Mine Risk Education

I think I have mentioned on here before the issue of mines and explosives in this country. The years of different conflicts have left the land littered with unexploded bombs and mines. The latest conflict has seen a truly evil use of explosives hidden in children's toys, abandoned house, religious books etc; as well as the usual remnants of weapons that have failed to detonate. All of this puts populations at huge risk. I can't tell you how many stories we hear of children picking things up that then explode, or families returning to homes they have fled to find them booby trapped.

Part of my organisations work is highly specialised mine action work. This includes mine clearance, but in this post I want to tell you about Mine Risk Education (MRE). If you were returning home after fleeing during a conflict would you be able to spot potential dangers? Would your kiddies know how to stay safe? And how would you train them without scaring them?

This is where the incredible work of MRE comes in to play. We have teams that go in to pre-schools, schools, community centres, any where they can find groups of children or adults gathered regularly and teaches them about how to spot potential mines, how to report the sighting to the right agency, how to mark it so others are aware, and how to deal with an emergency. They do all this in fun, interactive ways that keep people's attention and helps them remember what they have learned.

Recently I went and watched an MRE session in a primary school and was astounded by the way the team made such important but difficult lessons accessible to kids. It reminded me of watching earthquake safety lessons in Haiti - children really are knowledge sponges. It's impossible to know what the true impact of this work is, but I really believe that it is a critical part of recovering from conflict.

P.S. Apologies for the awful quality photo - it's hard to get a photo of kids that doesn't show their faces when you're the foreigner in the room!