MINE AWARENESS IN CAMBODIA by Tim Grant Introduction With statistics like ..... There are more than 110 million land mines buried on our planet There are an estimated 100 million mines held in stockpile Around 2 million mines are still being laid every year .... there will be a need for mine awareness to continue somewhere in the world for at least our lifetimes. During the past 5 years, I have worked in 4 quite different mine awareness programs, first in 1990 with the Land Mine Awareness Programme (LMAP) whose mandate it was to reach the Cambodian refugee camps on the Thai/Cambodian border. LMAP was the first mine awareness program to operate in the South East Asian region and was run through the International Rescue Committee (IRC) with funding by the Office of the United Nations Secretary General for the Coordination of Cambodian Humanitarian Assistance Programmes. My job, as Media Coordinator, was to design and produce all the education materials to be used by the program and to run the informal media component. After LMAP finished I then entered Cambodia and set up the first mine awareness program there, called the Mine Awareness Training Team (MATT), which was funded by World Vision Cambodia (WVC). As Program Manager it was my job to structure the program, adapting LMAP materials with new designs and approaches. I handed the running of MATT over to the local staff in 1994 and it is still successfully operating now 4 years on. As a consultant with a Cambodian/US Government initiative I used my mine awareness experience to assist with the setting up and training of soldiers from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF). I saw the main asset for this program, was to create teams which could enter insecure areas, where other mine awareness programs can’t go, and train those people who are living on the front-line. More recently I have volunteered my services to GINIE, an organization set up with support from UNICEF and UNESCO, and based at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States of America. They are maintaining web sites on the internet which shows mine awareness education materials from around the world. They are also setting up an emergency response group who are connected via e:mail, and can give quick responses to any questions or queries that people in the field have on mine awareness issues. Most major cities in the world now have internet/e:mail access and it is practical utilization of this instant form of communication. They are looking for more organizations to contribute work and can be contacted at the following address :- Contact Miki Fukuhara at GINIE, e:mail:- ginie+@pitt.edu My internet address is :- http://www.pitt.edu/~ginie/lm/cambodia.html Forums like this one organized by UNICEF here in Italy, are important for people working in similar areas to exchange and share information gained from working in the field. Many of the materials we have designed, and knowledge we have gathered, can be invaluable for those planning to start new programmes. Although I can only present ideas and experiences gained through working in an environment and circumstances which may be quite different to your own. The role of mine-risk education in injury prevention. In Cambodia there are more than 40,000 people who are disabled due to landmines. It is estimated that between 100 - 300 people per month are still standing on mines. In October 1995, in just one province of Cambodia, 13 children were killed and injured by mines and UXOs. Mines render rich, fertile land redundant, destroy livestock, and deny access to the natural resources of forests, rivers, and scrub land. Because of this, they must be recognized as a significant cause of the ongoing impoverishment of the affected communities. They are also a constant source of fear and insecurity for the population. In countries which have been mindlessly sown with land mines demining is by far the most pressing need. But because of the high costs and the fact that it’s so time consuming, I see mine awareness as absolutely necessary from now, till the mines cease to be such a threat. Mine awareness must run in conjunction with demining programs. At the rate of current demining in Cambodia, it may take more than 60 years to clear the mines from the most important areas - that’s if they stopped laying mines today. Deminers have to assess the priority areas and clear these first. For the people living in the lower priority areas who have to wait for their turn, mine awareness is all they have for protection. Mine awareness should never be presented as a 100% guarantee that it will protect people against standing on mines. But it is safest way for people to live in, and to negotiate the dangerous areas. They must be made well aware that it is up to them to protect themselves from becoming another mine victim. The mine awareness messages need to be repeated in many different media forms. People have become accustomed to living in mined areas and need to be constantly reminded of the dangers, with different groups specially targeted:- For example..... The children who have grown up with mines as common objects and have little fear of them Young men who think it is brave to be seen handling mines The forest collectors who believe their fates are already destined and therefore do not take proper precautions Women who spend most of their time in the villages and have less experience with, and knowledge of, the mine danger. In Cambodia, people are forced by economics to venture into possible mined areas. In many cases a safety message such as ‘Do not enter into known or likely mined areas’ is not heeded. Some people have no choice but to enter into known danger areas or they will go hungry. Children must herd the family’s buffalo, which requires continual movement into new areas to look for more grass. It is a sad fact that the grassiest most overgrown areas are also likely mined areas. A buffalo will enter these areas to graze, so the child must follow. It is at these times that techniques such as, recognition of warning clues, retracing footsteps, marking and reporting are all useful skills. There is debate as to whether the marking of mined areas is more effective than mine awareness. In Cambodia this doesn’t seem to be the case. People are suspicious of mine signs and sometimes think that the person erecting the signs is trying to hide something