Due to a limited budget for next year, a PTPI grant for The HALO Trust in 2011 will only be possible through your generous donations. We mustn’t stop now.
Across Cambodia, there has been a slight increase in the number of mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) victims between January and June 2010 as compared to the corresponding period in 2009. As the photograph illustrates, mines are such a fact of life in parts of the country that children living in or near minefields sometimes use them as toys. (It should be noted that thankfully, the mines in this photo do not contain explosives.)
Cambodian Child Playing with Landmine
Since 2004, generous donors to PTPI’s Global Landmine Initiative have raised more than $366,000 toward eradication efforts in Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Through its partnership with The HALO Trust, PTPI-sponsored demining teams transform lives through land clearance that is then used for agriculture, irrigation systems and opening roads to support basic infrastructure. Thousands of people have benefited from our joint efforts:
- In the first six months of 2010: 170 people were directly supported; 433 families and 1,772 individuals were indirectly supported.
- In 2009: PTPI became the first U.S. nongovernmental organization to support an HSTAMIDS (“Smart Detector”) team working toward humanitarian mine clearance.
-In 2010: Thanks to a $51,000 matching grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal &Abatement, PTPI was able to contribute a total of $102,000 to sponsor an HSTAMIDS team.
Donations may be directed to the Global Landmine Initiative and can be made online at PTPI’s website. If you would like further information about PTPI’s Global Landmine Initiative and how you can help, please contact Cindy Spake at cindyspake@ptpi.org.