Finally safe: How the UK public has saved these children from landmines

29th November 2021
Donations to the Breaking Boundaries campaign were doubled by the UK Government.

Mukumbura is a small town in the District of Mount Darwin in Zimbabwe. It sits where the road from the interior meets the border with Mozambique. It is a community of farmers, who keep cattle and raise maize, sorghum and millet from the dry earth. The homesteads are spread out across a wide area, because everyone needs as much land as possible to be able to feed their families.

The distances mean many children walk 8-12 km a day to get to Chisecha Primary School, which serves Mukumbura. Until recently many of the school's pupils also had to cross a minefield that sat 100m behind the school.

The minefield ran about 100m from the schoolyard. I came here from another part of Zimbabwe and was amazed when I learned people here lived with landmines. About 40 of the children at the school would cross over using informal paths that ran through the minefield. Every day we would go to meet them to make sure they came through safe.

"Children from the age of six were crossing – they would hold hands with the bigger kids but they were scared, we were scared for them. And we taught them every Tuesday and Friday in lessons about the dangers from mines, but they are children, so some naughty boys brought two mines in their bags to school one day and we had to clear the school and call HALO to make the mines safe."

"Since the landmines were removed, we’ve seen an increase in admissions from the other side of the old minefield. There were families that refused to send their children so they missed out on an education. This is a poor place, no one can afford to miss out on school.”

One of those who used to cross every day was Kinglong Gotsea, 15, who used to take smaller children by the hand to ensure they didn't wander off the informal path created by villagers before HALO cleared the mines.

I was ten years old when I first crossed to come to school. When we were small our parents used to come through the minefield with us in the morning, then in the afternoon, the headmaster would walk through with us. It is about 30m wide and we used to follow animal tracks and follow the footsteps of the adults.

"Once I became older," Kinglong adds, "I would have to take the smaller children through on my own. I would hold them by the hand to stop them running off of the path. Once I got one over I would go back and get another one, so I would go backwards and forwards on the path collecting the little ones one at a time. My heart was banging in chest every day when I crossed. I am so happy they are gone."

"The school taught us about the mines, but I was still scared. In my family we have lost cattle to the landmines and I have heard of people in the village who were injured. I know a lot of children on the other side whose families would keep them at home to avoid the mines, but they were sorry they could not learn to read.”

In total, since commencing operations in 2013 HALO teams have released a total of 6.95 sq km of formerly contaminated land in the Mount Darwin District. UK Aid Match mechanical teams have contributed to this effort over the past year, funding the clearance of close to 30,000 sq m in the district.

On behalf of the people of Mukumbura, HALO is extremely grateful for the support of the UK public who donated to the Breaking Boundaries Aid Match campaign. The complete clearance of Mount Darwin marks a significant milestone in the complete clearance of Zimbabwe.