valuable, or that they are claiming this land as their own. Mine signs do not last for long in this tropical, termite ridden environment and there would need to be continually replaced. Also a mine sign is a valuable sturdy piece of material that has many purposes. I have seen them fashioned into buckets, used to patch roofs, as a hand fan and as children’s toys. On the other hand mine awareness equips the people with survival techniques that they can use in the field anyway and at anytime. During my research period I found that those who survived the longest in the most heavily mined areas were the ones who knew all the mine awareness messages and had put them into practice. It is essential to equip those living with mines with as many survival techniques as possible and for them to know when to use these techniques. Coordination at field level Just after I started MATT in Cambodia, I carried out spot checks on my teams, which showed that they were not performing their jobs properly. Most of the staff were ex- refugees and because of the dependency they developed on foreign assistance, they had little knowledge of work structure and ethics. After I assigned a trustworthy and experienced Supervisor the general day -to-day performances improved. From that time onwards the teams consisted of 5 people - 2 teachers, 1 Media Assistant, 1 Driver/Media Assistant and 1 Supervisor. The Supervisor’s task was to liaison with all the authorities, plan the schedule, supervise the staff, discuss local issues with the Village headperson, write a report on each village and fill in as a teacher when necessary. The teachers would give formal lessons in different parts of the village using a combination of silk screens, models, posters, and simulations as aids for their presentations. After the formal lessons were over they would do home visits, gathering small groups for more personalized training. Throughout the day the Media Assistants would be playing the video, displaying the materials, playing games with the children and erecting posters. This combination of different mediums/medias helped to cater for people’s different tastes and reached many sections of the population. In the formal setting detailed techniques are delivered in a serious manner, simplified concepts are presented informally as entertainment and the printed materials can be used as a reference and for studying more closely. Because of security concerns the teams would return to the town every night after visiting one village per day. To overcome the problem of not being able to visit the villages at night, (and reach those people who are out in the field everyday - consequently the ones who need the messages the most) we employed one local person as our Village Representative. Their job required them to visit all the villages within their local area, to play the video, conduct mine awareness lessons at night and keep the posters updated. In Cambodia it was imperative to have the support and cooperation of the local authorities. Visits to all the necessary authorities from the top down had to be made, first by the Program Manager and then the team Supervisors. We provided all the necessary authorities with copies of brochures, leaflets, posters, etc. and a gift of a T-shirt each. They would in turn encourage the villagers under their control to attend our lessons, find the best locations and sometimes supply lunch for the staff. The mines issue is too big for any official to ignore and it was in everyone’s interest to allow the program into all accessible areas. In general it wasn’t too hard to get a reasonable proportion of the village population to come to a session. Some came just out of curiosity but most were quite worried about living in the minefields and want to learn any new technique that can help them. The areas that are the most heavily mined are also usually the areas that are the least secure and are prone to bandit and guerrilla attacks, consequently we equipped each car with a radio for security purposes which also helped for the field coordination. I spent a lot of time reminding the teams of the importance of their job, which is to help save people’s limbs and lives. Then as it became clear to them that their suggestions and observations were being listened to and acted upon, they started to take a more personalized interest in the program. Towards the end of my term with the MATT team, all the staff had started to develop a pride in their work and were coming up with their own new ideas and initiatives. The appropriate messages In general there was good relations between all the mine awareness programs operating in Cambodia, as well as some teaming up for special events/needs, e.g. National Mine Awareness Day and new emergency situations. The Program Managers meet every month to outline their program’s progress and plans for the coming month. This is necessary for exchange of ideas, to make sure that we were not doubling up on the teaching and to make sure that our resources were being used as widely as possible. Problems with the consistency of the safety messages were experienced after more organizations started new mine awareness programs. It was sometimes difficult to reach a consensus on certain points between the 3 programs which were influenced by different backgrounds. LMAP/MATT with educational and media skills, the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) with mine disposal experts and CMAC with its military expertise and bureaucracy. This was partly solved with the drafting of, and agreement on a national curriculum, by all the parties involved. Although there still remains some areas of difference over the technical details in the curriculum. The messages that are now included in the National Cambodian curriculum have come from 8 years of testing, information gathering and trail & error. The LMAP Curriculum Developer came from Afghanistan’s Operation Salam’s Mine Awareness Programme and brought with her their curriculum and materials. These materials and curriculum were then adapted for a Cambodian audience, through questionnaires and interviews. Many of the basic messages, i.e. Do not touch, Ask the locals for the safe path, Stay on the safe path at all times, Retracing footsteps, etc. remained the same as in the Afghan curriculum, and I think are transferable across to all mine awareness programs, but there were many changes