The impact of ERW in Ethiopian Amhara region

There mother of a son, whose name is Merima is living in Dessie town, Kebele 01. Dessie is found in amhara region located in the northern part of Ethiopia. Merima told her story about what happen on her son, in a broken heart and sorrow, as follows. She used to prepare tea and sell alongside the road to raise up and enable her son, follow up school. According to her story, the father of her son disappeared immediately after birth without living a trace. It was a hard life for me, said Merima. She continued her story narrating that it is 13 years since Feisal is born and is only God who knows as what happened to her and the sufferings she gone through while trying to raise her son. In July 2021, when the war broke on in Dessie, she moved to Afar with her son. While her and her son traveling to Afar, they faced a number of challenges. After a while, when the war halted, she returned to Dessie with her son, Feisal and resumed his education. In the Month of May 2022, while he was coming back to home with his four school friends, they got an explosive remnant of war (ERW) on the road side and they started arguing as what it was some of them say it was a bomb and some say not. As they were arguing, they saw burning dry garbage around where they stand and they moved to the burning garbage to put it into the fire so that they can check as what it happen. Then, they throw the ERW into the fire and started looking as what happens, but it took a while. Because of that, they lost patience and started turning the device with a wooden stick. Within a short period of time, the ERW exploded and, three of them fallen on the ground being injured in which one of them was Merimas son, Feisal. People who were around the area shouted and they called Merima by phone and told that her son was seriously injured. When she heard this, she started running to hang herself, but the people nearby mad rescued to no do that by force. When she arrived to the place of incident, Merima sow, her son was seriously injured and lost his arm blow elbow and the other boy got a minor injury while the third boy was covered by ash. Then, Merima started crying and asking God as to why he allowed this all happen only to her son. As a result, she started blaming God for all the incident happen on her and asked him as to when these all would stop from hurting her son and her. She continued her story by saying her son is being treated in Dessie Hospital with the support of people. She also shared her distress about her son while he was receiving treatment in Dessie Hospital and said that when she leave the hospital for some reason, her son Feisel felt he remained alone and starts crying and begs her not to move away from his ward. Merima also told, that her son repeatedly asks her to move to other place where nobody knows them and this made her feel deeply sad. His mother Merima also said she do not have a job or any source of income and Family who supports me, Feisal is the only one she have’. She told also that she is in a serious economic problem and got confused how she can make her living and support her injured son. This case study, teaches us that had Explosive Ordinance Risk Education /EORE/ been delivered earlier in an aggressive manner, such casualties would have been prevented.