Client: Apopo

Product: Brand

Media: Experiential / Outdoor / Ambient / Design / Media / Social 

Year: 2026

Role: Regional Chief Creative Officer

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Cambodia remains one of the world's most heavily mined countries, with millions of landmines still buried decades after the conflict ended. While clearance efforts continue, the issue has gradually disappeared from international attention, making it harder for APOPO to keep the crisis visible. In Cambodia, monuments traditionally honour gods, kings and national heroes. That made a monument the most meaningful way to remind both Cambodians and the world that the country's landmine crisis is far from over.

 

We believed one of Cambodia's greatest heroes belonged among them. So we created the world's first monument to a HeroRAT. Built from the same stone as Cambodia's most celebrated monuments and standing on a base of decommissioned landmines, the monument honoured Magawa, one of APOPO's most successful HeroRATs, in the same way Cambodia honours its heroes. Standing 2.2 metres tall, the monument was installed in Siem Reap, Cambodia's cultural heart, and unveiled on International Mine Awareness Day.

 

By celebrating one unlikely hero, we reminded the world of a crisis it had largely forgotten and APOPO's goal of making Cambodia mine-free by 2030. The unveiling brought together government officials, landmine survivors, schoolchildren and the local community, transforming the monument into both a national tribute and a global story. The campaign earned media coverage in 105 countries, reaching more than 2.8 billion people and generating over US$26.1 million in earned media.

 

The monument attracted visitors to the APOPO Visitor Centre, generated additional donations to support demining efforts, and renewed international attention around Cambodia's landmine crisis and APOPO's goal of making the country mine-free by 2030.