SAFE PASSAGE: A Newsletter for the Humanitarian Mine Action and Small Arms/Light Weapons Communities, May 2009
In This Issue:
“We Love Life”  James Madison University’s Mine Action Information Center (MAIC) has collaborated with Jordan’s Life Line for Consultancy and Rehabilitation (LLCR) and the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR) to produce a play and creative arts program called “We Love Life.” The play, written by well-known Jordanian playwright Ghannam Ghannam, offers a comprehensive mine-risk education (MRE) experience that meets international and Jordanian standards. The play was performed in February and March for large, appreciative audiences in northwestern Jordan. A special performance in Amman was held on April 4, International Mine Awareness Day. Full TextQRF Deploys to Bulgaria  In November 2008, shortly after the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) in the U.S. Department of State awarded a contract to DynCorp International for the formation of a humanitarian Quick Reaction Force (QRF), the first QRF Assessment Team deployed to Bulgaria. The QRF was assembled to respond globally to urgent and emergent humanitarian operations that require the removal or mitigation of explosive hazards to protect civilian populations. Full TextCALM Helps Child Landmine Survivors in Ethiopia The Coalition Against Landmines (CALM) held its second fundraising event to support child landmine survivors in Ethiopia on February 6 in Washington, D.C. Colonel Yori Escalante, Deputy Director of PM/WRA, and Lora Lumpe of the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs, made presentations. CALM is a U.S.-based nonprofit founded in December 2006, providing the necessary funding for survivor children’s rehabilitation, education and transport. Full Text Sri Lankan Schoolchildren Celebrate the Mine Clearance of School Roads  The Danish Demining Group (DDG) completed clearance of three of the four access roads across the four-kilometer long Selvanagar mine belt, situated just north of Toppur village in the eastern district of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. The clearance was supported by the Danish International Development Agency, the Government of Japan, and PM/WRA. DDG, part of the Danish Refugee Council, has been performing mine and unexploded ordnance clearance in Sri Lanka since 2003. Full TextThe Mine Detection Dog Center for South East Europe Marks 5th Anniversary  In October 2008, the Mine Detection Dog Center for South East Europe (MDDC), located in Bosnia-Herzegovina, marked the 5th anniversary of its official opening on October 14, 2003. Created and funded by PM/WRA, with the support of the Bosnian Government, the MDDC has become recognized as the leading mine-detecting dog center in the region and beyond. The MDDC has trained over 150 dogs with the goal of improving the lives of the people of southeast Europe and supporting the detection and clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. Full Text WRA Educational Outreach Continues
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| “We Love Life” by Anne Stewart, Lennis Echterling, Hasan Hamdan, Dennis Barlow and Suzanne Fiederlein, JMU/MAIC
“We Love Life” is aimed at adolescents aged 11 to 15. The Jordanian cast and crew includes individuals who are survivors of landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) accidents. The actors participate with the audience in songs and dances, answer questions, and share their own stories at the conclusion of the performance. The script emphasizes the resilience of survivors who have gone on to thrive. At the conclusion of each performance, audience members receive materials from NCDR with important MRE messages. Another component of the project includes art activities in a number of communities in the high-risk, northern area of Jordan. For example, in the community of Sima Al Sarhan, Jordanian artist Abdel Aziz Abu Ghazaleh is working with local schoolchildren to create a sculpture in a well-traveled public site. The theme of the sculpture is “Be Safe,” and it will include mural artwork by the schoolchildren. Documentarians will record performances of the play and the creation of the community art projects to broadcast later in other venues, including Jordanian television stations.
“We Love Life” is supported by a grant from PM/WRA. It is regarded as one component of a multifaceted and integrated mine- and ERW-risk education program coordinated by the Jordanian Government’s National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation. The project also heralds the debut of Jordanian NGO LLCR, directed by landmine survivor Kamel Al-Saadi. The JMU/MAIC’s project team consists of Drs. Anne Stewart and Lennis Echterling of the JMU Department of Psychology, Dr. Hasan Hamdan of the JMU Department of Mathematics and Statistics, MAIC Director Dennis Barlow and MAIC Project Manager Dr. Suzanne Fiederlein. For more information about the MAIC, see: http://maic.jmu.edu. | |||
QRF Deploys to Bulgaria
A July 3 accident at the Chelopechene ammunition storage facility on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, caused extensive damage when several large detonations occurred in the munitions storage area. The first QRF Assessment Team deployed on November 22 in response to the Bulgarian Government’s request for technical assistance with the clearance and disposal of unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the Chelopechene blast site.
