Teacher's Guide

   Kali

Kali Leads The Way

By Nancy West

(SEE BELOW FOR CURRENT ARTICLES ON LAND MINES)

                                                             

 

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PRE-READING:
Discuss the reasons why land mines exist in countries such as Cambodia. Explain what land mines are made of and why they are so dangerous.
                                                 
QUESTIONS:
1) What is de-mining? Why is de-mining important?
2) Why are dogs used to find land mines?
3) Kali is very independent and smart. Why does this worry Mr. Bora?
4) By the end of the story, what makes Kali a good mine detection dog?
                                                
ACTIVITIES:
Writing: Dogs have special skills and abilities. Write a paper about some of the important jobs dogs do because of  their keen sense of smell.
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Writing:Write a letter to your local newspaper explaining why everyone should be concerned about land mines.
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Art Activity: Make a medal of honor for Kali for saving the young boy's life.         
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Geography Activity: Using a map of the world, place a marker on all of the countries that still have mines.
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Music Activity: Write a Song for the Brave Mine Detection Dogs

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APRIL 4 IS THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MINE AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE IN MINE ACTION

Media Advisory

Journalists invited to events in New York, other cities

 

Landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to kill or injure as many as 15,000 people a year. The overwhelming majority are civilians who trigger these devices years or even decades after a conflict ends.  In some countries, such as Afghanistan, the majority of victims are under the age of 18.

"Events on April 4 will help renew public and media interest in mine action," says UN Mine Action Service Director Maxwell Gaylard. "We must keep the cause high on the global political agenda if we are to maintain the momentum achieved toward a world free from landmines and explosive remnants of war," he adds."

Mine action programmes and the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty or "Ottawa Convention," contributed to a reduction in the annual number of casualties from an estimated 26,000 10 years ago to between 15,000 and 20,000 today. "The current casualty rates are dramatically lower, but they're still unacceptably high," Gaylard says. "We need to redouble our efforts to bring the rate down. And we need to do more for the survivors."

Fourteen United Nations agencies, programmes, departments and funds provide mine action services in dozens of countries.  Mine action includes finding and destroying landmines and explosive remnants of war, assisting victims, teaching people how to remain safe in a mine-affected environment, advocating for universal participation in international treaties like the Ottawa Convention, and destroying stockpiled landmines.

Events in New York on April 4

UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon will open Enduring Fear, a month-long exhibition of photographs about landmines, explosive remnants of war and the people affected by them. UN visitors lobby, General Assembly Building, 1 p.m.  Free and open to the public.

A mock minefield will be installed on the North Lawn of the Secretariat, and experts from the Humanitarian Demining Training Center will demine it, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  In case of rain, the deminers will bring equipment inside the visitors area and explain how mine detectors work and what's involved in removing or destroying landmines.

UNICEF will host free mine-risk education workshops. Visitors lobby, GA building, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Landmines, cluster munitions and the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty will be on display next to the photo exhibit through the end of April.

All of these events are free and open to the public and UN staff. Visitors should enter the grounds through the United Nations' public entrance on 1st Avenue at East 46th Street.

NEW YORK, April 3, 2007—Journalists are invited to events here and other cities on April 4, which the UN General Assembly has declared the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The events will raise awareness about landmines, explosive remnants of war, and progress toward their eradication. 

ARTICLES ON LAND MINES:

 

Cambodia's Landmine Legacy Pervades Present

Carmen Gentile, 26 Jan 2007
World Politics Watch Exclusive

SIEM REP, Cambodia -- Twelve-year-old Van Nak remembers like it was yesterday the force of the blast that took his right arm and his father.

"It hit me here," he says tapping his chest with his only hand, "and knocked me over."

Van was just 6 years old when he accidentally triggered a landmine near the Thai-Cambodian border while planting rice with his now deceased dad, one of the tens of thousands of victims of subterranean explosives that litter the countryside.

According to the government-run Cambodian Mine Action Center, anywhere between four and six million mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance are still laying in wait. Others estimate the real number to be much lower, around one million.