needed to be made to the details and techniques, e.g. mine types, likely mined areas, warning clues, warning signs, etc. LMAP was located on the Thai side of the Cambodian border, at a time when there was no access to foreigners into Cambodia. So information on the mine types, warning signs, local habits, etc. had to be gathered from Cambodian soldiers, Thai authorities and refugees within Thailand. Some of the information, such as what warning signs they used to make a mined area, was not always easy to obtain. When I first arrived in Cambodia I, and my assistant Mounh Sarath, conducted a 3 month survey of people’s mine awareness knowledge who live in the most heavily mined areas. The survey confirmed that most of the curriculum points were correct, plus new information gathered was used to refine the curriculum. Later, with the help from MAG and CMAC, we combined the MATT curriculum with MAG’s to become the national curriculum. The curriculum consisted of a list of main points set out so the teacher can reference them easily during a session. Combined with this was the ‘Teacher’s notes’ which gave hints on presentation, encouraging audience participation, necessary technical notes and the background for some of the more complicated concepts, such as fate/magic/karma. I can arrange copies on request. There are many debates about the details included in the curriculum, the following are some of what I thought were the more important points:- How should we categorize mines? One point of view is that we should categorize mines as the military do - fragmentation and blast. Whereas the other view is to categorize mines as aboveground and underground. It was argued that using the fragmentation and blast categories doesn’t teach the people anything useful. Categorizing mines as the location that they are usually found, gives two messages, identification and location. Should we teach prodding, and if so what is the correct prodding technique? No matter how hard we tried to have an accurate curriculum, mistakes were made. It was brought to our attention by deminers that two points from the LMAP rescue technique were incorrect. The first was the use of a hoe as the implement for prodding. The deminers insisted that it was safer to use a long knife as you have more control in the ground. The idea that the hoe provided a meter or so safer distance between a person and an exploding mine, was negated by the fact that the most common mines have at least a 5 meter lethal radius. People are now also instructed to use a strong sharp stick if they do not have access to a knife. The other point was that the deminers thought the villagers should be instructed to lie flat to the ground when prodding. This gives them a better angle of entry, and because prodding can take a long time, this technique reduces fatigue. LMAP had always been teaching people to squat when they prod, as this is the position villagers are most comfortable in for such a task. It is also against the usual behavior to ever lie on the dirt and consequently most people can hold a squatting position for a long period of time. The MATT staff tested the lying technique on the villages for a few weeks, to gauge their reactions. They opted to continue to teach people prodding in a squatting position, because it’s the position most people said they would naturally adopt for such a task. Another issue with prodding was the children, as it was suggested that they would probably not absorb all the details of prodding, which could be potentially dangerous. So the prodding was only taught to the adults, with the teachers taking those interested men and women aside to receive the training. It was still hard to keep the children away, as some still attended with their parents even after they were asked not to. The prodding brochure which was given out at the end of the lesson, was probably also seen by the children back in their house at a later time. The same problems arise with first aid. There is strong debate about the details of first aid training and whether it should be taught at all. Some medical people think that no- one should be taught to apply a tourniquet to stop bleeding. In most cases bleeding can be stopped by the application of a compress. Their views have come from experiencing many cases where whole legs have had to be amputated because the tourniquet was not released to allow bleeding (there is a huge difference in quality of life between an above knee amputee and a below knee amputee). On the other hand some other medical people say that at times the tourniquet should be used as many people also die from lose of blood on the way to hospital. The MATT staff thought it is already Khmer ‘folklore’, to automatically apply a tourniquet. So it is better to teach the people to apply a tourniquet the right way, so if they do apply the tourniquet unnecessarily, they should know to release it after a period of time and so the rest of the limb won’t die. In this case they decided to stop teaching the tourniquet method and change the curriculum to use a firmly tied bandage compressed around the wound, but with a reference to the tourniquet. IF you cannot stop bleeding by this method, only then is it necessary to use a tourniquet. NB. A tourniquet is very dangerous and may cause more damage because it will stop the blood from getting to the tissue below the tourniquet. Many people lose more limb than necessary because they did not know that the tourniquet must be released. To prevent the limb under the tourniquet from dying. Loosen the tourniquet, after the time it takes to smoke a cigarette,(which is 45 - 60 minutes in Cambodian countryside style of telling time), if it takes 4 hours to reach the hospital the tourniquet must be loosened 4 - 5 times. Loosen the tourniquet for the length of time it takes to take a few breaths (a few seconds). First aid was also not taught to the children, and is given only to the adults at the end of the mine field rescue procedures (i.e. prodding). Should we use real mines & UXOs for identification purposes? I have seen real mines and UXOs being used in a formal setting for identification purposes and felt it went against the messages. At one session an UNTAC soldier had around 20 mines laid out on a bench in front of the audience. During the lesson a small child wandered up and went up to touch a mine, her mother managed to pull her away