Transforming Lives in Zimbabwe
Although conflicts end, landmines laid during years of fighting will continue to kill and maim innocent civilians. True peace does not arrive until the landmines are gone for good.
Zimbabwe is home to some of the densest minefields in the world. It’s estimated that up 5,500 mines were laid per kilometre during the Liberation War of the 1970s—in an attempt to counter the flow of freedom fighters across the borders with Zambia and Mozambique.
In the years since the fighting ended, the desperate search for land has led families to settle and build their homes right alongside the minefields—often with deadly consequences.
Over 1,500 people have lost their lives or been injured by landmines
Ordinary life is filled with risk. Every day hundreds of children make the dangerous trek through the minefields to reach school, farmers are stopped from expanding their crops and valuable livestock are lost to mine accidents at an unprecedented level—decimating the precarious existence of rural communities.