Dalivan
Story and Photograph by Geoff Turner
"I enjoy seeing my team run detectors. When they find an item of UXO and it's destroyed, it's very satisfying to know that a life or limb has been saved."
Dalivan is 28 years old and has worked for MAG since leaving school in 1994. She's currently a team leader in Nong Het, Xieng Khoung province where, thanks for funding from DFID, MAG is clearing UXO from the school grounds and from an area that will eventually be used by the townsfolk as a public park. The grounds of the state governor's office is also a clearance target, within which is the two meeting hall, the education office, the forestry commission and the offices of Laos Red Cross.
When she was younger she saw one of her school friends killed when a BLU (or cluster bomb) they were playing with exploded in their hands. They'd found it hidden under a bush in the schoolyard and thought it was a toy. It's incidents such as this that inspired her to join MAG. "The whole province still has a high level of UXO contamination," she says. "I want to make the land safe for the people."
Dalivan is in a unique position being the only female team leader working in MAG Laos. "As team leader my job involves planning and recording the day's work. I manage the team in the field, ensure that equipment is maintained and carry out administrative tasks." It's not always easy though, given Laos' traditionally patriarchal culture. "Sometimes the team members don't always listen to me. When this happens I work with the supervisor to try and find a compromise to the problem. Working with females would be easier. I think there should be more females in the team."
MAG is leading the way in developing females to work as technicians and, in the future, we aim to to recruit and train more more, including two all female teams working out of Xieng Khoung and Khammouane provinces.
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