I arrived in Juba on February 26, 2009 during the dry season and met with temperatures that reached 45°C in the shade. I visited mine fields being cleared around the southern capital and observed mine risk education projects in villages still waiting for de-mining teams to remove the hidden danger. Farmers are still reluctent to till the land for fear of stepping on landmines that continue to kill and maim.

I flew to Aweil and visited dozens small villages in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. Here, people are returning to the homeland they ran from when they were attacked with a cruelty more recently witnessed in neighbouring Darfur. I interviewed men, women and children under their villages’ biggest trees. Here, up to 90% of the population have returned in the previous two years after living in displacement camps for ten, fifteen, even twenty years. They arrived without enough wells to supply drinking water, without sufficent schools, without clinics. They are finally on land that is theirs and want to stay, despite the hardships.

In the state of Warrap, I accompanied a vaccination program to the village of Lurcuk. Two medical assistants spent five hours giving innoculations against measles, tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria and tetanus. In all, 276 children were vaccinated.

Later, before my flight back to Montréal, I revisited the youth from Sud Academy, a school for Sudanese refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. I met them before my journey to Sudan and promised to return with images of their homeland, a place they barely remember and dream of returning. Most of them haven’t seen their parents or siblings since they ran from their villages, scrambling to escape the killing.

The photographs represent some of the people I met and who generously shared their stories.

The vernissage is Thursday, June 10 from 16h00-19h00 at Café Rico 969, rue Rachel est, Montréal. Videos I took during my visit will be shown at the vernissage.

UNMAO's Mark Argent and I at mine removal site outside of Juba near E. Rejaf. Notice the MineWolf in upper left of photo. (March 2009)

[Montréal, Québec, Canada -2°C] In a previous post from Juba, Southern Sudan, I wrote about a UNICEF managed and CIDA-funded Mine Risk Education (MRE) programs. I visited program sites where local NGOs taught children and their elders about landmines that remain hidden near their villages. At the time, there were still more known minefields to clear than there were teams trained to clear them so the clearing process would take time. In the meantime, villagers are taught how to recognize landmines or unexploded ordnances and avoid them to remain safe until the dangers are cleared by the United Nations Mine Action Office (UNMAO).

A few days after an MRE visit, Mark Argent (UNMAO) brought me to a different site outside of Juba in E. Rejaf where landmines were actively being cleared by a team of trained mine-removal personnel and a MineWolf machine that, to me, resembles a snow blower. We drove 100 metres past the minefield to a demarkated area adjacent to where landmines were being cleared. This safe area is outlined by a boundary of white-tipped sticks, within which the mine-removal teams prepare their equipment before entering the minefield, take breaks, debrief and where the UN ambulance vehicle parkes at the ready in case of injury.

MineWolf clearing minefiled near Juba, Southern Sudan. (March 2009)

After my debriefing, I was given protection gear to wear (see above photo) that I put on before heading toward the minefield where a team of de-miners were at work. In the back of the minefield, there was a MineWolf actively pounding at the earth, destroying the landmines hidden below the surface.

With minefields still dotting the landscape, farmers are afraid to cultivate the land. When the MineWolf passes over a minefield, it crushes the mines rendering them obsolete. Rarely do the mines explode during this process and when they do, the machine’s driver is rarely hurt due to its design but the machine gets damaged. Once it has passed over an entire field, the MineWolf is transferred to another minefield. At this point, mine-removal teams begin their meticulous work often accompanied with dogs trained to smell explosives.

Safe area is marked by white-tipped sticks planted in the ground to demarkate the area near Juba. (March 2009)

Since 2002/2003, landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) have killed or maimed at least 4,119 people in Southern Sudan. During my visit I saw a map in the UNMAO offices that showed a list of over 100 known sites needing to be cleared of landmines. During the rpevious year’s de-mining season, which takes place during the dry season from October to May/June, UNMAO cleared 79 routes and 59 areas. Detecting mines along a road takes time. The slow arduous process moves forward at a spead of about four kilometres per day with a special vehicle that has a pulling mine detector.

Mine removal team returns to safe area after a day's work near Juba, southern Sudan (March 2009)

The presence of landmines in post-war Southern Sudan continue to have a serious impact on the South’s ability to develop. Landmines cause road closures, obstruct aid delivery, hinders the return of refugees and prevents farmers from cultivating the land.

In a recently published article, Norweigan People’s Aid presents the Mokindi and Kulipapa communities, located south of Juba, Southern Sudan and their return to cultivation after the land around their village was cleared of landmines. A total of 109 anti vehicle mines, 411 anti personnel mines, 418 Unexploded Ordnance and 28 sub munitions were cleared.

We are seven around the table. I’m surrounded by Child Protection Specialists, Mine Risk Educators, Child Protection Officers and Mine Victim Assistant Officers. They all work either for UNICEF or United Nations Mine Action Office (UNMAO). Other organizations collaborate with the

I learn that the reported number of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Southern Sudan is more than 2,642. In the past 3 1/2 years, 3,050 dangerous areas have been identified through a Landmine Impact Survey but only 1,894 of them have so far been cleared. Each year, the Mine Risk Education Program hopes to reach around 250,000 children with 26 groups of local educators in the field. So far a total of 758,365 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and refugees have received Mine Risk Education.

After the briefing, a group of us climb into an UNMAO vehicle and drive to a roundabout near the construction site of the Dr. John Garang monument and museum. The War Child vehicle is waiting for us at the rendez-vous point, so we continue behind their lead. We drive 12 kilometres along a bumpy dirt road toward the village of Kabo.

On the way, we notice heavy plumes of black smoke rising from the horizon. We drive closer and can see the flames in the distance.

We continue onward to where the Kajo Kaji Youth Organization Family Association will provide a mine risk education presentation to the youth of the village. I’m going to observe. On the way, we pass a bush fire that rages across the landscape.

Mine Risk Education in Kabo Village

During the civil war the site of Kabo was a former military base. After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 between the Government of Sudan in Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M), the military camp was abandoned. Refugees and other displaced people from within Sudan return to their southern homeland. Some choose to settle in this village. Many families inhabit the former base area. They build houses, open shops, and settle in to their new lives.

Mine Risk Education in Kabo Village

Unfortunately, there are lingering landmines, planted to protect the former base during the civil war. An invisible fence that maims and kills long after the soldiers have left. Throughout Southern Sudan, the scenario repeats itself: families return to resettle an area and landmines litter the arable land where they plan to cultivate.

The kids are taught how to recognize the markers that identify mine areas, what to do if a suspected landmine is found, and who to tell in the communities to get the site added to the Survey.