Cambodian Self Help Demining (CSHD) is an all Khmer demining organization founded by Khmers, for Khmers.
Aki Ra, founder of CSHD, is an ex-child soldier, who fought in the Cambodian wars of the late 20th century. He fought under the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese army. When the Vietnamese left he joined the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and throughout those years he watched the horror of landmines destroy life after life.
In the early 1990s he got the opportunity to help clean up some the problems those had created. He soon found out he was very good at demining and it became his trade.
He cleared landmines and UXOs for years wherever he found them – he did this alone and cleared them for free.
The mission of CSHD is to clear landmines and UXOs in small, rural villages throughout the Kingdom of Cambodia. CSHD is the parent organization of RSVP (i.e. clear landmines then build schools in cleared villages).