Al Wazani Village
Story by Ali Shuaib
General Demographic Information:
Al Wazani is a Lebanese village located on the Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian border. It is 15 km far away from Marjeyoun the center of the Caza. The current population is 600 people. 2000 people left the area during the war to live in other villages.
Current Economic, Social and development situation:
The inhabitants of Al Wazani are all poor people. They rely basically on agriculture and shepherding. The village is in need of a clinic because the only medical care now is the medical team of United Nations who examine the patients in the local school. The school includes two rooms for not more than 30 students, therefore many students had to move to other villages to study or they have to stop studying and work in the lands with their parents.
Minefields
The presence of many Belgium AP mines (M35) separated the village into two parts. The inhabitants didn't expect any help in the near future to clear their lands and they thought this problem will stay forever, so some of them left the village and others conducted the mine clearance themselves to build additional houses or to use the land for agriculture and animals pens. This matter resulted in injury to two people and some live stocks.
After the Israeli withdrawn in 2000 from South Lebanon, a big development project started in the village, many houses have been built between the minefields, every time the inhabitants were digging in the ground they were finding mines so they tried to solve their problem and use a bulldozer. They finally understood that they had enlarged the danger area and caused the mines to be spread over previously safe land. They began daily to find mines while they were working and shepherding, then they collected and burned theses mines putting themselves in even more danger.
Mine Clearance Operations
MAG deployed to clear mines from Al Wazani village. They demined manually and with mine detection dogs. They found 339 mines in 21674 sq m. It was often a hard job for the deminers to clear mines from inside and around the pens often working through animal manure. The work continued there for several months, during this time visitors from the donor representatives the European Union and the Japanese Embassy visited the site.
Positive effect of the Mine Clearance Operations
130 people benefit from the mine clearance of the land in the village, some of them have cultivated it growing tomato, maize, sun flower, vegetables etc … also one of them built a livestock pen near his house. In addition, Al Wazani municipality built some walls on the road sides of the village and they reconstruct the mosque with the donations of the ex-villagers who now live outside Lebanon.
The inhabitants of Al Wazani still live with the threat of land mines around their village, but can now walk safely within the village. They hope the remaining land will be cleared soon.
