The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Two children, both homeless and living in the streets of Battambang, are given a tour of the Battambang airfield and the opportunity to sit in the pilots' seats of one of the many United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) helicopters using the base. Other UN helicopters can be seen in the background. The little girl in the foreground displays evidence of her standard of living - she has signs of infection on her legs and stomach. In the spirit of UNTAC's humanitarian brief, Australian soldiers of the Force Communications Unit (FCU) based at Battambang set up a school for the street children of Battambang with money raised through their own fund raising projects. Later, these soldiers discovered that many of these children were being taken against their will to Thailand for prostitution. When UNTAC arrived in late 1992, there were at least 200,000 orphans, a rate of infant mortality averaging nine deaths for every 100 pregnancies, a disabled rate of one out of every 238 children (mainly amputees due to landmines), and an average life expectancy of less than 50 years. Many children who have experienced the trauma of Cambodia's recent history have displayed symptoms of extreme dysfunction.
A young homeless boy from the streets of Battambang strains to view a helicopter as he is given a tour of the Battambang airfield and some of the many United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
Sergeant (Sgt) Jodie Clark, Australian Force Communications Unit (FCU) with six homeless children from the town of Battambang, sitting on the forward steps of one of the two Russian-built Mi-26 'Halo'
Sergeant (Sgt) Jodie Clark, Australian Force Communications Unit (FCU) with two homeless street children from the town of Battambang, who sitting on the bonnet of a white UN vehicle used by the United
A group of village children line up for a group portrait in the village of Sangkat Chbar Mon in Takeo Province, visited by photographer Heide Smith and journalist Marje Prior who toured Cambodia in Ja
Sergeant (Sgt) Jodie Clark, a member of the Australian Force Communications Unit (FCU) contingent of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) driving a UN vehicle in the Battamban
An illustration by a 9 year old female student at Kompong Chhnang Provincial Primary School in Kompong Chhnang Province, drawn in response to a Cambodia wide human rights information campaign undertak
