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Georgia Diary
May 31, 2002
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He took out a new battery from his pocket and changed the old one which was almost flat. He then switched on his big mine vacuum cleaner and finished cleaning the minefield within 15 minutes.
The above is just a dream which I want to be the truth. Even if in the future people change their attitude to mines and wars the number of existing mines will still be enough for the next generation. I wish I could have a chance to see what people in the future, who would like to win the Nobel Prize, will invent against mines. At the moment there is some equipment which helps us in mineclearance, for example, detectors, specialised tools and mechanical units like tractors and stone crushers adapted to the mineclearance purpose etc.
But there are still things which all deminers talk about, especially in the summer time. We start work very early (when you see your last dream) because of the hot sun. It is hard to work mostly on your knees under 40 degrees centigrade in the sun.
A month ago our deminers started to discuss how to invent a new sun protective system but couldn’t think of anything better than an umbrella. Of course that is a little bit far from what we actually need. But it may be a sort of base for a new invention in the future. Yes, it is difficult to imagine a deminer with a detector in one hand and an umbrella inthe other. It is no joke because working under the sun even if you start work early causes problems for deminers with heart problems.
Peter Shoua
Field Officer Crusher Team
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