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Georgia Diary
December 16, 2001
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To do an evil deed you do not have to think much, but to be good to people and to do the right thing you have to think a lot, analyse and make decisions.... Because sometimes the right thing which you are sure is right may not be right at all and may harm people. The same applies to our work - things which we do are good. Destroying mines and area clearance - we save lives but if deminers did not follow the safety rules established by HALO based on their experience any of them could be injured.
So, if you follow the rules and work hard destroying mines - you will have a chance to do the right thing for people. But if you stop following the rules you will be injured and maybe others as well.
On Monday I tried to explain this to my team before we started work. I keep trying to discuss such things with them telling them not to relax on the job and to convince them to follow the safety rules whilst working on the minefield. I could just read to them all points of the HALO safety rules but all the deminers know them perfectly from the first day of their work here. But anyway, I remind them about them sometimes.
Speaking about people who are good to others we have to mention our Donors because they provide HALO with money which enables us to carry out mineclearance.
Not far from our minefield one old man has a kitchen garden which was cleared by our deminers one year ago. Recently he asked me some questions like - who is our Programme Manager? Who provides us with uniforms, equipment and gives us money for mineclearance? I told him that everything we have is thanks to the Japanese donors. I was sure that he would know nothing about Japan but he surprised me and told me a lot of things about their culture and traditions which he had read in books.
He had taken a great interest in that country since his childhood and had dreamed of going there some day. He asked me to thank them and send his best regards. He also asked me to inform him if they ever come to Abkhazia as he wants to entertain them with mandarins from his kitchen garden...
Ali Makhmatkhanov,
Crusher Field Officer
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