"The difficulty is we don't have maps," he said. And no charts exist to help find them, explains the director of Mozambique's national de-mining institute, Alberto Augusto. Some landmines date back not just to the civil war, but to the war against Portuguese rule. They were never operated on because they have no way to get to the city to get help.ĭe-mining presents a special challenge in a country where frequent floods displace landmines. He says his organization meets people who are living with shrapnel from the blast in their bodies. Some use tree branches to construct crutches. Many are peasants, living in remote rural areas and have no means to heal. There are some 20,000 still scattered across Mozambique. He says he lost his confidence and could not face the world until he was lucky enough to find people to help him believe in himself again.įar from giving up, Wamusse founded an organization which helps other land mine victims. ![]() He says he was forced to stop school because as the son of a farmer he could no longer help with chores to finance his education. His says his story is "no different from that of many Mozambicans." He lost his leg during the civil war when he was 22 years old. Luis Wammasse was a young soldier fighting in Mozambique's civil war when he stepped on a landmine. But, as the world marks the International Day of Mine Awareness on April 4, will revived hostilities between the two civil war enemies - Frelimo, which runs the government, and Renamo, which is now the opposition - keep the country from reaching its target? Now the country is hoping to be declared mine-free by the end of the year. Two decades ago, when a devastating civil war ended, Mozambique was considered one of the countries most gravely affected by landmines.
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