MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | JANUARY 2021
A Glance at Survivors' Assistance in Yemen
In 2020, the United Nations declared the situation in Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. In the new year, the Yemeni people continue to struggle amidst ongoing violence, pervasive hunger and poverty, a cholera epidemic, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps millions of unexploded landmines lay hidden throughout Yemen and continue to endanger the lives of Yemeni civilians every day.
Despite these challenges, MLI continues to provide prosthetics, medical care, and vocational training to hundreds of landmine survivors, including Majed and Mohammed shown in the accompanying photographs, through our Survivors' Assistance program.
When only 16 years of age, Majed was injured in a roadside landmine explosion that resulted in an above knee leg amputation. This past year, MLI and our in-country partner, the Yemeni Association for Landmine Survivors (YALS), were able to provide Majed with a new prosthetic leg (see photo above). Majed hopes that this leg "will help me in my life so I can continue to study."
Mohammed (29), pictured above, lost his leg in 2016 after taking a passenger home through his motorcycle taxi service. YALS and MLI helped Mohammed regain mobility by providing him with an artificial leg. In 2018, Mohammed also participated in MLI's Vocational Training program where he learned weaving skills that have helped him secure a good income for himself and his family!
Women's Wheelchair Basketball in Yemen
The second annual Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Championship, organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross, took place in Yemen in 2020. YALS sponsored a team of six women, all of whom had received assistance through MLI's Survivors' Assistance program. We're thrilled to share that this amazing YALS team came in 3rd place in the Championship!
One of the stars of the YALS team is our 2020 Survivor's Award recipient, Abeer Yahya Mabkhot. In 2011, Abeer encountered a landmine while collecting firewood for her family. Through MLI's MVA-Yemen program sponsored by the U.S. Government, Abeer received a prosthetic leg and participated in a sewing course. Through an MLI micro-grant, Abeer was able to open her own sewing shop and hair-dressing and make-up studio. This past year, Abeer and her employees sewed face masks for her local community. We applaud Abeer's resilience, entrepreneurship, and inspirational leadership!
3rd Place YALS Team at the 2020 Women's Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Yemen
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PROGRAM UPDATE: Sri Lanka
On January 21st, MLI President Perry Baltimore and Vice President of Operations Elise Becker met with the new Sri Lankan Ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency Ravinatha Aryasinha, at the Embassy of Sri Lanka to discuss continuing efforts in helping make Sri Lanka mine free by 2025. Since 2004, MLI has supported Sri Lanka's landmine clearance efforts through the donation of 40 mine detection dogs. Pictured above is Sammy, a retired MDD who worked for 7 years "sniffing out" landmines in Sri Lanka. Sammy and her handler Lance Corporal Nishantha Bandara received MLI's MDD Team of the Year Award in 2019. MLI looks forward to further collaboration with Sri Lanka in working towards a safer, mine free future!
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SURVIVOR SPOTLIGHT
Hatka Medić , Bosnia and Herzegovina
In August of 1993, at only 11 years old, Hatka Medić fell victim to a grenade explosion in her hometown of Tešanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The explosion took the life of Hatka’s 5 year old brother and severely injured Hatka and her mother. As a result of the explosion, Hatka’s leg was amputated above her knee.
In 2018, CHAMPS Team students selected Hatka to receive medical assistance through CHAMPS. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the hard work of the CHAMPS students, Hatka received a new artificial leg after enduring pain and discomfort for many years.
This new prosthesis will make it easier for Hatka to keep up with her two young and active daughters and participate in her favorite hobby, sports archery!
Hatka Medić on her new prosthetic donated by CHAMPS: "it will make my every step easier and more comfortable, and my struggle to walk through life much easier.”
CHAMPS students learned of Hatka’s story through Dragana Ibraić, another survivor and CHAMPS recipient who had her leg amputated in 2016 after decades of pain from a grenade encounter 30 years ago. Dragana and Hatka became friends after meeting at a rehabilitation appointment in 2002. Thanks to CHAMPS, these two amazing survivors have now been reunited after so many years. (To learn more about Dragana’s story, please read our September 2020 Newsletter here).
Hatka (tan shirt) and Dragana (red shirt) are seen enjoying each other’s company in these photos from 2002.
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Visit: www.marshall-legacy.org Call: (703) 243-9200
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