just in time. Later, when he was demonstrating how booby traps work, he removed the pin from a grenade before he placed it in a tin can. This caused most people in the room to sit up and feel rather uncomfortable. I think his view was that using real ordnance is the only way to ensure good clear identification, and the adults will understand that they are experts in handling ordnance and that these particular models are perfectly safe. The opposing view is that, mine awareness staff should be setting good examples by never being seen to touch or carry any mines/UXOs (even wooden models). Most of the mine awareness staff are not demining experts and do not know how to handle a mine. A ‘live’ mine may accidentally get mixed up with the ‘free from explosives’ mines - the possibility of accidents should be avoided (there are many stories of the ‘experts’ having accidents). Although identification is important, to identify every mine found in Cambodia may just be an unnecessary information overload (in the UNTAC case most of the mines were ‘bounding mines’, which to a lay-person all looked quite similar). It should be sufficient if people have a good idea about what the most common types of mines look like, around 13, and not to be expected to know all the different models. For the children’s curriculum (I don’t have a copy available), which was used by the MATT Village Representatives in their local schools, we simplified all the messages and cut out some of the more difficult concepts. The following are most of the main points:- Do not touch Mine/UXO/fuse recognition Bravery Stay close to your parents when traveling Always tell someone where you are going Do not go off the safe path Do not chase your animal Likely mined areas Warning clues/warning signs Retrace footsteps If you cannot see your footsteps you must stop, call for help and wait. The messages of Do not touch mines/UXOs needs to be stressed again and again to the children. Surveys have shown that a significant number of child injuries and deaths come from playing with mines/UXOs. Children are naturally curious and tend to touch things even if they are told not to. Making the Do not touch message into a catchy tune can help the children to remember and heed this main message. Taking in account that the children’s most common chores are herding the animals and collecting firewood, the next most important messages to be stressed should be:- the most likely mind areas, how to recognize warning clues, how to recognize warning signs and how to retrace your footsteps out of a mine field. Training My background is in materials development not in training. In LMAP and MATT we had experienced Teachers Trainers to conduct the training of the mine awareness teachers. I always tried to only hire trained/ experienced teachers for the MATT program and never deminers or ex-soldiers. My view is that the military personnel already possessed too much technical information, in mine awareness terms, which could be inadvertently passed onto the villagers. The mine awareness teachers are taught all the information that is necessary for them to pass on safety messages and not any potentially dangerous in-depth technical details. They are instructed in the Teacher’s Notes “ If you are ever asked questions that are too technical, relating more to demining or the workings of a mine, you could answer “Sorry I do not know that information, because this is a mine awareness program not a demining program...” The new recruits were given a 2 week in-house training which covered such topics as:- the clear understanding of each message how to correctly delivery the messages how to use the educational aids how to answer questions how to present themselves to the audience how to promote audience participation other basic teaching techniques. For the teachers first sessions we invited local NGOs and Government field workers to our office for training. Then after a weeks monitored field work was carried out, they were ready to be on their own. As mentioned earlier it took more than just knowing how to deliver the curriculum before they became effective mine awareness officers. Assessment and Evaluation Accident statistics could not be used as a gauge of the effectiveness of mine awareness because the hospitals did not kept accurate records and most deaths in the field went unreported. Although now more reliable mine incident statistics are being kept and used in Cambodia. The LMAP program was evaluated and tested on a number of occasions by the Curriculum Developer. At the start of the LMAP Program we surveyed and found out that too many people :- Don’t even know what a mine looks like Don’t know what sets a mine off and how they kill Don’t know all the signs to indicate the presence of mines Don’t know what is safe and unsafe behavior around mines Don’t know what they should do if they see a mine Don’t know how to get out of, or rescue someone from a mined area Don’t know how to treat someone injured by a mine blast During the final assessment of the program the results showed a vast increase in people’s mine awareness knowledge (the survey results are not available). To evaluate what impact MATT training was having on the population I got the staff to carry out periodical questionnaires. The people from villages that had not received any MATT training would be questioned on their mine awareness knowledge. Around 3 months after the MATT teams had trained the village, they returned and asked the villagers the same questions, to reassess their knowledge. The survey showed that there was an increase in their mine awareness knowledge in most areas. Especially in the areas of mine recognition (an increase of 26%), marking a location (an increase of 35%), understanding about a tilt/touch mechanism (an increase of 20%). As well we found there were a few areas that needed to be concentrated on, e.g. understanding about a tilt/touch mechanism (although there was an increase in knowledge the overall numbers, 41% of those surveyed knew about it, this was still too low), using tied grass as a warning signs (only 26% of those surveyed knew this sign), how to retrace your footsteps well (24% of the people who were asked to show how to retrace did not do it well - I recommend that everyone should practice this technique, it’s more difficult than you think, and the prodding technique (only 28% could prod correctly, 