Russian Federation: landmine survivors tell their stories
As UNICEF opens an exhibition devoted to children killed or injured by mines and other ordnance in Chechnya, Russian Federation, five children tell their own stories Zulikhan and Mareta Sambiev In 2004 April 4, we were playing in the street beside our mum who was collecting water. There were many neighbours standing in the queue for water. Suddenly an explosion occurred close to us. Our mum told that someone from our apartment house had thrown a grenade at us. She found me laying unconscious on the ground, took me in her arms and run to the hospital. She did not notice that Mareta was also badly wounded. Both of us got skull, and brain trauma. We underwent surgery, but I could not speak normally and we were taken to Germany for treatment. In Germany we underwent further surgery. When we got better, we were taken to many interesting places: the whirligig, zoo, swimming-pool. In the zoo I saw many animals that I have never seen. At Christmas, Santa Claus visited us and brought us presents. When we woke up in the morning, we found them in the boot hanging on the door. We were so happy. We saw trees decorated with lovely bulbs too. We enjoyed being in Germany, but we missed our dad and sister and were glad to come back home. In 1997, when my family returned to Chechnya from Volgograd, we found our house destroyed. We had to settle in prefabricated premises in a former student camp located in the outskirts of Chechen-Aul village. Ever since we have been wandering and seeking shelter in one house or another. On 5 October 1999 our father died. Our mother also died two months later. Now I live with my sisters and a nephew. One day in 2001 I went to a river with some friends. I noticed one of my friends holding a detonator. I took it from him and was going to throw it away, when one of my friends pulled the wires and the device exploded. My friends ran away. I lost my eye and half of my hand. On my way home I met people who gave me some first aid and took me to the hospital in Urus-Martan. Next day I was transported to Nazran hospital in Ingushetia, where I underwent surgery. I stayed for about a year. My eye often inflamed and my hand wound festered. Because of this tragedy, I lost many academic years and now I am still a pupil of the 5th grade, although I am already 15. I like studying, but I have not yet decided what profession I will choose. I am keen on drawing and I am very good at that.
Mokhmad Bukhaev My name is Mokhmad. I was born on 30 March 1987. I live in Grozny in a settlement called Chernorechie (which means ‘black river’). We were four children in the family - three brothers and a sister. During the war my elder brothers disappeared and we cannot find them and we know nothing about their whereabouts. My parents are trying to earn some money doing very different jobs.I survived a mine incident on 28 April 2000. I was walking in our settlement with a friend when I stepped on a mine laid in the gravel of a motor road. I immediately lost my foot, while my friend got shrapnel wounds. In the hospital the surgeon amputated my leg and I spent a month there. Three months later I received my prosthesis. While attending secondary school, I became keen on football. I heard about the football team of disabled youth (“Laman az”) which was established by UNICEF and decided to join it. Since 2002 I have been playing in the team as a half-back. We have played in Volgograd, Sochi and Moscow and gained several prizes. We returned to Chechnya in 2002. In the beginning we were hosted by our uncle in his house. Two weeks later, at midnight, the house was hit by a shell in the kitchen and in the bedroom I was sleeping in. I was severely wounded in my leg. A doctor living in the neighbourhood arrived and took me to the hospital. There the wound was treated, but my leg could not be saved and was amputated. I stayed in the emergency room for 3 days and then in the traumatic department for a month. I could not go to school, but the teacher would come to my house to give me lessons. It was 2 years before I received prosthesis and was able to walk. Since then I have attended school. Now I am acting in a movie called ‘Dead field’, which is produced by a Russian film production company. It’s about mines and mine victims. It will be broadcast in a year and a half. For more information
|
