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| The villagers from Mitondo came to the handover ceremony arranged by DCA and United Nations Mine Action Centre (UNMACC) on the 10th of November. Photo: DanChurchAid |
The village of Mitondo in Congo had a lot of visitors Wednesday 10th of November. They all came to mark that the surrounding area of the village is again useable for people to grow crops and for animals to grass.
Until April this year that was not the case at all. For five years the villagers have avoided the fields because of risks of mines. They all remember how the woman, Rose, from Mitondo in 2004 stepped on a mine and lost her leg.
Deminers in Mitondo
From the 21st of April 2009 to the 6th of August 2009 deminers from DanChurchAid have worked in the area and have cleared a total of 7.471 square meters and found and destroyed 27 anti personnel mines, all of them TS-50 mines.
The cleared land of Mitondo will be part of this food security project which intends to boost production capacity of smallholder farmers in the area and give them better access to reliable local and regional markets where they can sell their products.
Brighter future
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| At the ceremony 25 machetes, 25 hoes, 25 kilos of maize and 10 kilos of seeds were distributed. This distribution was part of DCA Development Program’s P4P (Purchase for Progress) project in partnership with FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and WFP (World Food Program). Photo: DanChurchAid |
The fine results and the brighter future were celebrated by many participants in the handover ceremony on the 10th of October. Among others the guests were villagers of Mitondo and its chief, chiefs from surrounding villages, the Program Manager of United Nations Mine Action Centre (UNMACC), the Head of Office at MONUC (the UN mission in DR Congo), the Project Manager of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Kabalo, the Project Manager of World Food Program (WFP) Kabalo, the General of Tanganyika, the Chief Commissioner and several other local administrators.