44% said they did not know and 24% prodded incorrectly). After receiving the results of this survey, some changes were made to the curriculum and new materials were designed and produced. The MATT staff were encouraged to record any information they learnt/heard in the field about mines, mine awareness points, problems encountered and the effect mines are having on the people’s lives. One of the staff, Phan Sokha, was an accomplished writer and reported in detail many new and relevant facts. The staff knew very well that any negative information they gathered would not be taken as an assessment of their own personal performances, but as a indication that an area may need change and improvement. Integrating into other related programs None of the programs I worked in were, at the time, linked to demining or development programs. The refugee camps that LMAP was working in were strictly controlled, free trade was officially banned and movement by the refugees outside the camp was illegal. We could not consider any link to development and there were no demining programs operating there. When MATT started in Cambodia, demining programs were just setting up and the NGOs role was limited. MATT was the first mine awareness program to operate in the country and was started as an emergency response group with no links to other programs. After around 2 years of operation and after all of the most heavily mined areas had been visited on several occasions, we decided that the emergency status of MATT had passed. This was just at the end of my contract so I have not been involved in the changes. Since then the MATT teams have been integrated as part of the World Vision’s Income Generation Program, but I don’t have details on the structure or details on its operation. (this can be obtained by contacting Mounh Sarath c/- WVC Battambang, Cambodia). Towards the end of my time with MATT I proposed to restructure the program to have the teams spending up to, at least, one week in each village, giving formal lessons, etc., but more importantly conducting in-depth discussions with the villagers to find out how they can best help them to meet their main needs and problems. This could require the marking off of certain areas, or the quick clearing of some easily located mines, or the placing of a high priority order on the demining in that area, or concentration on specific messages, or focusing on particular target groups, etc. In Cambodia it is necessary to take time to establish a relationship with the villagers before they would really open up to you. Barriers such as big flash cars, expensive watches, short-wave radios, etc., need to be broken down. It may take several casual informal talks before the full details start to emerge. Then the mine awareness teams could evaluate that particular village’s requirements and act as a link to the services available ( i.e. demining, marking, new materials development, etc.) and advise the villagers how they can continue these contacts in the future. Other information such as the villages history of mine incidences, the mapping of the exact locations of the surrounding mined areas, etc., could also be made and then passed on to the relevant organizations. The staff should be well aware not to make false promises to the villages about what services are available or what they can do for them. Materials My background is mainly in the production of printed materials, photography and more recently computer graphics. Through my 5 years experience in 3 separate mine awareness programs I have also picked up a better understanding of some education principles, the relevant technical information on mines & demining, and how to motivate teams to want to improve their program. For me this was not an easy process of learning and I must admit to more than a few mistakes over the years. I tried to make sure that all the issues/ debates/ criticisms were discussed with all my colleagues and changes made where deemed necessary. I feel lucky that throughout my time in mine awareness I worked with many talented Cambodians, who were my guides when it came to cultural/traditional issues and, at times, my protectors. The LMAP Curriculum Developer, Anne Campbell, patiently taught me the basic dos and don’ts of education materials design. We spent many hours cutting and pasting the designs. All the unnecessary background imagery that the artist put in ‘to make it attractive’, had to be cut out. The lines at the sides of the safe paths were thickened so that the people at the back of the groups will understand its importance. The size of these screens works well in most of the groups that LMAP and MATT have taught, although they are a little small for the teaching of larger groups. The designs were always tested on target audiences, passed by technical experts and other relevant people, before the final draft is completed. Since those early days the curriculum content, educational aid designs and program structure have become an ongoing process of change, according to the new information that has been regularly gathered from experts and those people living in and around the minefields. New materials were being developed at different stages of the programs, to continually reinforce the messages (as we visited the most heavily affected areas on several occasions) and to retain interest with new attractions. I used equipment & materials that were durable and long lasting, with most being made by staff or locally produced. This provided the staff with opportunities to learn new skills and to ensure the option for them to continue if/when funding is cut or pulled out. For the electronic equipment it always proved more efficient and cost saving in the long term to purchase the best quality items, i.e. the most expensive. (The staff were always encouraged to clean, maintain and repair the materials and equipment immediately when needed). Because of the 30% illiteracy rate, all materials were designed to be understood without the aid of the written word. There was a lot of debate about the content of each others program’s aids and printed materials. It is a difficult area because it involves strong criticism and artistic egos. After working on a design for a long time it is sometimes difficult to consider changes or scrapping the design completely There was endless debate among Khmer staff in Cambodia over the correct wording and