Marta Janet Quintero Diaz has been part of Humanity & Inclusion’s demining operations in Colombia for seven years. With determination born from her own personal experience, Marta is working to make her country a safer place.

My name is Marta Janet Quintero Diaz and I have just turned 40. I’m from a village in the department of Antioquia, Colombia. I’ve been working for HI for seven years. I started as a deminer and now I’m the field supervisor for two demining zones.

My life changed forever the day I stepped on a mine.

I was 14 at the time. I remember it like it was yesterday. It’s something that marks you for life. It was raining that day. I was with a group of friends and we were playing chase on a path linking the road to my parents' property. Whenever we went there, the adults told us not to leave the path under any circumstances. In the village where I grew up, everyone knows people who have been victims of mines.

Suddenly, one of my friends shouted at me not to move. I looked behind me and that's when I saw it. I had stepped off the path as I was running and put my foot on a mine. That day, because it was wet, it didn’t explode.

We stood motionless for at least fifteen minutes, not knowing what to do. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I really saw my life flash before my eyes. I knew very well what could have happened to me. We went home and never went back on that path again. Even today, when I tell this story, I’m still affected by it and I get shivers down my spine.

Many years later, I was part of a team demining that same path. I remembered exactly where I had stepped on that mine when I was 14. And there, between the roots of a big tree, we found seven of them.

The first humanitarian demining operations in Colombia started in my village in 2012. One day, out of curiosity, I went along to an information meeting. We were shown pictures of devices identical to the one I had stepped on when I was 14. That's when I realized what I wanted to do with my life. I was lucky. The mine I stepped on didn’t explode. For many people, that’s not the case. I want to make sure it doesn’t keep happening.

When I started, I was eager to learn everything. I passed all the demining training levels one after the other. If I was going to do this job, I wanted to be the best. I said from the start that if I didn’t make team leader within a year, I’d stop. I started as a deminer, then after three months, I became a leader and six months later, I was a team leader. I’ve also got the two certificates you need to destroy explosive devices and ammunition myself. 

I wake up every day with the same motivation. Of course, the salary is important because we all have a family and responsibilities to take care of. But believe me, if I were rich, I’d do this work as a volunteer.

My motivation is my family. I’m here for them. I’ve got three sisters and two brothers, and since my father passed away, I’ve become the pillar of the family. I’m single and live with my mother, one of my sisters and her two children. After a work cycle, when we have two weeks off, I don't go to the beach or on holiday. I go straight home to see my family.

I dream of a Colombia at peace for my nieces and nephews. They are between 3 and 16 and I don't want them to go through the same thing as me.

The armed conflict in this country was terrible. I lost my father when I was 23 years old. But today, we have to move forward. Many of my colleagues have children, and they all dream of a better future for them. If they are to have the chance to experience a new country, we must all forgive and give the future a chance.

I could have chosen a job where I’d see my family every day, but that wouldn't have suited me. Demining is a hard job—you spend the day on your knees. You work in the mountains for six weeks at a time, away from your home and family. You make great sacrifices. But the reward is worth it.

When you finish clearing an area, release it back to the people and walk on their land with them, free of fear, you should see their eyes shine and their huge smiles. That is the best reward.

The day that Colombia is mine-free is the day that I stop doing this job.

Humanity & Inclusion's demining operations in Colombia are carried out with the support of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.

When Abdel was 16 years old, he lost his leg in a landmine explosion. Humanity & Inclusion has helped him rebuild his life through rehabilitation care and a new artificial limb.

Abdel and his friend were working on a farm when his friend stepped on a landmine. Unaware of the risks posed by mines—including that they are often laid in groups—Abdel ran to his friend's aid. He stepped on another mine and severely injured his leg in the explosion.

Abdel was taken to the hospital in Sana’a, where his right leg was amputated.

Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation team in Yemen initially provided Abdel with a pair of crutches to help him get around. He then had sessions to prepare him for an artificial limb. Once it had been fitted, he participated in rehabilitation sessions to learn to walk with his new leg.

Abdel does not live near the rehabilitation center, so Humanity & Inclusion provided transport and accommodation to facilitate his treatment and recovery. Abdel has also received financial assistance to help him meet his needs.

With Humanity & Inclusion's support, Abdel is back on his feet again. He has regained his independence and self-confidence.

