Mines Awareness Trust

THE MINES AWARENESS TRUST

Charlotte Nichols

EOD FTA Level 2

I attended the MAT FTA/EOD 2 course at the International Mine Action Training Centre (IMATC) at Embakasi Garrison in Nairobi, Kenya in July/August of 2008.

When I applied for a place on the course, and throughout the run-up to my departure for Kenya, I was excited about the challenge and opportunity of trying something completely new and different, and the chance to spend a month on a continent that I had never been to but had always wanted to visit. Given that I had no previous experience with explosives and no military background (the training centre is on an army base, and the course tutors and many of the people who work in Mine Action are ex-military) and the fact that I was going to be the only female on the course, I was also a little apprehensive about how I would be received and whether I would be able to master what I expected to be a technical, complex and somewhat dangerous subject in just four weeks.

These concerns proved to be unfounded.

Much time, effort and thought had clearly gone into the course material so that even someone with no existing knowledge of the subject matter would find it accessible and easy to understand and put into practice. We were given printed notes and books to study and use for reference, and which we could keep at the end of the course. There was a good balance of both theory and practice to give us a thorough grounding in all areas of the detection, identification and disposal of landmines and other unexploded ordinance (UXO), to make the classes interesting and to give us confidence in the techniques and our own knowledge. We also received information about the Mine Action industry in general, such as the areas and types of work available, and some of the main organisations operating in the field.

The practical aspect of the course included running through all the stages of a clearance operation from beginning to end using a “dummy” minefield set up on the base, including all of the planning and paperwork, and the mapping, marking and manual clearance that would take place in real life, taking it in turns to manage a team of deminers made up of the other students. There were demonstrations of mine clearance machinery and the use of mine detection dogs, and there was also a great day spent at the demolitions range, using plastic explosive to carry out controlled demolitions of various land mines and UXO under the supervision of the tutors and soldiers from the garrison – as an added bonus of the course taking place in Kenya, we saw several African animals (including ostriches, zebras and giraffes) in the grasslands bordering the road on the way to the range, and at one point we had to temporarily suspend our operations until a herd of stampeding wildebeest moved away from the demolitions area!

The two tutors, Jim and Jesse, were clearly very experienced and knowledgeable, but also helpful and approachable – they were willing and able to answer any questions and give clear explanations, and their anecdotes and teaching style both inspired confidence and made the course a lot of fun. They were also available outside of class time if necessary to provide answers, help or advice.

The MAT team in Guernsey were also extremely helpful and understanding at all stages before, during and after the course, responding to queries and generally making the process of planning, organising and paying for the course and the trip run smoothly.

I found all of the Kenyan military personnel on the base (both those who were involved with the MAT course and those who were there in a purely military capacity) to be very friendly and helpful. They were always keen to chat and would go out of their way to assist you with anything - nothing was ever too much trouble.

I also got along really well with the other students, and the camaraderie really added to my enjoyment of the course. We all spent a lot of time socialising (and sometimes working/studying!) together outside of class, and I am still in contact with several of them.

The accommodation was of a high standard – each person had their own bedroom and en suite bathroom, the rooms were cleaned every weekday and there was a quick, cheap and efficient laundry service (dirty clothing just had to be left in a labelled bag in the room, where it would be collected by the housekeeping staff and returned clean, ironed and folded the following day). All meals were provided, and security was also of a high standard (each room had a safe in which passports and money could be kept, and the base was permanently under armed guard). The cookhouse had a bar serving cheap Tusker beer (at a special military price!), where we students spent many happy evenings sat outside talking, served by (and chatting with) the friendly barman. It is also worth mentioning that I was met personally at the airport, assisted with my bags and taken all the way to my room at Embakasi Garrison by staff from the IMATC, which took what could have been a hassle at the end of a long journey out of the equation, making the beginning of my time in Kenya with MAT very easy.

Contacts, recommendations and advice were available from the MAT staff and the Kenyan military personnel living on the base to allow students to arrange transportation and leisure activities for the evenings and weekends. Taxis (companies recommended by the tutors and the soldiers) would collect you at the gate of the base and take you wherever you wanted for a very reasonable price, including the nearby “Nakumat” supermarket, various restaurants/malls/bars & clubs and the large, hectic handicrafts market (good for souvenirs, if somewhat stressful!) in Nairobi. One weekend, another student and I had brilliant Safari day-trip in Nairobi National Park (arranged through a contact provided by the tutors, and including a driver and vehicle who picked us up from the base, took us around the park and dropped us back at the end of the day).

I had a fantastic time and came home with a professional qualification, new friends and many wonderful memories of the course, the IMATC/Embakasi Garrison, the country and all the things I experienced and people I met during my stay, as well as a newfound awareness and appreciation of the scope and importance of Mine Action. Although I’m not currently using the FTA/EOD 2 qualification in my chosen career, I will always have the option, confidence and knowledge (both practical and of the industry and who to contact) to obtain further qualifications through MAT and/or to seek work in the field of Mine Action, and regardless of whether or not I ever enter this field, I will always treasure the memories of an extraordinary trip.