Maria Almudevar-van Santen (left) fields questions put to landmine survivor Min Vanna, 16, at St. Bernadette School in Kitchener. (Photo: MATHEW MCCARTHY, RECORD STAFF)December 12, 2007
KAREN KAWAWADA
RECORD STAFF
The Record (Ontario, Canada)
KITCHENER
In her pink sweatshirt, jeans and shy smile, she looks like any other 16-year-old. Then a child asks her what her leg looks like.
Min Vanna pulls up her jean leg and pulls down a sock. There, coloured a light brown that doesn't quite match her skin, is a hard plastic cylinder.
It's the type of leg she's had for most of her life, since she lost most of her real one by stepping on a landmine.
Min -- Vanna is her given name -- stopped at Kitchener's St. Bernadette School yesterday to speak to Grade 4 to 8 students, two of whom have a special connection with her.
Oliver Sangster and Victoria Seitz, respectively in Grade 7 and 8, contributed drawings to Vanna's Dance, a children's book penned by Kitchener author Maria Almudevar-van Santen.
Min is from a rural area of Cambodia and she's one of thousands of landmine victims in her country -- about one in every 350 people is an amputee, according to UNICEF.
Although the country has been largely peaceful since 1998, three decades of civil war left it one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.
The casualty rate has dropped from more than 4,000 in 1996, but mines still kill or maim 800 to 900 people a year.
Through Prak Sokhon of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, who is acting as her interpreter on her first visit to Canada, Min said she remembers the day she stepped on a landmine.
It was the afternoon of Aug. 8, 1997. She was five years old, and her father had asked her to feed the chickens.
She was trying to catch a chicken when she stepped on an antipersonnel mine about the size of a hockey puck. It tore the lower half of her leg to shreds.
Her father and brother bound up her leg with a scarf and took her to hospital in an ox cart, a five-hour journey, said Almudevar-van Santen.
Min said she remembers being loaded onto a stretcher in hospital and taken into an operating room. A doctor gave her a needle to knock her out, then started cutting off her trousers.
When she woke up, her leg was gone below the knee.
She has since had three more surgeries to trim bones that kept growing. The last was in 2004.
As she's still growing, she needs a new prosthetic leg every year, and it hurts every time she gets a new one. It takes about six months before she's fully comfortable on a new leg.
Almudevar-van Santen heard about her from a Belgian filmmaker who was at the hospital when Min came in and was impressed by her bravery. Almudevar-van Santen wrote her book based on what she knew but had no way of contacting her at the time.
It wasn't until last year that Min learned someone had written a book about her. It was a surprise, but a good one, she said through Prak.
Profits from book sales have always gone to Adopt-A-Minefield, but now Almudevar-van Santen has started raising money to put Min through school, including university if she wants.
She now lives in town, 50 to 60 kilometres from where her parents still live, so she can go to school. She lives with a family that runs a tailor shop and she sews for her room and board. Her family struggles to pay her school fees.
Her goals are to finish school, perhaps become a tour guide and continue to raise awareness about mines.
Min has already touched people -- since she arrived in Canada Nov. 20, she has spoken at several events, including a Winnipeg landmine conference where former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy joined the crowd in giving her a standing ovation.
Though it's cold in Canada, people are more welcoming than at home, Min said.
Amputees are often shunned and considered unmarriageable in Cambodia, said Almudevar-van Santen.
Oliver, 12, whose drawing appears on the cover of the book, said Min has already inspired him to do something about landmines. He has raised $800 for Adopt-a-Minefield.
"It was very exciting" to meet her at last, he said.
"She has so much courage -- even though her leg is gone, she's still able to go to school and stuff."
To donate to Min's education fund, go to www.vannasdance.com.
Min Vanna pulls up her jean leg and pulls down a sock. There, coloured a light brown that doesn't quite match her skin, is a hard plastic cylinder.
It's the type of leg she's had for most of her life, since she lost most of her real one by stepping on a landmine.