“My prosthesis has changed my life,” Abdel says. “I can walk and tend to my land and my crops. People who don't know I had an accident don't even notice that I am wearing a prosthesis.”

Humanity & Inclusion has conducted weapons clearance operations in northern Syria since 2018. A team of 25 demining experts face a giant task as the scale of explosive remnants of war contamination in Raqqa is beyond anything witnessed anywhere since WWII.

People living in Raqqa are under a daily threat of explosive remnants. The two managers of Humanity & Inclusion’s demining operations in Syria, provide insight into their efforts:

Raqqa was a stronghold of the Islamic State Movement until 2017 when the city was freed by Western forces under Operation Inherent Resolve. People fled the intense 5-month fighting and quickly started to return to the city after. The scale of the devastation still hit us. It’s as if the city was hit by five earthquakes in a row.

Five years later, the contamination left by ground fighting, massive U.S.-led coalition air strikes and booby traps is still there. Many unexploded devices, both manufactured and homemade, remain in the rubble of collapsed and damaged buildings. In the meantime, people have returned because they want to work their land, clear the roads, and reopen the markets, hospitals and schools. The contamination continues to endanger Syrians and compromise the humanitarian response.

The most contaminated city in the world

Raqqa is one of the most polluted city we have ever seen. The contamination is very diverse and complex, affecting all human activities on a daily basis: Buildings like clinics, banks, and civil services offices have been booby-trapped in order to terrorize people and to prevent any return to normal. Unexploded rockets or bombs are in buildings’ rubble after intense aerial bombings. Around the city, agricultural fields were turned into defensive minefields by the Islamic State Movement to impeach the progress of any armed groups. The level of contamination is incredible. It is everywhere—in every building, on any square meter of land, you need to be careful.

The contamination is so complicated that it will take decades to clean Raqqa. Raqqa is, for us, like a laboratory where you can find all the range of contamination in urban and rural areas coming from a modern conflict, marked by intense use of explosive weapons.

Islamic State Movement fighters deployed improvised explosive devices throughout the city to ensure maximum terror and destruction: you can find stories of mines wired to light switches, stashed in mattresses, and hidden in hollowed-out Qurans, which hamper the resumption of ordinary and everyday activity.

We find all range of explosive munitions primarily dropped from above by International Coalition Forces as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. We also have to deal with traditional manufactured landmines.

With over 2,500 recorded explosive weapons use incidents between 2013 and 2019 and an anticipated airstrike and artillery failure rate of between 10-30 percent, it is assumed that some 250-750 unexploded weapons must therefore be found in the city.

Key infrastructures like dams or waterways are also contaminated with explosive remnants and release chemical and toxic contamination. Tap water is no longer fit for consumption in some areas and we have seen reported cases of cholera recently.

The people are really counting on us to release them from this threat. Progress is slow, and many civilians unwilling to wait for assistance took it upon themselves to remove explosive remnants from their homes at great personal risk.

Demining since 2018

Our teams are highly skilled and able to face all these different situations. Local authorities task us to intervene in many areas. But we are also called directly by people through a hotline to pick up explosive remnants they found on their property. We receive so many calls every day that we have to prioritize which ordnance we will secure first.

In 2022, Humanity & Inclusion teams have secured 1,000 live items and more than 2,600 inert items—which look like explosive ordnances but do not contain explosive content. So far, teams have cleared a total of 220,000 square meters.

We have just opened clearance operations in Der-er-Zor, another major city that is a 2-hour drive from Raqqa. Next year, we also want to launch a depollution team staffed by women.

It is a race against time to clear lands with a view to restoring the city and its surrounding fields to its inhabitants. The removal of the rubble, which is the prerequisite for carrying out any reconstruction work, cannot be done without clearance operations first. The contamination impeaches the rebuilding of the city.

We want to contribute to rebuild the city and we regret that clearance operations are a bit forgotten by donors today. That is really a concern for us.

After her worst fears came true, Irina was forced to leave her life in Ukraine behind. Today, she finds comfort in Humanity & Inclusion’s psychosocial support in Moldova.

Abdulaleem survived a mine accident in Yemen. Fitted with an artificial limb by Humanity & Inclusion’s team, he is looking forward to the future.

