Video from Al Jazeera English TV.
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MAG has helped the children of Gaza to bounce and fly into the record books.
More than seven thousand children set their sights on a place in the Guinness Book of Records after an unexploded ordnance (UXO) risk assessment by MAG at Rafah Airport.
The record attempt – for the number of simultaneously bouncing basketballs – was organised by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as part of the annual Summer Games project within the Gaza Strip.
Rafah Airport, in the south-east corner close to the Israel/Egypt borders, hasn’t been used since being destroyed by the Israeli air attacks from December 2001 to January 2002, and has been targeted occasionally by aircraft bombs and missiles since then.
To ensure the safety of the participants in this event, MAG carried out a UXO risk assessment of the aircraft hardstanding area immediately in front of the terminal building, the terminal building itself and the access route to the site.
Following this, MAG recommended that activities were restricted to the access route and hardstanding, and that the terminal building should not be considered for a media centre due to the uncertain integrity of the structure. A MAG Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was present at the event in case of any UXO threat being discovered
After five minutes of bouncing, the record had been unofficially broken with a total of 7,203 balls – beating the previous best of just over 3,000 set in the United States in 2007 – and verification from the Guinness Book of World Records is now being awaited.
Rocket removed from beach
Video from Al Jazeera English TV.
UNRWA also requested assistance from MAG to check a suspect area of beach sands 1.5km from the Israeli border in the north of Gaza ahead of another world record attempt – this time for kite flying.
MAG deployed four Technical Field Managers to undertake the painstaking task of looking for deadly remnants of past conflicts. They found what could have caused a disaster if the beach had not been checked: a ‘Qassam 2’ homemade rocket, locally known as ‘El Nasser’ and capable of causing a large explosion even in its corroded state. MAG’s expert staff made sure that the rocket was disposed of safely.
A week later, following a final sweep of the beach by MAG, the city was at a standstill as thousands of children flooded the beach and people from all over Gaza came to watch. On the signal, 3,710 kites were launched into the air, doubling the existing record set on the same sands a year earlier.
MAG was on standby throughout the event in case any other suspicious items were discovered, but the event passed without incident.
1 September 2010
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MAG thanks the following current donors to our Gaza operations: UNICEF; UNDP.
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