Polina, Nastia, and Sophia are between 8 and 9. They live in a village located in the province of Chernihiv, in Ukraine. We met them at their school following a mine risk education session.
Like her two friends, Polina took refuge with her family in an underground shelter at the start of the conflict: “I remember how loud it was and how scared I felt when we heard the sound of explosions”.
Today, the girls are back at school, but they have to be very careful: their village is still riddled with explosive remnants left from the fighting. “When calm returned, we found a lot of unexploded ordnance: remnants of Grad rockets in the gardens, grenades in the houses…” explains Natalia Pokhylko, 43, a parent. Children are particularly exposed to this threat when they play outside. In fact, Polina is forbidden to go outside without an adult.
“One day, when it was safe in the village, and we were no longer hiding in the basement, I saw a big toy along the road, a Bunny. But I remembered that you can’t pick up toys because they can be very dangerous! I didn’t go near that bunny, although I really wanted to! Then a special car arrived, and the toy was taken away” recalls Nastia.
Children are curious and can be tempted to play with intriguing objects. At school, Polina learned that you mustn’t touch anything on the ground: “Even toys or mobile phones, because they can hide explosive devices.”
Sophia’s mother, Liudmila, is very worried about her daughter: “She loves everything bright, everything new, so I am worried that she will pick up a dangerous object”. The young woman is relieved that her daughter has access to prevention messages at school.
“During the first year, it was us adults, explaining the rules of safe behaviour to the children, but now they are more aware than we are!” explains Liudmyla, another 38-year-old parent.
“Do not touch mines and ammunition and tell adults”. That’s what Sophia remembers from FSD’s risk education session. “I remember that a “butterfly” is a very dangerous mine that can severely injure a person”, recalls the little girl, referring to the infamous PFM-1, the small green plastic mines nicknamed “butterfly mines”.
Clearing Ukraine of these dangerous remnants of war will take decades. The most effective way to save lives in the short term is by providing risk education sessions. To date, nine FSD risk education teams are visiting Ukrainian schools and villages. Additional teams will be deployed in 2024 to reinforce the dissemination of these vital messages.
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