Abdulaleem Abd Allah Abo Suraima, 17, lives in southern Yemen with his four brothers and nine sisters. When he was 16, Abdulaleem survived a landmine explosion, but lost his leg. Humanity & Inclusion's rehabilitation services have fitted him with an artificial limb.

Abdulaleem was working on the farm when he heard an explosion in the mountains. He knew that one of his friends was up there with his herd.

"I heard him scream,” recalls Abdulaleem. I ran to his aid and that's when another mine exploded beneath me. I lost consciousness."

Abdulaleem’s brothers and some villagers rushed to help him. They took him to Rada'a hospital, where the doctors managed to stop the bleeding. He was then transferred to a hospital in Sana'a, the country's capital.

"When we arrived, the doctors said they would have to amputate my leg above the knee,” he explains. “My brother refused–he insisted that they amputate below the knee.”

The difficult return home

Abdulaleem spent almost two months in the hospital after his operation. When he was finally able return home, he was faced with a number of new challenges. He had to use crutches to get around and all his routine activities were now more difficult.

"I couldn't go to the farm, to the mosque, anywhere,” he says. “Even drinking water was difficult.”

Losing his leg took its toll on his morale. He lost all motivation and ambition.

"For me, life had lost its meaning,” he continues. “I only wanted one thing–to get a prosthesis so I could walk again!”

A new leg for a new life

After Humanity & Inclusion’s teams met Abdulaleem, they measured his leg to make an artificial limb. A week later, he was fitted for the prosthetic. He then received rehabilitation treatment to learn to walk with his new leg.

"After a lot of sessions, I could get around with my prosthesis,” he explains with a smile on his face. “I went home and could walk like before! I got my motivation and ambition back.”

Thanks to his new artificial leg, Abdulaleem is looking forward to the future again. He has big plans: he wants to build his own house, to get married and to buy a farm to raise sheep.

"In my village there are many other people with mine injuries,” he adds. “They too are waiting for help. Thank you very much, HI!"

In 1982, two doctors working in refugee camps in Thailand started helping survivors of landmine explosions who had been injured fleeing across the heavily mined border. There they met Gniep, a young girl who had lost her leg after stepping on a landmine. Gniep was one of the first children ever supported by Humanity & Inclusion. This is her story.

I was 5 years old, living under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, four long years in absolute darkness of uncertainty, anguish and fear. In 1979, fleeing misery and hunger, I left my village with my aunt, leaving everything behind, believing that it was temporary.

Antipersonnel landmines were all over Cambodia. To this day they still kill and mutilate an alarmingly high number of people. At the time, we were not informed about the risk they posed. While in the camp, I went to fetch water and that’s when it happened: I stepped on a mine.

I remember it as if it were yesterday; the violence was such that I was thrown in the air. Stunned and dizzy by the shock of the explosion, I did not know that I had just stepped on a mine. I tried to get up and walk three times before understanding that my right leg was torn off at the calf, and that the left one was badly affected, too.

By instinct of survival, probably, I moved myself to a path, where two soldiers passing by found me and brought me on their motorcycle to a makeshift dispensary. There, the analgesic I was given was a stick that I had to bite on when the pain became too much.

Then, I was transferred to a refugee camp in Thailand commonly known as Khao I Dang. I had to undergo 17 operations because the surgeon wanted to preserve the joint, but my leg was gangrenous and I fell into a coma for a month.

Not long afterward, I met the founding members of HI. They were a small group of young people, who were friends, husbands and wives, full of enthusiasm, their heads full of dreams and ideals, animated by a crazy desire to help people like me who had been stripped of everything. With great humanity and respect, they put me back on my feet again.

My first prosthesis was very simple, made of recycled materials like wood, car tires, and resin. I admit that I had a hard time accepting it because it was heavy and hard to put on.

It's hard to believe that was 40 years ago. Today, despite my disability, I lead my life like everyone else. I am a night nurse, working for young people with multiple disabilities. And I am a mother of a young and beautiful girl. I am so very grateful to those women and men who helped me all those years ago. They gave me back my smile and dignity, which everyone should have!

Humanity & Inclusion is conducting humanitarian demining operations in El Cañón de Las Hermosas in Colombia, helping communities regain the use of their land.

Four areas in El Cañón de Las Hermosas are potentially contaminated by explosive devices: El Escobal, La Aurora, El Davis and Las Hermosas Natural Park, a protected nature reserve. Through surveys and clearance operations carried out by Humanity & Inclusion’s teams, the communities will soon be able to use their agricultural and pastoral lands again and gradually restore the ecosystem.

