Speaker Meeting

Graham Allen gave a very thought provoking talk on mines clearance (MAG) in conflict zones around the world, the initial damage the laying down of ordinance has caused, but even more damaging the long term consequences for generations to follow. The ongoing maiming and killing of adults and especially children for decades after conflicts have finished, demonstrated the urgency and need for MAG’s work. A couple of statistics demonstrated how bad the worldwide danger from unexplored ordinance has become i.e. 3 x the amount of explosives was dropped on the Ho Chi Min trail in the Vietnam war than was dropped in the whole of World War 2 and the complete clearance of unexploded ordinance in the recent Syrian Elepo conflict could take between 23 and 27 years! It came over very clearly how lucky we are in comparison to these mainly third world countries and how much we need and are obligated to provide the means of making these lands safe again to live without fear through the work of such organisations as MAG. A donation was made to the MAG charity on the night.
Doug Downing