"How many are really out there? Pick a figure, because no one really knows," said one landmine activist here.
The use of landmines in Cambodia dates back to the 1960s, though their usage reached truly staggering proportions during the following decade, when the ruling Khmer Rouge planted mines throughout the country to thwart invaders from neighboring nations and eliminate dissidents from within.

But by the year 2000, with the bloody Khmer regime long dismantled, the country's current government had ratified an international treaty banning the use of mines and, along with several non-government organizations, was tackling the seemingly Herculean task of de-mining the country.

The international organization Mine Action Committee (MAC), for example, claims to clear about 4,500 mines a year, as well as 18,000 unexploded bombs dating back as far as World War II, when the Japanese invaded Cambodia.

While the government claims to remove thousands more per year than any independent agency, some anti-mine activists say Cambodia could be doing a much better job of ridding the country of the deadly explosives.

"We're making some progress, though the job is far from over," said Rupert Leighton, program manager for MAC.

Leighton predicted that by 2012 Cambodia would be landmine free if the current rate of clearance continues, a prediction based on the one-million-mine estimate. Others predict it could take several decades, perhaps even a century, to rid the country of all explosives.

That's bad news for Cambodia's farmers and rural residents who make up the majority of victims. Hoping to curtail the number of those killed every year, landmine groups have reached out to communities to teach landmine removal and avoidance, particularly to children, who make up a large percentage of the victims.

The program is working, Leighton said. In 2005, 850 reportedly were killed by mines. But the following year, that number declined to around 400.

But some Cambodians still aren't satisfied with the progress made by the government and NGOS and have taken mine-clearing matters into their own hands.

A self-taught mine clearer who spends weeks at a time roaming the Thai-Cambodian border looking for explosives, Aki Ra claims to have cleared 20,000 himself over the last decade or so.

Aki also operates a landmine museum on the outskirts of Siem Rep, home to Cambodia's internationally acclaimed Angkor Wat Temple. The outdoor museum is little more than a smattering of photos and a collection of deactivated mines and bombs, though it's impact on visitors is monumental. Visitors who came to take in the splendor of Angkor Wat peruse in somber silence the stacks of mines from Russia, China, the United States and several European countries.

Watching over the testimony to the terrors of landmines is Aki's wife Hourt, who has joined her husband on landmine clearing expeditions.

"Sometimes I worry about him, but since he taught me how to clear I know how good he is at his job," said Hourt.

Others though, aren't as confident in Aki's skills and motivation for mine clearing.

"He's not a certified clearer so he shouldn't be doing it. . . . One day he might end up getting hurt or hurting someone else," said Leighton.

Carmen Gentile is a freelance journalist based in Miami.
 NEW MINE DOG DETECTION CENTER IN  DUSHANBE:

Tajikistan: with the onset of spring, demining operations can begin
Source: Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD)

To celebrate the United Nations International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the newly built Mine Dog Centre in Dushanbe was opened together with other events staged by the FSD and other organisations.

During the 2005 season the programme ended up short of funds to fulfil the capacity that is required by the Tajik Mine Action Plan. However even with the shortfall the teams were able to accomplish a great deal from June until December; conducting General Mine Action Assessment, Manual Mine Clearance and Explosive Ordnance operations, which resulted in:

• GMAA of 254 towns and villages
• Clearance of 126,715m² of land
• Destruction of 1352 anti-personnel mines
• Destruction of 1 anti-vehicle mine
• Destruction of 457 items of Unexploded Ordnance
• Destruction of 4,076 items of Small Arms Ammunition
• Completion of 7 training courses
• Positioning of 670 Hazard Warning Signs
• Conducted 5 incident investigations

Thanks to the continued support of donors the FSD in cooperation with the Tajik Mine Action Centre and the OSCE have been able to establish six Mine Detecting Dog teams for the Tajik programme. At present these dogs are undergoing training in the Mine Dog Centre in Afghanistan, the dog handlers are also about to join the training.

It is expected that these MDD teams will be operational in June of this year, and as a result significantly boost the productivity of the programme.

As funds are received the teams are being retrained for deployment, indeed one of these teams has already deployed to the Khatlon Region to clear a minefield to allow access to a dam and water channel that provides irrigation for agricultural land in the Panj District.

So far this year the FSD has retrained 49 personnel who will be deployed in the near future.