Can the ‘Blessed One' Rajagobal kick off a new tradition?
'When a learned person dies, a library burns down,' said Nasir, quoting the proverb widely attributed to Amadou Hampate Ba, one of the major intellectual and literary figures of twentieth-century Africa.
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The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Giant rats sniff out land mines in Cambodia
Mott Sreymom, 34, a rat handler with Apopo carries an African giant pouched rat back from a landmine field. — Photos: ANTON L. DELGADO/AP Rats may send some squealing, but in Cambodia, teams of the not-so-little critters have become indispensable in helping specialists detect land mines that have killed and maimed thousands in the South-East Asian country. The African giant pouched rats, which can grow up to 45 centimetres and weigh up to 1.5 kilograms, are on the front line, making their way nimbly across fields to signal to their handlers when they get a whiff of TNT, used in most land mines and explosive ordnance. "While working with these rats, I have always found mines and they have never skipped a single one,' said Mott Sreymom, a rat handler at Apopo, a humanitarian demining group that trains and deploys rodent detection teams across the world. A mine detection rat with the humanitarian demining organisation Apopo works in a landmine field in Siem Reap, Cambodia. "I really trust these mine detection rats," Mott said while on her lunch break after working on a land mine field in the province of Siem Reap. After three decades of conflict in the previous century, remnants of war littered approximately 4,500sq km of Cambodian land, according to a survey by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) in 2004. This affected all 25 Cambodian provinces and nearly half of the country's 14,000 villages. As of 2018, CMAA reported 1,970sq km remain uncleared. Rat detection teams march in line towards a landmine field. The rats have a keen sense of smell, making them a favorite at Apopo, which also employs land mine-detecting dog teams. "Dogs and rats are better compared to other animals because they are trainable,' said Alberto Zacarias, a field supervisor of Apopo's technical survey dog teams, adding that they are also friendly and easily learn commands. Rat detection teams deployed to a landmine field. Since demining officially began in Cambodia in 1992, more than 1.1 million mines have been cleared, as well as approximately 2.9 million other explosive remnants of war, according to a 2022 government demining progress report. And the African giant pouched rats are doing their part. "We work with them almost daily, so we get closer,' Mott said. "They are very friendly and they don't move around and get scared. They are like family.' – AP
The Sun
17-07-2025
- The Sun
Prince Harry Visits Angola to Support Landmine Clearance
LUANDA: Britain's Prince Harry visited Angola on Wednesday to back landmine clearance efforts, retracing the steps of his late mother, the charity leading the project said. The southern African nation hosts the continent's largest minefield, a legacy of the 27-year civil war that began after independence from Portugal in 1975. The Duke of Sussex visited a remote village in the southeast to 'deliver life-saving messages to children,' the Halo Trust mine-clearing organisation said. 'The Duke repeated simple phrases in Portuguese, including 'stop, go back and tell your elders' to prevent children from detonating lethal devices,' the British charity said in a statement. Harry's mother, Princess Diana visited Angola in 1997, walking across a cleared minefield near the central city of Huambo during a lull in the civil war. The iconic trip came just months before her death in a Paris car crash. Harry was 12 at the time. In a scene echoing his mother's visit, Harry on Wednesday donned a protective visor and bulletproof vest to walk through demined shrubland, before taking part in a bomb detonation exercise. 'Children should never have to live in fear of playing outside or walking to school. Here in Angola, over three decades later, the remnants of war still threaten lives every day,' he said. At least 60,000 people have been killed or wounded by landmines in Angola since 2008, according to the Halo Trust, which has cleared more than 100,000 bombs in the country. Most casualties occurred in 2002 and 2003, when Angolans returned to their homes after peace was declared. Diana was famously photographed meeting some of the victims during her visit. Since launching operations in Angola in 1994, the Halo Trust has cleared landmines from an area nearly the size of 7,000 football pitches. Harry's visit follows another in September 2019 when he retraced his mother's steps in Huambo. The prince, 40, met Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Tuesday to discuss demining efforts - AFP
The Sun
17-07-2025
- The Sun
Prince Harry returns to Angola to back landmine clearance
LUANDA: Britain's Prince Harry visited Angola on Wednesday to back landmine clearance efforts, retracing the steps of his late mother, the charity leading the project said. The southern African nation hosts the continent's largest minefield, a legacy of the 27-year civil war that began after independence from Portugal in 1975. The Duke of Sussex visited a remote village in the southeast to 'deliver life-saving messages to children,' the Halo Trust mine-clearing organisation said. 'The Duke repeated simple phrases in Portuguese, including 'stop, go back and tell your elders' to prevent children from detonating lethal devices,' the British charity said in a statement. Harry's mother, Princess Diana visited Angola in 1997, walking across a cleared minefield near the central city of Huambo during a lull in the civil war. The iconic trip came just months before her death in a Paris car crash. Harry was 12 at the time. In a scene echoing his mother's visit, Harry on Wednesday donned a protective visor and bulletproof vest to walk through demined shrubland, before taking part in a bomb detonation exercise. 'Children should never have to live in fear of playing outside or walking to school. Here in Angola, over three decades later, the remnants of war still threaten lives every day,' he said. At least 60,000 people have been killed or wounded by landmines in Angola since 2008, according to the Halo Trust, which has cleared more than 100,000 bombs in the country. Most casualties occurred in 2002 and 2003, when Angolans returned to their homes after peace was declared. Diana was famously photographed meeting some of the victims during her visit. Since launching operations in Angola in 1994, the Halo Trust has cleared landmines from an area nearly the size of 7,000 football pitches. Harry's visit follows another in September 2019 when he retraced his mother's steps in Huambo. The prince, 40, met Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Tuesday to discuss demining efforts - AFP
