The Man Who Walks Through Minefields
Hostile territory, difficult weather conditions and, worst of all, hidden explosives ready to blow up at the primary false transfer: Working in a minefield takes quite a lot of courage and concentration. But the best hazard lies elsewhere. I cover climate change and power by means of reportages, articles, interviews and in-depth reports. I am interested within the impacts of worldwide warming on on a regular basis life and options for an emission-free planet. Passionate about travel and discovery, I studied biology and different pure sciences. On a desk in Thun army barracks, Sergeant Roman Wilhelm shows us two plastic boxes - two containers of death. Inside are different types of landmines: anti-personnel and rechargeable garden shears anti-tank mines, ones product of plastic and metallic, round ones and lengthy ones. Some are designed to explode at the slightest strain, others need a chemical reaction to detonate. Wilhelm, aged 32, has been a deminer since 2004. The former electrical technician from Zurich works on the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Centre of the Swiss military.
To qualify for this specialised work he took training abroad. After an initial mission of eight months in Eritrea, the skilled soldier served in Albania, Somaliland (an East African state not recognised by the international group) and Laos, which are among the many countries most contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance. Before getting into a minefield, explains Wilhelm, you have to think about the place the mines is likely to be. "In the West, mines have normally been laid in a fixed sample. There are additionally minefield maps, which facilitate our work. Upon finding out the country’s history and talking to the locals, it may become clear that nothing was completed by chance after all. "In Eritrea we found mines 15 metres from the trenches. That caught us by shock - here no-one would think of doing something like that. With or with out a map, he emphasises, pinpointing mines is a tough job. "Landslides or flooding may change the unique location. On the bottom, deminers proceed slowly, holding instruments that look somewhat like gardening tools.
"Our important device is a metal rod: it serves to pinpoint wires linked to mines," explains Wilhelm. Using rechargeable garden shears, small sickles and cutters, they then take away vegetation from the encompassing area. This may be time-consuming work. "What was once a bush has meanwhile grown into a tree," he says. To localise the mine itself, they rely on a standard metal detector. The deminer himself has to find out the precise place - that is essentially the most delicate part of demining. "We sound the ground out with a prodder, which is a stiff pointed wand. We make a gap each centimetre until we encounter some resistance. When you find yourself lying on the bottom, just a few inches from a bomb, caution is unquestionably indicated. "Small mines may instantly flip over. You have to be careful to keep away from the tip of the prodder pressing the top half. Wilhelm provides that mines are getting more subtle on a regular basis. "They could include solely a very small amount of steel.
Using canines would mean the work may proceed more quickly, he notes. "But that costs more. Deminers usually work in pairs: one is on the ground while the other monitors the scenario from further away, Wilhelm explains. "There may be animals that get into the perimeter. Then we must stop for safety’s sake. I have even seen folks come across the field I used to be demining… Doing this work for longer than 20-half-hour at a stretch can also be hazardous. "In Africa the temperatures are very excessive: the heat and the sweat make you lose your focus. And when you find yourself on the ground you can’t afford to let your self get distracted. It's essential have your thoughts completely alert, even if you happen to haven’t slept nicely, or simply had a quarrel along with your girlfriend," he explains. The principal hazard is your personal way of thinking, insists Wilhelm. Fortunately he has by no means witnessed an accident though "there are enough of them" as he says.
In a United Nations doc it is estimated that for every 5,000 mines disarmed, one deminer is killed and two others are injured. As protective gear, Wilhelm wears an armoured suit and a helmet with a visor. "If there's an explosion the shock wave will hit the protecting gear. The principal menace throughout an overseas mission has nothing to do with bombs anyway. Whether it is in Africa or in Europe, the deminers all the time set up a novel sort of relationship with the locals, Wilhelm says. "The greatest feeling of satisfaction for me comes from being ready to hand fields again to their rightful owners. As a part of the festivities put on of their honour by local residents, the deminers have a really original means of celebrating the clearing of mined areas - and of exhibiting even the fearful that all the mines are gone. Until the 1980s mine clearance was a navy duty. In 1988 for the first time the UN launched a fundraising action to help Afghanistan deal with the humanitarian problems brought on by anti-personnel mines.