terminology’s used on posters, etc. This was partially solved by the drafting of a Mine Awareness Terminology Glossary, although the debate still always arises. Other difficulties came from the accurate depiction of local characters in the illustrations. Most of the local artists were city based and had ‘modern views’ on what a country person should look like, and also from foreign artist’s point of view. It could help to draft some clear guidelines on how to develop and test materials. Outlined steps for conducting material testing, how to analyze the results and who are the necessary experts to check the technical details, could be very useful for field staff. These guidelines would have to be written as simply as possible, because many of the field staff may not have a high level of education. The following is a list of all the materials and their dissemination, used by the LMAP and MATT programs:- Video - Video was the most popular media used by the mine awareness programmes I was closely involved in. During LMAP I worked with a professional team, based in Bangkok, to produce a 40 minute mine awareness instructional video. Basically all the curriculum points were presented as short scenarios cut with vox populi shots and testimonies from mine victims. The video playing equipment was driven around the border camps, and later the villages in Cambodia, usually presented as a supplement to the formal training. The MATT staff introduced the video with loud blaring music over the loudspeakers to attract people. Then started off with the first part of a popular locally produced comedy, halfway through it was switched to the mine awareness video with the promise that Part 2 of the comedy would be played later. The rescue section in the video had to be replaced after new information was received concerning the prodding technique. Later this section was taken out completely because of concerns that children were too young to able to grasp the rescue concepts completely. And in this case a little information can be dangerous. The MATT Village Representatives, local recruits whose task is to visit his district during the night, also used the video in the villages. Copies of the video were given to NGOs, UN organizations the local television networks, which have played it many times in several provinces. Although the video works well, I feel it could be improved by having a story that runs through it and links all the different scenarios together. Silk screens - All together I designed and produced round 15 separate screens for LMAP and MATT programs. Silk screened images on cloth were chosen as the best media for the educational aids and for decoration around the location. The local staff silk screened images onto white cloth, the top end was then nailed together between 2 pieces of thin wood and attached to a stand. Printing them on a material base allowed for easy cleaning, which is regularly necessary in that hot, dirty and dusty environment. Transportation was made easy as the screens could be rolled and packed into small spaces. The MATT artist needed to change some of the LMAP screen images after information I gathered during the survey, e.g. correcting the mine sizes, adding new mines, showing the tilt/touch initiation danger, etc. Some of the silk screens I produced in 1990 for LMAP are still in good condition and are being used in Cambodia today. The messages covered on the screens were :- Be aware of the dangers of mines Buried mine identification Surface mine identification Mine initiation UXO identification Booby traps Traveling procedures Retracing/ marking/ reporting Warning signs Prodding Posters - In all my programs we used posters extensively to convey messages to the people in the affected areas. Posters, and other printed materials were used as a support to the training, as a reference and as a way of reaching those people we missed with the formal lectures. I designed over 20 posters in all for LMAP, MATT, CMAC and The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), covering a variety of different messages. Usually when the posters are first erected they are a source of great interest, mainly because the villages seldom see such things in their villages. We quickly learnt that to ensure a longer life the posters needed to be framed with wood and a mat backing. (Some of the posters we did like this have lasted for more than 2 years). Plastic covers were stopped after they became popular for covering school books. One staff member would find the best locations to erect the framed posters, i.e. high enough so the small children can’t reach them, out of direct sunlight and in a dry position. Where they are nailed onto a beam securely. The posters were usually put up in the high profile locations such as community offices, temples, hospitals, markets, etc. LMAP used several of the posters for the school program, presenting the most suitable messages to the children in short story form based around the images. T-shirts - T-shirts were used as a good way for spreading the safety messages, as an incentive for people to continue providing help and as an identifying uniform for the mine awareness staff. I designed the T-shirts to be as attractive as possible with bold, colorful and striking images. The most popular design is the MATT Do Not Touch/Stay on the Safe Path design, which features an image of the Hindu God Vishnu , his arms crossed by red crosses, displaying the ‘Do Not Touch’ message and advising that “You are in control of their own destiny”. Most Cambodians were amused to read the message on the back of the shirt which advised ‘Don’t go off the safe path, even to take a piss’. Thousands of these T-shirts were distributed in every district of the 4 provinces MATT had selected to work in at that time. The shirts acted as mobile posters and were a much valued commodity for those poor people forced to live in the mined areas. Games - The games were designed as another way to educate the children about the dangers posed by mines. Because children have a relatively short attention span it was decided to develop some games to keep their attention and so they can learn the mine awareness messages while having some fun. The first game was based on Snakes & Ladders (Shutes and Ladders) with mine awareness messages written on most of the squares, which are connected by safe paths and unsafe paths. LMAP