The Marshall Legacy Institute Updates

News Archive from 2009...

MDDs Lead Vital Clearance Efforts in Afghanistan

On March 28, 9 more lifesaving dogs arrived in Afghanistan. The trainers there are very pleased with them! Nine other MLI-sponsored dogs are currently working with Afghan demining NGOs DAFA (the Demining Agency for Afghanistan) and OMAR (the Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation). MLI plans to donate up to 60 more over the next four years.
We need your help purchasing the next group of dogs! We hope to deliver them this fall or early next year.

In the meantime, three dogs MLI sent to DAFA in October 2007—General, Dynamic, and Cowboy are spending the winter and early spring working in Jalalabad, clearing the way for a residential area to be repopulated safely by Afghan citizens. The refugees are returning home from Pakistan, after being displaced by conflict in their native land.

MLI would like to thank the sponsors of these MDDs, whose donations have helped effect important and lasting change in Afghanistan’s war-torn communities.

Six New Life-Saving Dogs Arrive for Service in Lebanon

In May 2008, six MDDs (requested by the newly elected President of Lebanon, General Michel Suleiman) began work in Lebanon, replacing the first hardworking six-pack issued by MLI in 2001. Throughout the remainder of the year, businesses, schoolchildren, and caring private donors responded very generously to the need for more MDDs, sponsoring six additional dogs that deployed to Lebanon in November 2008. These new MDDs will “sniff out” mines with the Lebanese Mine Action Center, working alongside the six pack that arrived in May.

President Suleiman stated that the older dogs served the people of Lebanon well, but their age requires others to take their place sniffing mines, so that children can play and people can work without the fear of mines and unexploded ordnance. The older dogs are enjoying peaceful retirement in loving homes.

Vermont Remains Doggedly Dedicated to CHAMPS Campaigns

2008 was a busy year for Girl Scout Troop 125 of Essex Junction and Troop 820 of Williston, who successfully ran campaigns for both CHAMPS and CHAMPS International, resulting in the sponsorship of their MDD Champlain (currently working in Lebanon) and the donation of a prosthetic limb to a young Bosnian mine survivor. In October, Troop leaders Chandelle Trahan and Jennifer Mignano and Scouts Katie Trahan and Maria Mignano accepted MLI’s CHAMPS Award at the Clearing the Path Gala.
Additionally, the official Girl Scouts’ website showcases a newly-evolved Scouts goal reflecting MLI’s own: to engage girls in “discovering self, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place”. Troops 125 and 820 have embraced those new goals and are leading by example.
MLI continues to be impressed by the Vermont Girl Scouts’ enthusiasm, demonstrated especially by their
fundraising prowess. From selling cookies to hosting auctions, the Scouts have raised over $25,000 for mine action efforts.

Girl Scout Leader travels to lebanon

From selling Girl Scout Cookies to conducting silent auctions the Girl Scout Troops of Essex Junction and Williston, Vermont, have run the gamut raising more than $26,000 to sponsor a Mine Detection Dog and help a 17-year old landmine survivor in Bosnia. The official Girl Scouts Webpage describes the now evolved Girl Scouts goal as to engage girls in “discovering self, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place”.

Troops 125 and 820 went above and beyond anything any other Troop has ever done, embracing those new goals and leading by example. The week of December 1 – 6th was one of discovery and realization for Essex Junction Troop Leader Chandelle Trahan as she traveled to Lebanon with the MLI Donor Delegation where she met Champlain, the dog the two troops had sponsored, and met landmine survivors who struggle to rebuild their lives after years of conflict. This year Troops 125 and 820 continue with their desire to make the world a better place by running a CHAMPS International Campaign to help landmine survivors in Lebanon. Their community schools will be connecting with Lebanese schools in February using YAHOO-messenger, virtually meeting their sister schools in Lebanon and the students who will join them to help those who cannot help themselves.

CHAMPS Connecticut Pledges More Sponsorship

CHAMPS Connecticut Chair Betsy Parkinson, with the help of new Second Chair Amy Socher, has assembled a rigorous schedule of school visits for MLI’s CHAMPS Directors, who will travel to Connecticut to help CHAMPS CT kick off their latest sponsorship campaign this spring.

The campaign—to sponsor a new MDD to be named Yankee— marks Connecticut’s fourth sponsored dog, fourth year of campaigns, and the 4th Anniversary of the founding of the CHAMPS program at MLI! The Constitution State proves inexhaustible—having already sponsored three dogs: Connecticut, Shadow, and Nutmeg.

MLI deeply appreciates the Connecticut schoolchildren’s enthusiasm for the CHAMPS Program and the inspired leadership of Betsy Parkinson and Amy Socher.

