23 June 2009
Juba — The whistle signalling the end of the morning shift had just sounded when six deminers emerged from the tall grass, took off their protective clothing and walked back to the rest camp for lunch.
"I never thought I would end up as a deminer," Jamba Besta, the team leader, said. "All I wanted was to become a secretary, I even took the qualification, but when [this] offer came up, I took it."
Like Besta, all the deminers are women. They work in Bongo, a small community on the road from Juba to Yei in Southern Sudan, for the international NGO Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) Mine Action.
Besta's all-female demining team is a first for Sudan, although successful examples are found in Kosovo and Cambodia. Despite some abuse, especially from drunken soldiers passing by, the team's reputation has inspired commercial contractors to follow suit.
"They [the drunken soldiers] insult us," Besta said. "They laugh at us and say that women cannot remove landmines. But ladies can do just as well as men if they are trained."
The role of the women in demining has been championed by the UN Mine Action Office (UNMAO). "Female deminers work really well," Johann Maree, UNMAO operations officer in Yei, said. "They are constant and reliable."
Women deminers have proved more effective than men, according to NPA officials: "Women are very accurate and organized," said Kjell Ivar Breili, NPA programme manager. "They don't get drunk as the men often do... Over the past two years, they are the teams that have found the most mines."
A necessary activity
Demining is a necessary activity in Sudan where more than 20 years of conflict left 19 out of the 25 states affected by mines or explosive remnants of war (ERW).
ERW include unexploded ordnance - such as bombs, mortars, grenades, missiles, cluster munitions or other devices that fail to detonate on impact but remain volatile and can kill if touched or moved - and "abandoned ordnance" or weapons left behind by armed forces when they leave an area.
Men risk death or injury when working in the fields, and women are in danger when collecting firewood or carrying water.
According to UNMAO, the true extent of Sudan's mine and ERW problem is unknown, but since 2002, UNMAO and its partners have had some success: They have opened up more than 29,000km of roads, cleared 45 million square metres of land, and destroyed over 16,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines as well as 800,000 ERW.
Despite this, mines and ERW continue to maim and kill people in various parts of Sudan and obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid. They also hinder the return of refugees and displaced people and slow down reconstruction, development and peace building.
Maternity provision
The job with NPA brings in US$250-$400 per month, and it is a stable, regular income.
The women also get three months' maternity leave, after which they are relocated for nine months at the administration camp in Yei, where they work on other tasks and receive training while being able to breastfeed at regular intervals, until they are ready to go back to the minefield.
"As long as you've got proper training and you take precautions, demining is not more dangerous than any other job," Breilli said. "I think it is far more dangerous for women to go out in a contaminated field and collect firewood."
According to the NPA, some of the women in its programme are inspired to work hard because they have families or relatives in the villages where clearance is being done.
"I want to help rid [this] area of landmines," Besta, who is six months pregnant, said. "I like the fact that I can help [my people] feel safer."
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
BY PEACE SHALL Many Be deceived (Daniel 8:25) .
DOES THE TERM PEACEKEEPERS ring a Bell ?
Ask the people in Rwanda (who survived that Peace-keeping) about the UN PEACEKEEPERS .
President Obama’s UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE cut her teeth on the RWANDA MASSACRE….OOOPs!!! She said.
(Here’s a Search Link To Many Witnesses To THE NEW U.N. RICE MONSTER)
[http://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=Susan+Rice+Rwanda&cat=web&pl=ff& language=english]
OBAMA DECEPTIONS
#1
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrpRocaEfQE ]
[ http://www.infowars.com/obama-feigns-ignorance-of-cfr-nau/ ]
[ http://www.infowars.com/michelle-obama-flashes-%E2%80%98el-diablo%E2%80%99- hand-signal-on-cover-of-vogue/ ]
#2 Here is evidence of Point 2 of the Georgia Guidestones on Reproduction .
Don't be deceived :
[http://www.infowars.com/?p=7259]
Here are search result links to what the Georgia Guidestones are
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones ]
#3
BY PEACE SHALL Many Be deceived (Daniel 8:25) .
DOES THE TERM PEACEKEEPERS ring a Bell ?
Ask the people in Rwanda (who survived that Peace-keeping) about the
United Nations PEACEKEEPERS .
President Obama’s UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE cut her teeth on
the RWANDA MASSACRE…. OOOPs!!! She said.
(Here’s a Search Link To Many Witnesses To THE NEW U.N. RICE MONSTER)
[http://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=Susan+Rice+Rwanda&cat=web&pl=ff& language=english]
FAMILIES LINE UP FOR MASONIC CHILD ID PROGRAM ! UNCLE BEAST WANTS YOU !!!
