[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 778

[Garry Krischock]

1.  1477: Swiss Rotarian leaves behind anti-land-mine legacy 
Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:55 pm (PST) 
Swiss Rotarian leaves behind anti-land-mine legacy 

According to United Nations estimates, some 2,000 people are killed 
or maimed by land mine explosions each month. More than 110 million 
active mines - many of which remain active for 50 years - are still 
scattered in 68 countries. Most land mine victims receive little help 
or therapy, and face a life of pain and poverty. 

Rotarian and surgeon Hans Stirnemann, who died in November following 
a traffic accident, devoted his life to promoting the ban of land 
mines and was an advocate for the innocent people injured by them. He 
had witnessed the devastation caused by land mines while working for 
the International Red Cross in the 1990s in a Cambodian refugee camp 
in Thailand and at Red Cross hospitals in Sudan and Pakistan. In 
1995, Stirnemann - along with Walter Limacher, then governor of 
District 1990 (Germany), and fellow members of the Rotary Club of 
Burgdorf, Switzerland - founded Mine-Ex to address the threat and 
problems caused by these weapons.

Stirnemann drew many Rotarians and Rotary clubs to the cause. Today, 
Mine-Ex carries out numerous service projects, including providing 
medical and orthopaedic care for land mine victims, training local 
prosthesis technicians, supporting a worldwide ban on the production 
and distribution of mines, and helping with the removal of land 
mines. It also provides annual financial support of SwF 500,000 
(US$457,000) to assist approximately 30,000 land mine victims and 
support other relief efforts. 

Learn more about Mine-Ex at www.mine-ex.ch 

Source: Rotary Suisse Liechtenstein
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary
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