This new QRF reflects the continued U.S. commitment to post-conflict or post-catastrophe explosive munitions clearance and destruction programs. As population pressures in the developing world encroach on previously isolated ammunition storage facilities, and as munitions age and experience adverse environmental conditions, the U.S. Government is prepared to help governments react quickly if devastating explosions occur. The QRF will work in concert with foreign governments and U.S. embassies around the world. | |||
CALM Helps Child Landmine Survivors in Ethiopia The Coalition Against Landmines(CALM)held its second fundraising event to support child landmine survivors in Ethiopia on February 6 in Washington, D.C. Colonel Yori Escalante, Deputy Director of PM/WRA, and Lora Lumpe of the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs, made presentations. CALM is a U.S.-based nonprofit founded in December 2006, providing the necessary funding for survivor children’s rehabilitation, education and transport. The organization launched its first project (Project TG) in Ethiopia in June 2008. Project TG is a collaboration between CALM and Mekelle Ortho-Physiotherapy Center (MOPC), located in the city of Mekelle, capital city of the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. MOPC produces affordable orthopedic appliances and provides physical therapy and psychosocial support for mine victims in the region. In addition to providing rehabilitation services to the children, MOPC tracks their education, health and other concerns, and then reports the findings to CALM.Funds raised at the event will allow CALM to add two more child landmine accident survivors to its Project TG program, bringing the total to four children within the Tigray region of Ethiopia under its care. However, due to a shortage of funding, there are more than 20 other landmine survivors under the age of 12 on the waiting list in the small region of Mekelle alone. For more information about CALM and Project TG, visit www.calmint.org. | |||
| Sri Lankan Schoolchildren Celebrate the Mine Clearance of School Roads by Steen Wetlesen, Program Manager, DDG–Sri Lanka
The Selvanagar mine belt had been preventing resettlement of the long-empty villages to the north. When access roads reopened, nearly 800 families returned to their homes, with more arriving daily. With support from USAID, temporary houses are being constructed in the area for the many internally displaced persons still living in camps. Areas cleared by DDG could later become part of a permanent housing community. | |||
| The Mine Detection Dog Center for South East Europe Marks 5th Anniversary by Nermin Hadzimujagic, Director, MDDC
The MDDC has trained over 150 dogs with the goal of improving the lives of the people of southeast Europe and supporting the detection and clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. These working dogs are used by mine-clearance organizations and police departments. Besides training mine-detecting dogs and handlers, MDDC’s teams have continuously supported demining efforts throughout the region, including in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia. In its five accident-free years of business, MDDC has expanded its efforts to provide dogs and handlers to countries outside of the region. For instance, mine detection dogs trained at MDDC are contributing to the removal of mines in countries such as Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Lebanon. We look forward to the MDDC’s continued success. Visit its Web site at http://www.mddc.ba/eng/home.html. | |||
WRA Educational Outreach Continues
Col. Escalante also participated in the capstone event of the conference, reviewing policy proposals from small student groups. The policy proposals addressed the theme of the conference, and ranged from engagement with Iran to stemming the drug-cartel violence in Mexico. | |||
U.S. Department of State Mine Action Partners Adopt-A-Minefield | Association of Volunteers in International Service | AustCare | C King Associates Ltd | Center for International Rehabilitation | Center for Teaching International Relations | Children of Armenia Fund | Children’s Surgical Centre | CIREC | Clear Path International | Coalition Against Landmines | Cranfield University | DanChurchAid | Danish Demining Group | DC Comics | Demining Agency for Afghanistan | Freedom Fields USA | Global Care Unlimited | Golden West Humanitarian Foundation | Grapes for Humanity | The HALO Trust | Handicap International–France | Health Volunteers Overseas | Help Handicapped International | Humpty Dumpty Institute | Information Management and Mine Action Programs Inc. | International Eurasia Press Fund | Iraqi Mine and UXO Clearance Organization | The Julia Burke Foundation | Kids First Vietnam | Landmines Blow! | Lipscomb University | MAG | Marshall Legacy Institute | MCPA–Afghanistan | MDC–Afghanistan | Medical Care Development International | Messiah College Landmine Action Project | Mine Action Information Center | One Sri Lanka Foundation | Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghanistan Rehabilitation | PeaceTrees Vietnam | People to People International | The Polus Center for Social & Economic Development | Positive Play | Prestige Heath Care Technologies | Prosthetics Outreach Foundation | Roots of Peace | Dr. Ken Rutherford/Missouri State University | Save the Children | Schonstedt Instrument Company | South Florida Landmine Awareness Group | Spirit of Soccer | Students Partnership Worldwide | Survey Action Center | Survivor Corps | Swiss Foundation for Mine Action | United for Colombia | United Nations Foundation | Veterans for America | Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | World Education | World Rehabilitation Fund | |||
| More Information For more information on mine action initiatives, please contact:
[Also see previous editions.] |
PM/WRA Deputy Director, Colonel Yori Escalante, addressed close to 200 students gathered at Texas A&M University’s 54th annual Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA) on February 27. The conference, held February 26–28, focused on “U.S. Intervention in Problematic Areas Around the World.” Col. Escalante’s talk about the U.S. Government’s humanitarian mine action and conventional weapons destruction programs meshed well with SCONA’s purpose of fostering awareness, discussion, and involvement among student leaders across the nation on issues of national and international significance that will affect the United States and future generations. 
U.S. Department of State