MARY'S PROTECTION
8th Dec. 2016 - Phnom
Penh, Cambodia – The Feast
of Mary Immaculate reminds me of an incident that happened in our school on the
24th of October last year. Once again, Our Blessed Mother made us
experience Her protective presence among us and our children at Don Bosco
School, Teuk Thla.
The construction of the new high school was in its final
stage and the building was being readied for its inauguration in December that
year. Top soil was bought from outside to enhance the garden and speed up the
growth of the plants and trees. In the late afternoon of the previous day, 23rd
October, as the gardener and two other boys were transporting the soil and
leveling the ground, they spotted a round thing in the newly-bought soil. They
set it aside together with the other debris. But Hon, the gardener, was
reminded of something he had seen before in his village: the round metal
object, as big as a small saucer, looked like a landmine! Without moving or touching the object, Hon
looked closely at what was written on it, now partly hidden by soil and dirt.
And indeed it was a locally-made landmine! He warned his two companions and he
carefully shoveled the round mine into a safe corner away from where the
children and other people in the school usually passed. He knew that when hit
or triggered, that innocent-looking object could cause unspeakable destruction
to human life and property. In fact, many people with missing limbs, people who
are blind or handicapped in various ways whom we see around in Cambodia, have
been landmine victims.
Hon told the sisters about what they had found and
immediately the next morning, Sr, Neath called up a non-governmental agency
engaged in locating, removing and detonating mines – the Cambodian Mine Action
Committee (CMAC) which, fortunately, was close to the school. Three men from
the NGO came immediately and took away that still unexploded mine which, if not
for the maternal protection of Mary and Hon’s alertness, could have caused
untold damage and suffering!
Because of the great
and indiscriminate damage caused by landmines and anti-personnel devices,
groups and concerned citizens all over the world banded together to campaign
and lobby against its production and use. With pressure from a
number of campaign groups organised through the International
Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL),
a global movement to prohibit their use led to the 1997 Convention on the
Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel
Mines and on their Destruction. The Mine Ban Treaty was signed by 122 countries
in Ottawa, Canada on 3rd December 1997; Cambodia was an active
signatory. Currently, a total of 161 nations are party to the Ottawa treaty.
In Cambodia, Jesuit
Service (JS) has successfully led the campaign to ban landmines. It continues
to rehabilitate and empower landmine victims, including ex-soldiers of the
civil war, especially through vocational training. Young women who have been
victims of landmine blasts have also undergone training in sewing-embroidery,
secretarial-computer skills, cooking, baking and home management at the
Salesian Sisters’ training centers and other NGOs.
- Sr. Malen Estacio, F.M.A.
Basic
Things to Know about Landmines:
A land mine is an explosive device, concealed under or on the ground and
designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as
they pass over or near the device. Such devices are typically detonated
automatically by way of pressure from the target stepping or driving on it,
though other detonation mechanisms may be possible. The device may cause
damage either by a direct blast or by fragments that are thrown by the blast.
These deadly devices may be made of plastic
or metal. Many variations contain shrapnel that amplifies their damage
when detonating. They can be activated by direct pressure from above, by
pressure put on a wire or filament attached to a pull switch, by a radio signal
or other remote firing method, or even simply by the proximity of a person
within a predetermined distance.
The blast causes injuries like
blindness, burns, destroyed limbs and shrapnel wounds. Sometimes the victim
dies from the blast, due to loss of blood or because they don't get to medical
care in time. Those who survive and receive medical treatment often require
amputations, long hospital stays and extensive rehabilitation Nowadays, in common
parlance, land mines generally refer to devices specifically manufactured as
anti- personnel or anti-vehicle weapons. Though many types of improvised explosive devices ("IEDs")
can technically be classified as land mines, the term land mine is
typically reserved for manufactured devices designed to be used by recognized
military services, whereas IED is used for makeshift devices,
usually made of metal or plastic, assembled by paramilitary, insurgent,
or terrorist groups. The use of
land mines is controversial because of their potential as indiscriminate
weapons. They can remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended,
harming the economy and civilians of many developing nations. ( Land Mines - Wikipedia)
