Author(s):
Chayer Amelie <amelie@icbl.org> .
Tuesday 01 December 2009
Italian photographer Giovanni Diffidenti has travelled the world to document the realities of mine survivors. ”My work is about portraying hopes: very individual and diverse hopes” he says. His exhibition, The Legacy of the Perfect Soldier, is on display at the Cartagena Convention Center during the Cartagena Summit.
An economic empowerment project in Angola. Photo: Giovanni Diffidenti
Angola
Education, training and income generation programmes seek to build up the self-confidence and skills of the survivors, and provide them with the opportunity to lead a normal life. Here, Cecilia Segunda and another survivor are making and repairing clothes.
Mine survivor Jose Luis Marquez, in El Salvador. El Salvador completed clearance of its mined areas in 1994, but landmine survivors still require lifelong assistance. Photo: Giovanni Diffidenti
El Salvador
At long last Josè Luis Marquez reached his field after travelling for over one hour on horseback. He worries about his son’s future. “I’d like him to go to school but he also needs to work the land. It’s not at all easy to find a job in this country”. Due to the civil war, Josè was a refugee for more than 6 years in Honduras. When he managed to get back home, he found his house burnt down; he had to pull up his sleeves and start from the beginning again.
Laos
Buasi Buasavathdi was seventeen when he stepped on a mine while farming. He is now married and has two daughters. He says he used to make a good living digging for gold in a river next to his village, until the government decided that this activity attracted too many people and created too many environmental problems. Now, Buasi has gone back to farming. He says he is sad that the government does not allow people to work on the river, but he still considers himself very lucky to be living in an area where the land is fertile.