The terrain around El Cañón de Las Hermosas is rugged and mountainous. Landslides, rockslides and flooding frequently block the only access road, cutting off communities.

"To reach the work sites, the demining team has to travel on horseback for about five hours, crossing rivers and ravines," explains Toni Vitola, head of the demining project in Chaparral.

With the first surveys of the area completed, demining operations were launched in July of this year. The team of 10 or so deminers works for six weeks on site before having two weeks off. They aim to clear 10 acres of explosive contamination.

During the first year of the project, 60 residents participated in mine risk education sessions.

"There is evidence of explosive devices in the first area we are going to clear. Detonations have been heard there and five cows disappeared after entering the area," Vitola adds.

Prioritizing community needs

The areas where Humanity & Inclusion is working are between 5,000 and 13,000 feet above sea level. They are traditionally used by the communities to grow coffee, maize, bananas, yucca, and to raise livestock. A legacy of prior armed conflict, he possible presence of explosive devices prevents residents from making full use of their land. With support from Humanity & Inclusion’s demining operations, communities will soon be able to work, play and live without fear.

To support community-led development projects, Humanity & Inclusion organizes consultations with residents to determine which needs are top priorities. These consultations have led to the development of project to construct three large greenhouses, with support from Humanity & Inclusion.

Álvaro Lozano is a community liaison officer who works for Humanity & Inclusion. He comes from the Chaparral area himself and has high hopes for his neighbors and community:

"We have many dreams but I want to see more and more of them come true,” Lozano says. “I dream of a lasting peace, of lands that we can leave as a legacy for future generations. We all dream of lands that we can enjoy and where we can develop green tourism.”

Legacy of armed conflict

El Cañón de Las Hermosas is marked by a long history of armed conflict. For more than 50 years, communities have experienced the humanitarian consequences of this conflict: displacement, confinement, forced recruitment, accidents caused by explosive devices, and more.

"I was confined to my house for two years because an armed group ordered it,” Lozano shares. “I couldn't bear the idea of being locked up on my own land.”

Since the peace agreements, the region’s natural wealth is being rediscovered. It is home to almost 125,000 acres of forests, lagoons, wetlands and paramos—the high plateaus of the Andes. Species of flora and fauna—including endangered species—found only in the region thrive. But as Lozano points out, the presence of explosive devices affects this wildlife in addition to the people living in the region.  

Humanity & Inclusion's demining operations in Chaparral and across Colombia are carried out with the support of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.

Roger Eid oversees Humanity & Inclusion’s demining operations in Lebanon. He explains the importance of this work to restore land for civilians to safely live, work and play.

Q: What are the objectives of demining in Lebanon?

Clearing land contaminated by explosive remnants of war improves access to safe land and infrastructure for the communities affected by the civil war in Lebanon that lasted from 1975 to 1990.

In addition to land clearance, Humanity & Inclusion is carrying out risk education sessions in Arsal. These activities aim to promote safe behaviors and reduce the risks of explosive remnants of war by raising awareness among targeted communities. In total, more than 200 awareness-raising sessions have been conducted for 1,700 people in Arsal.

Q: What is a typical day for a deminer?

The deminers wake up very early—at 4 a.m.—to avoid working in the heat of the day. They arrive at the Aley base at 6.30 a.m. and collect the necessary equipment and tools.

The site supervisor and the team leader brief the deminers on the objectives and safety. The deminers can then start work, wearing protective equipment and carrying a mine detector and a shovel. Each deminer does six to seven 50-minute interventions per day. The team then packs up the tools and equipment and returns to the base before going home.

Our deminers have now started testing drones to locate explosive remnants of war in the districts of Aaqoura and Aley. This technique is effective in collecting visual information of a hazardous area and rapidly identifying signs of explosive ordnance. The use of drones can speed up the release of land.  

Q: Where do these demining operations take place?

The demining team is currently working in Mount Lebanon, in the Aley district. Our team is composed of 12 people, including seven deminers. Operations are underway in the villages of Bsatine, Btater and Chartoune. The demining zone in Chartoune is 87 yards from the nearest house, with a farm 82 yards away. The polluted area is agricultural land, where olive trees, fruit trees and pine trees had been planted. Five mines have been found so far, and destroyed on the spot.

