Demining drill, talks to shed light on mine dangers around the world
News
James Madison University students and others will have an opportunity to try on protective gear warn by deminers and to participate in a mock demining drill from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 2 on the Festival lawn on the JMU campus east of Interstate 81.
The event, part of the sixth annual Post Conflict Recovery Week sponsored by the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at JMU, will be conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Training Center. The demining exercise and other events during the week are designed to raise awareness about the long-lasting effects of conflict and survivors’ resilience.
All events are free and open to the public.
Also on Wednesday, Jean Claude Nkudwa, a genocide survivor from Burundi and the former Burundi coordinator for Peace and Reconciliation Ministries, will be a panelist for a discussion of the long-lasting psychosocial effects of conflict that remain long after peace is declared. Nkudwa is a graduate student in Eastern Mennonite University’s conflict transformation program and will share his experiences and the historical context of the genocide in Burundi. The discussion will be held at 7 p.m. in Room 159 of the ISAT/CS building on the campus east of Interstate 81.
The week will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, March 31 with a discussion about the effects of recent conflicts on global migration and the current international refugee situation by Simon Henshaw of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The talk will take place in Room 159 of the ISAT/CS building on the JMU campus east of Interstate 81.
On Tuesday, April 1, the independent documentary “Disarm” will be shown at 7 p.m. in Room 159 of the ISAT/CS building. The film reveals how anti-personnel landmines continue to maim and kill civilians around the world, despite a global ban on their use. The documentary includes footage from minefields in Myanmar, Colombia and Iraq, and from inside the helmets of deminers in Afghanistan and Bosnia, along with a commentary on contemporary warfare. The screening will be followed by a brief presentation about opportunities for students to get involved in post-conflict recovery efforts, including activities to support landmine clearance, at CISR.
Other activities during the week include a “Field of Shoes” exhibit on the JMU Commons to raise awareness about landmine victims; a “Lend Your Leg” flash mob and photograph at the exhibit at 1 p.m. Friday, April 4 for International Landmine Awareness Day; and presentations by JMU alumni who have worked as Frasure-Kruzel-Drew Memorial Fellows in the U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
Post-conflict Recovery Week is co-sponsored by JMU’s College of Business, department of graduate psychology, justice studies program, the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Non Violence, the master of public administration program and the University Program Board, with additional support from McClung Companies.
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