Mines Awareness Trust, Peja (Pec), Kosovo

When we crossed the border into Kosovo the MAT landcruiser was waiting for us along with Danny, Artur and the trusts founder Ben. Danny and Ben were just over from the UK for a few days and hadn't received the e-mail about our jourey so we were really lucky to meet them.

It's a steep drive down from the mountains to Peja in the valley below. Poor Pedro's brakes were smoking so we stopped for a little rest part way to say hello to our hosts. MAT have an office in Peja with a couple of rooms for visiting staff from the UK. Ben and Danny very kindly gave there rooms up for us and called Zippy to send some gorgeous local food up from his fathers restaurant......including cows brains!


This morning we said our goodbyes to Ben and Danny who had to fly back to the UK. Artur first took us into town where we left Pedro for a check up at the local garage. Everybody loves Pedro, he gets so much attention! There are VW vans everywhere here but very few Beetles and I don't think anyone has ever seen a Baja. they find him fascinating, especially the big tyres which several people have asked to buy!

So leaving Pedro with the mechanic we jumped into the Landcruiser and headed up into the mountains to visit two MAT project sites. At the first site we met the team of de-miners and their specially trained detection dogs. The handlers were kind enough to demonstrate how the dogs work in a team of two to search out explosives.


Then they had a special surprise for me! This morning the team discovered two grenades and a mortar. These had been wired up for a controlled explosion and Artur offered me the chance to press the button! Flora, the famous lady de-miner who has been featured in Vogue, helped Rica and I on with flack Jackets and helmets. We were shown where to stand and where to set the video camera up to catch the explosion. So, hiding behind a tree in my flack jacket Artur began the countdown, at "three" I held my finger on the charge button, then at "zero" pressed the detonator. The sound echoed around the surrounding hillsides. It felt good to remove those three devices from exixtence. We passed children playing in the mountains, they are aware of the threat of mines but what can they do, they still need to live their lives. It's good to know that at least three of these potentially lethal explosives can no longer harm anyone. All I did was press the button though, the mine team were very careful to ensure our safety at the site. They are the ones who risk their lives everyday to continue this work.
The afternoon was a much sader occasion as we visited a second site where clearance work has ceased. The whole area is littered with cluster bombs. Cluster bombs scatter over a very wide area so it is very time consuming to survey the whole area and remove the threat. Some bombs lie as close as 200 feet from family homes. The Mines Awareness Trust desperately need more funding so they can continue where they left off clearing this site. Their team is currently only 10 de-miners and without extra funding it will take many years to clear these areas. As the years go by the mines and unexploded weapons of war become harder to detact as they become covered in layers of leaf mulch.

If you would like to support MAT you can do so by sponsoring us at: www.justgiving.com/overland2oz