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Mozambique Diary
July 27 - August 2, 2003

On operations:

Namanda is a village in Ile District in Zambezia Province. An area of about 7.000 square meters is suspected mined. The minefield is behind three shops; Frelimo soldiers mined the area as a defensive measure from Renamo soldiers' sabotage of the shops. An accident has happened during the war when a boy stepped on an anti-personnel mine. It is a village with approximately 5.000 people, they want to re-open the shops and use the land for agriculture as well as the road that passes through the shops.

The life in general

My name is Samuel Armando Sama; single and I have one child.

- Amelia Samuel Sama
I´m from Pemba - Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique; I born in 24 June 1974; I went to school for few years and I had to stopped because of money that was not easily to get but I did standart 7 whit my mothers Money.

Experience: I was working in Telecomunicacoes de Mozambique as Assistance Electro Technician since 1993 to 2001; I started work with Halo as Deminer from 2002 till now. I live in rented house and I don't have my own house because of the financial conditions besides we are always moving from place to place and we don't have time to organize our lives, that's why I don't have my own house. I do this job with proud, because I am helping my country to be free of mines, and I'm saving people lives.

This week we will be at home for some few days to relax, the time we stay in town is not enough for us to accomplish with all our necessities in town, we have the children to look after, we have the house work to do and we lots of things we would like to do when we are on leave but we don't manage.
Lots of time people of the village they use to tell us lots of local histories and we learning about this and that, we get familiar with the culture of that region and our relationship become more strong, when a local is sick we sometimes help then and when need something they readily give us the assistance we need. We hope The HALO Trust will last for long time in Mozambique until all the country is free from mines and we organize ours lives.

Samuel Armando Sama
(Deminer)