Colombia: Women in Colombia Are Risking Their Lives Every Day to Clear the Minefields Left After 50 Years of Armed Conflict

Sep 13, 2019 | Luke Taylor, i News
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When Paola Sanchez heard she was being recruited for a job in late 2018 after a friend had recommended her, she knew little more than she would be helping remote communities. She had previously worked with NGOs to support remote Colombian populations with education and technology so she expected more of the same: smart-casual attire, drawn-out meetings and clipboards.

She did not foresee a Kevlar vest and bulletproof visor as part of her daily uniform – or a metal detector as her trusty tool. “I had no idea what was coming,” the 24-year-old giggles.

Then it all became very clear: Sanchez would become part of a team clearing Colombia’s jungles of antipersonnel mines, a deadly legacy of half a century of armed conflict in which she has seen families and communities destroyed.