The area to be demined is identified in coordination with the Lebanese Mine Action Center, which has established a demining prioritization system.

Q: How much land has HI cleared?

Humanity & Inclusion's demining team in Lebanon has cleared almost 250 acres in ten years of operations, including more than two acres that have been cleared in 2022.

In total, Humanity & Inclusion’s operations have cleared 56 villages of mines and explosive remnants of war in the districts of Batroun, Koura and Bcharre, where 192 minefields were demined and the land returned to the community. The Cedar Nature Reserves in Niha, Tannourine and Hadath El Jebbeh have also been cleared.

Those directly benefiting from the cleared land are the farmers and other people who work in the fields. The clearance efforts indirectly impact the broader community in each village.

Still, Lebanon has almost 4,500 acres of confirmed mined areas, including along the Blue Line in the south of the country.

Q: What role does the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty play in demining operations in Lebanon?

The Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty is crucial to our demining operations in Lebanon. Lebanon is not a member of the Ottawa Treaty, which bans anti-personnel mines and requires the decontamination of mined areas, but it gives us the legitimacy and motivation to continue our mission in the country. The Ottawa Treaty has become an international standard; it has been joined by 164 states. It has a huge influence in Lebanon. It challenges us to expand our operations to new areas and to accelerate demining activities by testing new innovative approaches, such as drone surveys.

Q: What are the next steps for mine clearance in Lebanon?

Humanity & Inclusion will continue pursuing its commitment to landmine and cluster munition clearance. We plan to increase our teams to a minimum of two in each of the new districts in which we’ll be operating. We will be focusing on priority areas in the Mount Lebanon governorate, such as El Matn and Chouf districts. These districts were severely affected by the 1975 war; they are contaminated by many types of explosive remnants of war, including landmines and cluster bombs.

Since 2016, Humanity & Inclusion has been conducting land release operations in Iraq. Explosive weapons clearance is currently underway in Kirkuk.

Contamination by landmines, improvised explosive devices, explosives remnants of war and other types of explosive ordnance represents a long-term threat for more than 8 million civilians living in Iraq. The country, which has ratified the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty, aims to become mine-free by 2028.

Humanity & Inclusion is currently conducting clearance operations in Iraq around the village of Bashir to the south of the city of Kirkuk. A team of nine people, including two clearance operators and two mobile teams are working on this site. Already this year, they have cleared 16 acres of land and neutralized 32 explosive devices.

Since Humanity & Inclusion’s demining operations began in Iraq six years ago, teams have cleared nearly 450 acres and neutralized more than 1,600 explosive devices.

Neutralizing improvised explosive devices

Most of the explosive weapons found by demining experts in the area are improvised devices made of large metal containers filled with homemade mixtures of ammonium nitrate and aluminum. Most are triggered by a simple pressure switch.

Once located, specialists use hand tools to uncover the device, identify its parts and determine how it functions. Then, the operator decides the best course of action to neutralize the device: destroy the item where it is, use a spring-loaded cutter to remotely separate the switch that initiates the device from the detonation chain or remotely cut the wires of the electrical circuit.

Operators are aware of the constant threat posed by an anti-lift device or the possibility of a second device being placed under the main one. As a precaution, and to negate this threat, all the component parts are remotely lifted out of the ground from a safe distance using different configurations of anchors, hooks and line.

Safely returning land to communities

Land release operations aim to identify contaminated areas and clear them in order to provide safe access to those areas for development or agricultural purposes. With a population of 3,000, Bashir is mostly rural farmland. Approximately one-third of residents are landowners and land users.

Iraq acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on in August 2007, and formally became a State Party to the treaty in February 2008. Fully committed to meet the objectives of the treaty, Iraqi authorities are working to make the country mine-free by 2028.

Widespread contamination of landmines, improvised mines and unexploded ordnance makes Iraq among the most contaminated countries in the world. Currently, 8.5 million people in Iraq are at-risk of landmines and improvised explosive devices. Nearly 350,000 acres of land, including agricultural land and urban areas, are dangerous and unusable.

Gaëlle Smith, Humanity & Inclusion’s emergency rehabilitation specialist, was deployed to Ukraine to support the local teams. She shares her experience treating patients at a hospital in Dnipro.