Thirty-three year old Angelo Lokidor lives alone in a small, mud and thatch house on the edge of Kapoeta in the Eastern Equatoria province of Sudan, situated in what use to be a large minefield.
Angelo’s parents died when he was still very young. He grew up in a small village near Kapoeta with his paternal uncle’s family. He spent most of his youth tending to the family’s goats and cows, and dreaming of going to school to get a good education. Those plans were put on hold one day when he was forced into the military and trained as a soldier.
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“When I see MAG working in the area, it brings me happiness, but not just to me, it brings happiness to everyone." "Look at me. Look at where I live. This was a minefield, full of landmines." "If MAG had not cleared this area, the mines would still be harming people and we could not live here.” |
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Your donation to MAG helps us to move into current and former conflict zones so that communities who have suffered from remnants of conflict can continue |
"We decided that we were too young to be soldiers and we did not want to be sent far away from our homes. About 30 of us decided to run away, to desert the military. I returned to my family.”
Back in his village, Angelo once again began helping with the family’s livestock and started looking forward to pursuing his education. Then one day, not long after he returned, he was herding goats along a road and found an anti-personnel landmine.
“I saw the mine on the road. It was visible on cleared ground. I wanted to save other people from being injured because it was in the road. I wanted to move the mine into the bush to a place inaccessible to others. I knew how dangerous it was. But the landmine was booby-trapped. After I placed it in the bush, my hand caught on something, a thin wire, and the mine exploded.”
Angelo says he doesn’t remember what happened after that. He was told that people nearby heard the explosion and carried him to the hospital. When he regained consciousness in the hospital, both his hands had been amputated just below the elbow.
Following the accident, Angelo’s family looked after him, but life is hard for someone with the injuries that Angelo has sustained.
I live alone in this house. Neighbors and my family help me, but mostly I must do everything myself. I had some cows that my family gave me, but another tribe came and stole them. I only have a few small cows now.
"At that time I was married. I have two children, but my wife’s family came and took her and the children away because I could not pay the dowry of cows that I owed them. My wife and the children come to visit me sometimes, but they live with my wife’s family.”
When MAG began clearing the minefield in Kapoeta in 2005, it was able to offer Angelo paid work helping to paint the red and white rocks MAG uses to delineate minefields and clearance lanes.
MAG formally handed back the final section of the 283,898 square-metered minefield surrounding the town of Kapoeta in September last year – the first barrier minefield to be fully cleared in southern Sudan since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.
MAG’s clearance of this area brought hope to Angelo and his family: “When I see MAG working in the area, it brings me happiness, but not just to me, it brings happiness to everyone. Look at me. Look at where I live. This was a minefield, full of landmines. If MAG had not cleared this area, the mines would still be harming people and we could not live here.”
Your donation to MAG helps us to move into current and former conflict zones so that communities who have suffered from remnants of conflict can continue to rebuild their lives and secure their livelihoods.
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[Photo: J.B. Russell]
