WALKING THROUGH MINEFIELDS

Navigating a minefield on day one of my assignment in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), I understood a fraction of what life is like among the explosive vestiges of war. My task was to understand and convey this reality while highlighting the work Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) and their local partners are doing in the region to remediate this threat.
**Project Scope:** Story Research & Development, Photography, Photo Editing

Publication: *A Land of Honey, Plums and Landmines* • *Bittersweet Monthly*, October 2018

**Organization:** Marshall Legacy Institute

BiH is considered the most unexploded ordnance (UXO) and mine-affected nation in Europe – remnants of the conflict related to the breakup of former Yugoslavia. Twenty years after the war that dominated the Balkans in the 90s, ongoing threats, damage, and societal implications still exist.

Challenge

How do we highlight MLI's longstanding, diverse work of supporting survivors and eliminating landmines and UXO to capture how post-conflict remediations impact the entire community, the economy, and the land itself, so that the audience understands and engages with MLI?

Approach

While the text leaned into depth, the photographic story focused on the breadth of landmine and UXO effects, weaving together the complexity of the issue, MLI programs, and affected communities and landscapes.

We established four essential story themes: Survivors, Economies, Supporters, and Remediators.

SURVIVORS

We first focused on those directly and physically impacted by landmines/UXO and the relationships affected by their injuries. The majority of landmine victims are civilians. We sought to represent the appropriate balance between those injured in battle and those injured after the war.

ECONOMIES

Many of the remaining mine/UXO-impacted communities in BiH are rural – communities that depend on agriculture. Mines maim farmers, their equipment destroyed. Vast portions of land are unknown or unsafe to convert into economically viable croplands. Homebuilders de-mine their properties by hand or wait for remediation services before construction. The conflict has had lasting micro and macro effects on the economy of BiH.

SUPPORTERS

A network of people and organizations support landmine survivors, assist in mine/UXO removal, and raise awareness and funds. Government agencies, international and local non-profits, caseworkers, and globe-spanning student initiatives are leading the effort.

REMEDIATORS

Specially trained teams are the everyday heroes that dedicate themselves to safely locating, identifying, and removing threats. Mine dog detection (MDD) teams, trainers, demolition teams, local guides, and experts are all on the front lines of landmine and UXO remediation.

Investing in Marshall Legacy means creating an immediately (quantifiably) less dangerous world, particularly for children in conflict and post-conflict areas. Few stories rival this one in terms of existential urgency and necessity.

Kate Schmidgall, Editor, Bittersweet Monthly

IMPACT

When working in the realm of awareness, you observe a story's impact unfold over the long-term. Nevertheless, several short-term applications and achievements initiate that progress.

Immediate social media deployment of visual assets by MLI to raise support and year-end giving
Commissioning of portrait prints featured at the annual MLI fundraising Gala and subsequent installation at their headquarters
Illustration of program effectiveness and depth of impact for MLI's year-end board gathering
Generation government agency support via MLI partners on Capitol Hill