distributed tens of thousands of these games in the camps with staff visiting every household to explain the concepts and rules. In Cambodia we used them as the informal component to the training, with the MATT Media Officer making sure the messages were read out and understood by the children playing the game. Then the winners were presented with mine awareness materials as prizes. The next game I designed was the “Help Grandfather Dar” game. This game consisted of a picture of a farmer stuck in a mined area. This very cluttered picture featured hidden warning signs, warning clues and mines, set in a traditional forest setting. The children were enjoyed to study this poster and try to find all the signs, clues and mines, in between old shoes, buckets and broken chairs. Again the most observant were rewarded with some small treat. The MATT staff brought this game out when they had to separate the children from the adults, so the adult group can be taught prodding and first aid. Wooden mine models - In the Afghan program the teachers were all supplied with a set of wooden mine models, which they would use to show identification and as props in simulated mine fields. But I decided that it would be giving the wrong messages for the people to see the mine awareness teachers handing mines on the one hand, but then saying “Don’t touch mines” on the other. But we also knew that it was necessary to have some sort of display which allowed people to get a close view of a mine form. Real mines were suggested but ruled immediately out as being potentially dangerous and not to mention the fact that it is illegal to carry mines in Thailand. So we got access to some disarmed mines, through the Thai Border Patrol, and had them accurately measured, then exact wooden mine replicas were made. The teachers and media officers had strict instructions that they are never to be seen in public handling these models. Instead the models were securely mounted inside plastic covered boxes and taken around as media displays. I had attended a few mine awareness lectures, by military personal where they used real mines for identification. I felt it left audience feeling uneasy and a little confused by having to sit in a room full of dangerous objects. It was hard to believe the soldiers as they held the mines aloft, that they were seriously trying to encourage people not to touch them. Exposed mine models - If a mine is laid properly then it is impossible to see, but sometimes the wind and rain wash off the sand and can partly reveal the mine. This is an important warning clue to show the people that they are in a mined area. So I produced these models to give people an idea about what they could see, IF they see anything. The top of one of the most common mines was cut off and embedded in a mixture of glue and sand and then mounted on a board. These models were also used by the teachers as they demonstrated some other mine awareness concepts, such as prodding and retracing footsteps. Other models - Other models, such a crossed sticks & knotted grass were used to show examples of the recommended warning signs. A common fish can was used as a mine model during the demonstration of retracing and prodding techniques. A tin can with a stick through the middle and connected to a plastic stick, was used to represent the POMZ2 above ground mine during the demonstration on how to be aware of and to avoid tripwires. The reason we used a can rather than a model was again the idea that teachers should not be seen handling mines, and consequently going against the DO NOT TOUCH MINES message. It was thought that everyone would understand that this common fish can, which they all would instantly recognize, was only a representation of a mine for teaching purposes. Warning clues models - The warning clues lesson was hard to get over without the use of some models. With the help of some deminers I collected as many objects as possible to represent some of the different types of warning clues they could find. These were securely fastened to a board and grouped into sections, such as - fuses, pins/clips, caps, inside mine pieces, bits of exploded mines, wrappings, aboveground mine stakes and shrapnel. Mainly these boards were displayed around the entertainment area, and also used by some of the teachers during lessons. It was clearly explained and stressed to the people that if they didn’t see any of these clues, that did not automatically mean the area they were in was safe from the threat of mines. Brochures - These materials generally comprised of a cheap A4 paper which were folded into three sections and printed with the most important messages. They are used for reinforcing the messages delivered by the teams, as a guide for teaching their friends/family at home and as a way of reaching those people we missed with the formal lectures. Most of the main messages from the curriculum were illustrated, except the more complex concepts such as prodding, first aid and traditional beliefs. Hundreds of thousands of these brochures have been handed out whenever and wherever possible. They are usually distributed after the formal and informal sessions, and have also been used in other ways. Such as the ‘Ting Mong’ raffle where they were numbered and distributed as raffle tickets with the people advised to read the messages because they could win a prize. Leaflets - Again these materials were viewed as a way of reaching those people we missed with the formal lectures. The leaflets were made as full A4 sheets printed on one side with mine identification illustrations, examples of fuse types and for special needs (for example special messages were created for the recently internally displaced people before they had to return to their newly mined villagers). The leaflets are handed out along with the brochures at the end of a lesson or whenever the occasion arises. For mine and UXO identification sheets, all the most common mines & ordnance were represented and divided into 3 groups - above ground mines, below ground mines and Unexploded Ordnance. Photographs- From the very start of the LMAP program, the teachers were reporting that the people have been asking for photographs of mines and of mine victims ‘because it is real’. Photographs of an underground mine, an above ground mine, a UXO and a mine victim were produced in large amounts. These were used by the teachers as educational