Unexploded shells and landmines are everywhere. The human toll extracted by starvation and explosion is terrific. This man has lost three of his five children in the last two weeks.
He has complained from hungry, from drought.
Does, does he have enough to eat now? Still not enough.
Yes, they are hungry.
For once, we can film safely without our Taliban mandates, because we are here under the protection of the HALO Trust. These guys are the miracle workers who destroy the unexploded shells and landmines.
How long has it taken to collect just these? Is this over some months or weeks?
As, as he says, in three days we collected all of these.
Three days.
Three days.
Yeah.
That's incredible. So every three days you find this many in these fields?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
This work is hideously slow and there is no way to go any faster. If you hurry this process, you make mistakes and mistakes lead to a single result- death. It's estimated there are still 10 million landmines to be cleared in Afghanistan. Every day someone somewhere treads on one.
Mushka has just found a landmine, that's one of thousands yet to be dug out from this hillside. And behind me this valley, in three years, they've cleared up with 1,800 mines, more than 3,000 unexploded bombs and rockets and nearly 70 anti-tank mines. Probably take ten years to clear all the high-priority areas in Afghanistan that's where people live. But it's only if the support and the money to pay for it continues.
HALO Trust: The HALO Trust is a registered British charity and registered American non-profit organization whose purpose is to remove the debris left behind by war, in particular, landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) that might present a danger to local civilians. HALO is an acronym of Hazardous Area Life-Support Organization.