More than 100 International Baccalaureate students at Thomas Jefferson High School listed to experts on land mine removal, which the group has supported in the past.
Since 2000, TJ’s IB students have raised money for mine removal during the annual Night of 1,000 Dinners, a large potluck for students and their families. The event raises $1,200 to $2,000 each year. The students have also sponsored two student conferences on the topic.
Staff brought in a mine-sniffing dog two years ago for a demonstration.
After the 2002 Rotary conference, TJ sent two students to Los Angeles to receive an award and meet Paul McCartney and his then-wife, Heather Mills, who is an activist for mine removal. When McCartney played a concert in Tacoma, he invited the IB students backstage to meet him.
This year, the event featured speaker Steve Ginther from the Humpty Dumpty Institute, as well as representatives from HALO, the state department, and Mozambique Ambassador Daniel Antonio.
‘Bombs impede education’
Land mines are often left after a conflict, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia — and can stay active for decades. When stepped on or disturbed, they can blow up, killing or maiming those nearby. Vast fields of these mines, which are mostly buried under ground, can cut off a village from direct contact to water, cut down on land available for farming or prevent students from getting to school.
HALO and the Humpty Dumpty Institute go into the countries and train local workers to find the mines and clear fields. Once a mine is located, a small detonator is placed next to the mine. At the end of the day, all the mines are blown up. In some places, they have destroyed up to 100 mines a day.
“Bombs impede education,” Ginther said. “We go to schools and clear the area around the schools.”
Some areas are so littered with bombs that schools will be situated directly next to a mine field, only marked with red sticks in the ground. Other places have bomb casings (bombs that dropped and did not explode, but may still be dangerous) that are so plentiful, they are used in construction. One photo showed casings used as fencing.
One country that has seen the horrors of land mines is Mozambique, which has undergone both a revolutionary war and a civil war since the 1960s. In both cases, land mines were used by both sides, then left behind after the war.
“We’ve had two wars since 1964,” Antonio said. “A revolution against Portugal who occupied us for 500 years. For our freedom we had to fight for 10 years. During that time, both sides placed mines, with no clear map of where mines were left. Then after five years, a civil war broke out.”
The civil war didn’t end until 1992.
The country reached out for international aid, which helped clear the northern area of any known mines. However, the southern section of Mozambique is still littered with mines, and work there is continuing.
“Many places are now made safe,” Antonio said. “541 new areas were identified last year by the government. This fight continues until our country is cleared of all mines.”