aids and they were passed around during the formal lessons to give the people a close-up view. For the media displays around the video showing area, I left cameras in the hospitals and asked the staff there to take photos of the mine victims as they were admitted to the hospital. Then these, graphic hard hitting images, were mounted on board, covered with a protective plastic and displayed in every village. These boards always attracted a lot of attention and seemed to have a positive impact on some people. Audio - LMAP got the local refugee camp theater groups to produce one new mine awareness story every week. These stories, each dedicated to a separate safety message were broadcast on the loudspeakers to the ‘captive audience’ , i.e. in the rice distribution areas where the women usually sat in the hot sun for hours to wait for their ration hand- out. Also they were used in the mobile and permanent mine awareness information offices. Although a lot of effort and time went into the production of these plays I feel overall they were not as successful as other medias we used. Few people seemed to voluntarily stay around to hear the full story and lost interest very quickly. So it was decided by MATT not to spend time on creating more audio presentations inside Cambodia according to a study of the people’s radio listening habits. Although maybe around 70% of the villagers owned a radio, because of the high cost of batteries they were very selective about what they listened to, most preferring to listen to a music channel. The Ting Mong’ raffle - As part of the informal media LMAP campaign, a raffle event was implemented featuring the traditional dancing clowns. The Ting Mong’ which are normally used to raise money for the temples, were employed this time to attract attention, entertain and educate. Numbered mine awareness brochures were distributed, with instructions for people to study the mine awareness messages because they could win a prize when we returned in a day or two. Upon returning we set up the mobile information offices where the winning numbers were displayed. The lucky brochure holders were then asked mine awareness questions publicly (i.e. loudly) and received mine awareness T-shirts, bags, games, etc., as prizes. The events were usually well received, brightening up the refugee camp life and adding to their meager resources. Mobile Information Offices - The mobile information offices consisted of displays of posters, wooden mine model cases, large painted signs, audio plays and other attractive images. They were used in the refugee camps around the gathering places and also during special events such as the raffle. Theater productions - LMAP utilized the theater groups that operated in the refugee camps to produce weekly mine awareness plays. Every week they would take one mine awareness safety message and make it into a 30 - 40 minute production. These plays always attracted a big crowd, mostly because there was little else to do on a Sunday in the dreary camps. School bag - These were designed with messages targeting the children and distributed in the border schools by LMAP. They were made of cotton and designed to be big enough for the children to carry their school books in. We also found later that they were the perfect size for carrying rice back from the UN distribution areas. Coloring-in book - This book was distributed in the refugee camp school along with a crayon. The teachers then formed a mine awareness lesson around the coloring in of the images. Mine awareness messages were also printed on the back of the UN school exercise books. Conclusion In conclusion I would like to emphasis some of the main points. I feel to have a successful program you must be flexible, willing and able to change whenever conflicting and/or new information is received. The mine awareness staff should be continually asking questions/ evaluating/ assessing from the experts on technical issues, the villagers on reaction to the training & materials, and from the people who work in the field/forests for feedback on needs and habits. This information needs to be checked, discussed and then acted upon. No matter how hard you try, it is easy to make mistakes. Don’t think that if you make mistakes or miss some vital information, that your program is a failure. It may take many years of field experience before you can feel your program materials are 100% correct. If you are a foreigner working in another country it is important to make sure the messages are adapted for a local audience. This will involve a lot of information collection and working very closely with the local staff. For example, when my mine awareness programs first started I was instructed not to include any blood or gore in my images, because some of the UN staff thought it may be offensive. But after working with Cambodians for a period of time I found that the most popular and effective images are those showing in graphic detail the results of not following the safety messages. It is imperative that all the relevant information you collect is shared openly with all the other mine awareness programs operating in the country. Don’t fall in the trap that some agencies do, of holding back information and being territorial. You can’t forget the reasons that you are doing mine awareness is to save people’s limbs and lives, not to start an empire or to be the biggest and best mine awareness program in the country regardless of the safety of the people. It is better to share your designs with the other agencies and ask for feedback before the printing stage. It is better to try and get it right the first time and respect the experience and ideas from the other programs. Don¹t forget to follow your own advice when you are in the fields & villagers and be careful of those mines. GLOSSARY LMAP - The Land Mine Awareness Programme MATT - The Mines Awareness Training Team ICBL - The International Campaign to Ban Landmines CMAC - The Cambodian Mine Action Center WVC - World Vision Cambodia IRC - The International Rescue Committee MAG - The Mines Advisory Group UNTAC - The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia RCAF - Royal Cambodian Armed Forces NGO - Non-Government Organization MAP - Mine awareness program UXO - Unexploded ordnance Although most Cambodians are practicing Buddhists, because of India ancient links, Hindu gods are known and respected.