Today, 4th April, is marked by the United Nations as International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. To mark the day, we wanted to hear from women around the world who work in mine clearance. Thankfully, The HALO Trust were on hand to introduce us to three amazing women who do incredibly important, dangerous jobs.
Team Sorphea is the Fleet Manager for HALO Cambodia. Sorphea is responsible for HALO’s entire fleet of vehicles in Cambodia, including all heavy plant machinery for mine clearance. She orders spare parts and manages stores for all four locations where HALO works across the country. She is also responsible for all vehicle maintenance and looks after off-road driving training for HALO staff. A lot of the locations they work in are difficult to get to, so this training is extremely important.
Inês Chipuco is a Deminer Medic for the HALO Trust in Angola. When she was a child, her grandmother lost two toes to a mine. Now her grandmother is incredibly proud of the work that Inês is doing in the field.
Mehala Arumuganathan is a Deminer Medic for the HALO Trust in Sri Lanka. She is second-in-command in her team of deminers. It took three months of training for Mehala to become a deminer.
Thank you to The HALO Trust for their help in pulling these interviews together. You can read about their important work on their website. A huge thank you to Inês Chipuco, Mehala Arumuganathan and Team Sorphea.
