3 days ago
Driven by personal loss, Syrian woman clears war remnants
STORY: In the countryside around Syria's Aleppo, Heba Gadaa is clearing unexploded ordnance, or UXO.
Driven by the loss of a 9-year-old relative to an unexploded projectile in 2019, Gadaa a physics graduate, has spent the past three years raising awareness about war remnants.
Four months ago she began actively participating in the removal and destruction of UXO.
:: TRAILBLAZERS
Gadaa says her team - three men and two women - removes between 100 and 200 different types of war remnants every month, including shells, mines, fuses, and mortars.
Their work is supported by The Halo Trust, a non-governmental organization specializing in the removal of landmines and other explosive remnants of war.
And its taking place after the ouster of Bashir al-Assad in December 2024 ended a 14-year war that killed hundreds of thousands and left much of Syria in ruins.
Gadaa completed several training courses to prepare for the dangers of demining.
:: Heba Gadaa, Syrian deminer
"It is not a job, it is a humanitarian work. I must work to protect my family first, and protect people around me, and people who are now returning to their homes. With every return of a person to their home, we are being informed of a new remnant. The number of reports is very large - the ones we are receiving during the day - and we can't keep up with them."