[http://www.infowars.com/families-line-up-for-masonic-child-id-program/ ]
In his piece entitled “ White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys,”
investigative journalist Keith Snow writes:
First note that the ICC can now be viewed as a tool of hegemonic U.S. foreign policy,
where the weapons deployed by the U.S. and its allies include the accusations of, and
indictments for, human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
To understand this, we can ask WHY NO WHITE MAN HAS YET BEEN CHARGED
with these or other offenses at the ICC (International Criminal Court) which now holds
five black African warlords and seeks to incarcerate and bring to trial another black man,
also an Arab, Omar Bashir.
Why hasn’t George W. Bush been indicted ? Or what about Donald Rumsfeld ?
Dick Cheney? Henry Kissinger? Ehud Olmert? Tony Blair?
The sad fact is that the International Criminal Court has become terribly
politicized, as has the entire international justice apparatus.
The ICC has issued indictments, for the first time in history, against a sitting head of
state. Meanwhile, according to Snow, an Israeli weapons dealer, also a reputed Mossad
operative, is revealed to be shipping weapons into Sudan with Pentagon support.
And Belgium changed its law rather than prosecute Ariel Sharon for war crimes.
The double standard cries out to us.
One country in the West, however, increasingly stands out as a place where
justice can be found?and that is Spain. With its landmark indictment of
Pinochet and its current consideration of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and
U.S. torture in Guantanamo, we increasingly look to the Spanish Courts with
hope. It was the Spanish courts that returned indictments against Rwandan
soldiers for genocide even as the world coddles U.S. proxy Rwanda and its
leader, Paul Kagame.
[allthingscynthiamckinney.com]
OUR DEEPEST FEAR By Marianne Williamson
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP ! STAY UP MY BROTHERS & SISTERS ! BE SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com]
- Life Is a Game. Have Fun. [ Luke 18:17 / Isaiah 11:6 ]
AMERICA IS THE WHORE OF BABYLON : Revelations 17 & 18 AND Jeremiah 50 & 51
HERE ARE SOME KEY POINTS :
Jeremiah, chapter 50 : 8 - 9
8: Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks. 9: For, behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. . [ Their will be an exodus of nations leaving America ; returning to their ancestral homes e.g. Black Africans to nations like Ghana, Sierra Leone, etc…] [ .Get out of New Babylon America !!! ]
[ 1 ] Jeremiah, chapter 50 : 16 16: Cut off the sower from Babylon ;and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest .For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
[ 2 ] Jeremiah, chapter 51 : 6
6: Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul. Be not cut off in her iniquity. For this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render to her a recompence.
[ 3 ] Jeremiah, chapter 51 : 9 9: We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country. For her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
Jeremiah, chapter 50 : 35 - 37
35: A sword is upon the Chaldeans, the inhabitants of Babylon, her princes, and her wise men; says the LORD. 36: A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote. A sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. 37: A sword is upon their horses, chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; they shall become as women. A sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
Jeremiah, chapter 51 : 7 7: Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD's hand; that made all the earth drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine. Therefore the nations are insane.
10: The LORD has brought forth our righteousness. Come, and let us declare in Zion (our souls) the work of the LORD our God. [ Zion = The Kingdom of Heaven which is within us..within our souls ]
[ This same spirit of the Medes ( Arabs)…is against New Babylon (Anerica) ]
[ 1 ] Jeremiah, chapter 51 : 11 11: Make bright the arrows; gather the shields. The LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
[ 2 ] Jeremiah, chapter 51 : 27 - 28
27: Set you up a standard in the land. Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations against her. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz. Appoint a captain against her. Cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- These three(3) kingdoms today are : a) Ararat - (Armenia / Turkey) b) Ashchenaz – ( ? ) c) Minni – Armenia These kingdoms are (Arabic ) Medes --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- 28: Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains, all the rulers of it, and all the land of his dominion.
[ The people will stop immigrating to America; once the word gets out of her impending doom ]
[ 1 ] Jeremiah, chapter 51 : 44 -45
44: And I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations shall not flow together any more to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 45: My people, go you out of the midst of her, and deliver you every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
[ a) For Two(2) years shall the people [ still here ( in America) ] hear rumors b) Civil Wars will break out before the final day of America’s destruction
[ 1 ] Jeremiah, chapter 51 : 46
46: And lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land. A rumour shall both come one year. And after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land; ruler against ruler. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
REVELATIONS 17 & 18 : Also witnesses to Babylon’s destruction
OUR DEEPEST FEAR By Marianne Williamson
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP ! STAY UP MY BROTHERS & SISTERS ! BE SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com] / [http://alexjonesringtones.net/]
- Life Is a Game. Have Fun. [ Luke 18:17 / Isaiah 11:6 ]
See all comments (4).
Active Discussions: Sudan: Comprehensive Peace Agreement