'I feel like I've saved a life': the women clearing Lebanon of cluster bombs

all-female team is a difficult and dangerous to remove unexploded ordnance from Israel since the war of 2006

But it became clear that some of the figures in bulky body armor through the fields of southern Lebanon with cluster bombs have hijab in the helmet.

time teachers, nurses, housewives, these women are now fully trained to locate mines and is the only all-female demining team in Lebanon, the flea comb the brush of an inch from the rest of One of the most indiscriminate weapons of modern warfare.

leader in the field of women is Lamis Zein, an 33 year old divorced mother with two children and a supervisor of the team. She was one of the first recruits of the team, which was created to help the mining town of NGOs in Norway (NPA).

"When I heard they were recruiting immediately introduced myself," said Zein. "At first, people were surprised to see us on the ground, the use of protective equipment that men make the demolition of the pumps than men. However, we work together as a team of women. We share things that are not with their male colleagues. We are good at what we do and we are proof that women can do any job. "

Their hard work was needed five years ago this week, after Israel rained cluster bombs in southern Lebanon in a degree of the UN condemned as a "flagrant violation of international law . "

Fight

began in July 2006, when Hezbollah, the Islamist armed group that has been terrorized Israel with rocket fire, went even further and ambushed an Israeli patrol, killing two soldiers and removal of two more. In mid-August cease-fire talks were on the cards. However, the final assault on Israel in the last 72 hours before Aug. 14 peace was to fire up to 4 million cluster bombs in south Lebanon.

bombs exploded bombs from the air and release that are supposed to explode on impact, but many of those who fired on Lebanon failed to explode, lying on the ground rather such as landmines, with the ability to fly at any time. The women's team works closely with other research teams, all coordinated by the Lebanese army to clear unexploded ordnance still littering the countryside.

"Women are more patient than men," said Zein. "Therefore, this work is a work much more slowly than -. And maybe a little fear us more than men . "

Whatever the sex of those who seek weed, the risks remain the same - without supervision and could lose a leg. The day before, a search engine on the bomb squad was injured others, reminding everyone of the dangers of working. Everyone has a type of blood in embroidered jackets for good reason.

"My kids always worry about me, especially when they learned of the accident yesterday," said Abeer Asaad, a team member and mother of five daughters. "They m 'asked to leave my job yesterday were so frightened. "

"I was unemployed when I found out that the NPA is the recruitment of women for a bomb squad arrived and without telling anyone, not even my husband. When he realized that I did not want me. I was too scared. Just listen to "pump", the word would have to fear. But when I started working was different, especially when care is all the time and follow the rules. is necessary to watch and focus on the field, and you should check the floor slowly. "

• Zein also said that his family has finally accepted his post after four years in the field. "I was an English teacher for eight years. I wanted a change, and this could not be more different from teaching.

"Of course, my family was worried, but now they ask me every day how many of these groups found, how many destroyed me."

It is the only woman in the country to be trained in explosives and demolition at the end of the day, the bombs are detonated. "I am very happy when we find them, and I can carry out what they were trained."

38 bombs found in the field have worked since May, and two on the way to the place of the vehicles they use every day. Others who were so close to the bombs that were not so lucky. There were about 400 casualties, including more than 50 people since 2006.
was a year after the war Zayyoun Rasha joined the list of victims. Life was back to normal for the time and his family 17 years after the devastation of the previous summer. His father was home a bag of thyme gathered Rasha had to clean, but none of them noticed a bulb hidden in the leaves. When work began on his finger was caught in the machine and thinking it was a piece of junk, he threw it aside. Hits the ground, exploded. Rasha lost her left leg below the knee.

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