“Lend a Leg” and a Brain for a Landmine-Free World

"Should I roll up my right pant leg on April 4th, or my left?"

Do you support the idea of a world free of landmines?  If so, show that support on Wednesday, April 4.  Spend the day with one of your pant legs rolled up just below (or if needed, above) the knee.  Which means, gals, you’ll need to wear slacks or jeans that day, too, if your culture permits and you’re allowed to show your legs.  And when people ask you what on earth you’re doing, tell them!

You’re “lending a leg” on behalf of landmine survivors, some of whom no longer have the two lower limbs they were born with.  You’re demonstrating solidarity with all those who hope to make landmines as extinct as Tyrannosaurus rex.

Let me explain.

In December 2005, the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly declared April 4 of each year “International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.”  I just learned about the declaration a few months ago, which suggests that public promotion for the day has been less than ideal.

On the positive side of awareness and action, eighty percent of countries have banned landmines since the global Mine Ban Treaty entered into force thirteen years ago.  Most countries no longer produce them, and millions of mines have been removed.

But landmines still continue to kill, maim and threaten people.  Deaths and injuries from landmines and explosive remnants of war currently total over 4,000 per year.  Civilians comprise approximately seventy percent of the casualties and twenty-five percent of victims are children.  Many lose feet, legs, hands or eyes.

In response, landmine survivors, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the United Nations, and other partners have now launched the “Lend your leg for a mine-free world” campaign.  Campaigners — including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — are asking people around the world to join them by rolling up their pant legs on the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.  That is, on April 4th.

Over sixty countries contain buried, unexploded landmines.  No one knows how many are out there, but rough estimates start at one-hundred million and climb higher.  Angola has approximately six million.  Afghanistan contains somewhere between ten and thirty million.  “Lending a leg” on April 4^th, won’t alter those horrific facts by April 5^th.  However, public education about the problem can promote positive change over time through increased donations to appropriate charities, invention of new land mine clearance technologies, community involvement and political action.

And speaking of inventing new land mine clearance technologies, that’s where “lending your brain” becomes vital.  Do you have any creative ideas?  Do you know anyone else who might?  Start your own think tank on Facebook.  Or simply share your ideas here on the “Minds Clearing Land Mines” WordPress blog.  You, too, can be as smart as a rat.

Warm wishes from Laurel Anne Hill, Moderator.

 

Minds Clearing Land Mines: Are you as smart as a rat?

Okay, what's a new low-tech way to clear land mines?

Hello!  We are glad you stopped by to visit our site.

Are you as smart as a rat?

If so, bring your low-tech, innovative ideas to MINDS CLEARING LAND MINES.

• Wars end but buried land mines become the surprise gifts that keep on giving.
• Angola alone has 6 million hidden, unexploded ordnance.
• It costs $3 to plant a land mine and $300-$1,000 to get rid of it.
• HeroRATs have been trained to sniff out land mines but additional low-tech detection solutions are needed.
• One small idea could potentially prompt one large step for mankind.

The Problem
How to effectively detect and destroy/deactivate land mines through means that can be easily and inexpensively deployed.

The Solution
Get people involved in thinking of creative ways to solve the problem of land mines in an affordable, readily available way.

Why we think this can be accomplished
Creative problem solvers don’t necessarily have to be experts to solve problems.  Orville and Wilbur Wright owned a bicycle repair shop, yet they invented the airplane.  More recently, students were asked to develop an inexpensive blood centrifuge for use in third world countries.  They modified a simple salad spinner to hold blood vials.  This world contains a lot of talented people whose creativity has not yet been tapped.

Why we think this should be accomplished
Land mines kill and injure civilians and render land impassable and unusable for decades.  They exist in over 60 countries around the globe from Belgium to Egypt and Angola to Cambodia.   Flat terrain can sequester them.  Hilly terrain can, too.  Mines can be hidden by soil or overgrowth.  It has been estimated, that with the currently available eradication techniques, it will take 1,000 – 2,000 years to rid the world of the landmines already in place.

Land mines are designed to maim and kill.  They activate based on weight, trip wires or both.  Some bounce up to shoulder height and spray sharp objects over a distance of 200 meters or less.  Others detonate below waist level.  Land mines do their job 24/7 without discrimination.  Land mine eradication requires detection and thereafter safe detonation or deactivation.

Join our community of MINDS CLEARING LAND MINES and share your ideas.

Minds Clearing Land Mines: Are you as smart as a rat?

Better not tread on me!

Some 26,000 people are killed and maimed by land mine explosions every year, nearly half of them children.  Various reports claim unexploded land mines lurk in 60-90 countries worldwide.  At least six million unexploded land mines remain in Angola.  Zimbabwe has around three million.  Participants in current conflicts are busy depositing many, many more.  Any way you add up the numbers, the result totals BAD.

Certified HeroRATs sniff out land mines.  Trained dogs do, too.  People use metal detectors and robots to find the deadly devices.  Some use only sticks.  And then comes the challenge of safe deactivation or detonation, as well as equipment maintenance under adverse conditions.  Land mine clearance has no “silver bullet” so far.

According to physics professor, John Scales, “Land mines are an enormous problem around the world for both military personnel and civilians…The reason so many people are working on this problem from so many angles, is there is no one scheme that works well all the time.  You need an arsenal of tools.”

People from many backgrounds invent tools to solve all sorts of problems.  You may be able to help solve this one.

Join our community of MINDS CLEARING LAND MINES and share your ideas.