Taking a Stand Against Landmines in My Village: A Locality Deminer's Story
When Ling Phanh was 14 years old her sister was killed when she stepped on a landmine. The accident happened as her sister was herding cattle, just 70 metres from her home. Shortly after that another landmine tragedy claimed her brother's life and she lost her other brother to an act of violence a few years later. "I had lost two brothers and one sister within just five years. My parents could never forget these events happened to our family and they sometimes blame themselves."
With support from the Church World Service, MAG developed a model of working that creates employment opportunities for those most at need in target villages. Locality Demining is a new approach to clearance, which trains local people to enable them to clear their own fields safely and earn a steady daily wage. MAG has implemented clearance activities in Ling Phanh's village in order to return previously dangerous land to the local community.
"Before joining MAG, I worked all day long in the field, including weekends, for a very small amount of money," says Ling. "I could earn enough to buy food for the day, but sometimes it was not adequate to feed the whole family. My family had lots of problems in life for long periods, until the arrival of MAG."
Even though one month of intensive MAG training was given to her before she started work, Ling Phanh still worried when she was initially deployed in the minefield. "When I found the first mine, I sweated all over and thought it must have been the same type that killed my brother and sister." She has since uncovered several more landmines and, combined with her new status as an income earner, she feels far more confident about her work.
After nearly a year of working for MAG, Ling has improved her family life and gained respect from others in the village. With the money she is paid, she feeds her family members and has income to spare. She recently bought zinc roofing to replace the leaking thatch and has bought earth to fill out the compound of the house.
"I would like to extend my thanks to MAG for employing me, I'm so proud of my work as a deminer. Without MAG my family would still have been in the trap of poverty. Now I can support my whole family and I'm also fighting against the deadly items that claimed by brother's and sister's lives. Working with MAG I also have my weekends free to help on my parents' farm. As long as I'm working with MAG, I plan to use my savings to raise chickens and pigs and continue to work in the fields cultivating rice."
Story and photograph by Pao Dara Rassmey, Project Officer
August 2005
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