|
|
|
|
Kamel Sa’adi was 14 years old when he lost his leg to a landmine in the mountains of northern Jordan. He was at a family picnic: |
|
| “ |
I was taking a walk, playing around, and having a good time. There was a hill which I can’t forget. It was planted with grain, which grew about two feet high and so green, so fascinating, which was a waste to step on. I decided to go up that hill, making sure not to step on the lovely green plants. I started walking up the hill, yet only through the paths where the bad soil and little rocks were gathered, making a long line along the planted grounds. When I was almost to the top, a large rock had blocked my way. If I were to turn around it, I would have to step on the grain, and damaged somebody’s hard work in a hard land. I climbed the rock, not knowing that my left foot had already been standing on top of a deceiving MINE, one which did not blow while the farmers prepared the hill for planting. It waited for me. The moment I pulled my left leg up, I flew high in the sky. I stood up so quickly knowing something went wrong. I tried to run away from the area, but couldn’t. A few moments of fear and confusion went by, while I was calling for help. The people who were with me had run, fearing for their lives. Two brothers in their teens, who lived in the area and worked on the farm, started yelling, ordering me not to move and to wait for them to reach me. They were the two bravest young men I had ever seen. Jumping from one rock to the other, risking their lives to save mine, they got me out. I was lucky. How can I pay them back? I have never stopped looking for an answer, and the LSN helped me find it. Destroy landmines and clean the land. That is the answer.”  Kamel Sa’adi went on to become a U.S. trained prosthetist and is now working to help landmine survivors as the Landmines Survivors Network Associate for the Middle East. Click here to read Kamel Sa’adi’s Questions and Answers |
 |
 |
cyberschoolbus@un.org
|