Mined and Forgotten Border Communities
The Chinozas live on the heavily mined Zimbabwean border. Their livelihoods are dependent on subsistence farming and cattle are a critical source of draught power, manure and milk but they had to sell their three cows to help pay for Raimon’s treatment and prosthetic limb. Stripped of this vital asset and with Raimon no longer able to work the land, they had to stop farming. His mother helped on their neighbours’ land in exchange for food, while his father moved away to work as an agricultural laborer for $60 a month. They could no longer afford to send their younger children to school.
The family’s luck changed in 2014 when ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø arrived in the area to conduct a landmine survey and subsequently recruited Raimon’s father as a deminer. Now that he is on a living wage his debt has been repaid and Raimon’s siblings are back at school.
The Chinoza’s story is by no means unique; the families of other Zimbabwean landmine victims frequently suffer the same sudden, downward spiral. That’s why ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø is so committed to training local people as deminers.
There are many more minefields to clear in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. Please help ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø to clear more landmines so that other families don’t have to suffer like Raimon’s.
