Landmine removal activist to speak tonight in Palm Desert

A former Palm Springs man who runs a group thatfunds the removal of land mines in Cambodia will discuss his work tonight inPalm Desert at UC Riverside.

Bill Morse, who lived in Palm Springs for 20 years before going toCambodia, will speak at 6 p.m. at UCR Palm Desert, 75080 Frank Sinatra Drive.

Morse is also holding a fundraising auction at 6 p.m. Sunday atPeabody’s Cafe, 134 S. Palm Canyon Drive.

Morse and his wife Jill planned to retire in Palm Springs, then Bill meta former Khmer Rouge child soldier who was clearing land mines with a stickand a pair of pliers in Cambodia, according to UCR Palm Desert spokeswomanMaggie Downs.

In 2003, Bill Morse created the Landmine Relief Fund, and he and hiswife moved to Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2009. Jill Morse teaches in a school foryoung land mine victims, according to Downs.

The Landmine Relief Fund provides 80 percent of the funding for theCambodian Self-Help Demining organization, which was founded by Aki Ra, aformer child soldier in the Khmer Rouge. The fund helps build village schools,and pay for teachers and school supplies.

Landmine Relief Fund schools now have more than 500 students, and eachchild receives what Morse calls a village iPad — a 6-by 9-inch piece of woodcovered in layers of blackboard paint, and 100 pieces of chalk, Downs said.

The demining organization has cleared more than 1.4 million squaremeters, including 44 villages, and returned nearly 10,000 displaced people tothe land. An estimated 5 million land mines remain in Cambodia. It costs about$15,000 per month to sustain a 30-member Cambodian demining team, Downs said.

Seats for Morse’s talk are limited. For more information about theLandmine Relief Fund, go to www.landmine-relief-fund.com.