Min -- Vanna is her given name -- stopped at Kitchener's St. Bernadette School yesterday to speak to Grade 4 to 8 students, two of whom have a special connection with her.
Oliver Sangster and Victoria Seitz, respectively in Grade 7 and 8, contributed drawings to Vanna's Dance, a children's book penned by Kitchener author Maria Almudevar-van Santen.
Min is from a rural area of Cambodia and she's one of thousands of landmine victims in her country -- about one in every 350 people is an amputee, according to UNICEF.
Although the country has been largely peaceful since 1998, three decades of civil war left it one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.
The casualty rate has dropped from more than 4,000 in 1996, but mines still kill or maim 800 to 900 people a year.
Through Prak Sokhon of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, who is acting as her interpreter on her first visit to Canada, Min said she remembers the day she stepped on a landmine.
It was the afternoon of Aug. 8, 1997. She was five years old, and her father had asked her to feed the chickens.
She was trying to catch a chicken when she stepped on an antipersonnel mine about the size of a hockey puck. It tore the lower half of her leg to shreds.
Her father and brother bound up her leg with a scarf and took her to hospital in an ox cart, a five-hour journey, said Almudevar-van Santen.
Min said she remembers being loaded onto a stretcher in hospital and taken into an operating room. A doctor gave her a needle to knock her out, then started cutting off her trousers.
When she woke up, her leg was gone below the knee.
She has since had three more surgeries to trim bones that kept growing. The last was in 2004.
As she's still growing, she needs a new prosthetic leg every year, and it hurts every time she gets a new one. It takes about six months before she's fully comfortable on a new leg.
Almudevar-van Santen heard about her from a Belgian filmmaker who was at the hospital when Min came in and was impressed by her bravery. Almudevar-van Santen wrote her book based on what she knew but had no way of contacting her at the time.
It wasn't until last year that Min learned someone had written a book about her. It was a surprise, but a good one, she said through Prak.
Profits from book sales have always gone to Adopt-A-Minefield, but now Almudevar-van Santen has started raising money to put Min through school, including university if she wants.
She now lives in town, 50 to 60 kilometres from where her parents still live, so she can go to school. She lives with a family that runs a tailor shop and she sews for her room and board. Her family struggles to pay her school fees.
Her goals are to finish school, perhaps become a tour guide and continue to raise awareness about mines.
Min has already touched people -- since she arrived in Canada Nov. 20, she has spoken at several events, including a Winnipeg landmine conference where former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy joined the crowd in giving her a standing ovation.
Though it's cold in Canada, people are more welcoming than at home, Min said.
Amputees are often shunned and considered unmarriageable in Cambodia, said Almudevar-van Santen.
Oliver, 12, whose drawing appears on the cover of the book, said Min has already inspired him to do something about landmines. He has raised $800 for Adopt-a-Minefield.
"It was very exciting" to meet her at last, he said.
"She has so much courage -- even though her leg is gone, she's still able to go to school and stuff."
To donate to Min's education fund, go to www.vannasdance.com.
3 comments:
"The casualty rate has dropped from more than 4,000 in 1996, but mines still kill or maim 800 to 900 people a year."
This information is unfortunately not true. The number of casualties dropped in the last years from more than 800 in 2005 to 500 in 2006. In 2007, the number of victims will also be closer to 500 than the 900 announced. Out of these casualties, half of them are from mines, and half from Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). Therefore, a real estimate of mine casualties would be around 250 per year.
More information on http://www.redcross.org.kh/services/cmvis.htm
Indeed, it can kill or take of your limbs if you step on it, and we wont be able to locate all of it either. Therefore, don't be to quick to start another war, next time.
I've read Vanna's Dance. It's a wonderful book of hope that portrays Vanna as a survivor, not a victim. I've also heard the author, Maria Almudevar - van Santen, speak on the issue of landmines.
From what I understand, although the casualty rate has dropped, there are still approximately 60 million landmines out there. That's a lot of potential victims out there, most of whom will be civilians, innocent adults and children like Vanna.
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