others to clear mines from many parts of Cambodia.

The statistics of mines dropped and paced in Cambodia is mind boggling but the effects on individuals is not. Today in town, we 'met' some of them working as book sellers on the streets with books and DVD's for sale. How does one say no all of the time but if you have the books (well some of them) one ends up buying out of pity. At the museum Aki Ra helps educate children who have been victims and gives them a start in life. He is on the CNN list to be the Man of the Year but he has been that man to many people for several years already.