Hurry, Mother," said Aam. "We'll be late for the meeting."

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Aam and his mother hurried to school for a program about landmines. Aam and his family live in a village near Kompong Thom, Cambodia. During a war years ago, landmines and other explosives were buried in the fields, and they are still deadly.

At the meeting, they watched puppet shows and comedy acts that taught them about the explosives-what they looked like and where they might be buried. Aam already knew that they were dangerous. His neighbor had lost his legs when he was fishing in the river. The fish trap had landed on a landmine. It blew up when the neighbor pulled up the trap.

Photo: Jim Ketcham/CWS

The next day Aam's father was returning home from the market in Kompong Thom. On the way, he saw a piece of metal. "Ah," he said to himself, "I could make a bell for the ox from that." So he picked it up and headed for home. The minute Aam saw it he knew it was an explosive. "Father, that's dangerous. It can blow up!"

Aam's mother came running. "Get rid of it! Get rid of it!"

"I'll get the teachers," shouted Aam, running down the street. He and his mother knew that the people who had taught them the night before were still in the village. They came quickly and were able to defuse the explosive. Aam's father was a little embarrassed, but he was grateful his son had taken that class. Later Aam's dad got his bell-made from the metal of the explosive he'd found!