MLI Trading Cards Now Available !

Collectable cards highlight our hero dogs

In December, MLI distributed baseball-style trading cards to the donors of CHAMPS-sponsored dogs. The recipients were so thrilled by the cards that MLI has designed cards for non-CHAMPS dogs as well!

Each card features a photo of the sponsored dog on the front. If the donor has traveled to the mine-affected country where his or her dog is working, a photo of the two together is on the back of the card, along with a dog bio, including breed and birth stats and the organization with which the dog serves.

If you would like MLI MDD trading cards—a fun memento for donors, a great way to honor CHAMPS teams, and a popular awareness tool—please contact CHAMPS Director Kimberly McCasland at (703) 598-9290 or kmccasland@marshall-legacy.org or champs.kimberly@yahoo.com

CHAMPS INTERNATIONAL KICKS OFF IN TWO NEW COUNTRIES

CHAMPS International, MLI’s student-led survivors’ assistance program, is active in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Lebanon—and expected to expand to Colombia.

The program pairs U.S. schools with schools in mine-affected countries, allowing the children not only to develop a dialogue about mine issues and awareness via live video chats and student exchanges, but also to assist mine survivors.

CHAMPS Int’l: Afghanistan

CHAMPS International Afghanistan launched last fall at Roshan High School, located in the Laghman Province of Afghanistan. Roshan was paired with the Glenelg Country School of Ellicott City, MD. It is a fitting match because Glenelg ran a CHAMPS campaign last year to sponsor MDD Dragon, now working in Afghanistan.

MLI and implementing partner Help the Afghan Children provided Roshan School with satellite internet and a computer, to enable the Afghan students to conduct monthly video chats with Glenelg, making Roshan School the first school in Afghanistan to have Internet connectivity.

Miss Linar Etemadi, an Afghanistan-born teacher at Glenelg, heads the U.S. CHAMPS team.

At Roshan, Mr. Akmal Ghafori was recently hired to teach the students computer skills and lead the Afghan CHAMPS team.

CHAMPS Int’l: Lebanon

CHAMPS International Lebanon will get a sizable boost from Vermont Girl Scout Troops 125 and 820, who continue to use their boundless energy to power their global citizenship efforts.

This year, they will run a campaign to help mine survivor peers in Lebanon. Vermont community schools will be connecting with Lebanese schools using YAHOO! Messenger, frequently virtually interacting with their sister schools in Lebanon.

Donor Delegation: Dec. 2008

In Lebanon, Donor Group Views Mine Clearance; Meets Diplomat & MDDs

MLI conducted a donor visit to Lebanon in December 2008. Hosted by the Lebanese Mine Action Center, the delegation included donors of 7 out of 12 mine detection dogs (MDDs) given to Lebanon in the past year. The group visited the LMAC offices, met their sponsored dogs, and visited landmine clearance sites to see MDDs actively working. Special highlights of the trip included meetings with landmine survivors, LMAC officials, and with Jeffrey Feltman, U.S Ambassador to Lebanon. In addition, the delegation enjoyed numerous cultural experiences.

MLI launched its Lebanon program in 2001 and has donated 18 MDDs to the country to date. An integral part of Lebanon’s larger demining operations, MLI’s dogs have cleared or verified 6,131 sq. meters of land in Mt. Lebanon and the country’s southern region in the past eight months alone. This land is now safe for agriculture and tourism. MLI is proud to participate in Lebanese mine action and extends thanks to our donors for their valuable contributions to this beautiful country.

Donor Delegation Highlights: Dec. 2008

Assessment Trip: Afghanistan 2008

MLI President Perry Baltimore & Program Manager Elise Becker travel to Afghanistan on a trip hosted by DynCorp International, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State.

In November 2008, Perry and Elise met the 9 MLI dogs—and their Afghan handlers—working for the Afghan clearance NGOs OMAR and DAFA. They also honored the MDD Team of the Year—Mohibullah Ahmad Shah and MDD Meme (click to see a photo) visited two minefields where MLI dogs work, and met with MLI’s CHAMPS International implementing partner, Help the Afghan Children. The trip was a wonderful opportunity to meet beneficiary organizations, partners, and dog handlers and to tell them about the generous donors of their dogs.

MDD Lease Teams in Iraq Clear Contaminated Villages

In late March, Program Manager Elise Becker traveled to Kurdistan in Northern Iraq to conduct an assessment and visit the MLI MDD clearance operations. MLI began the program in Northern Iraq in 2008, with MDD teams provided by the Mine Detection Dog Center in Konjic, Bosnia (MDDC), working on the ground with Mines Advisory Group (MAG), an international mine clearance organization with a large program established in northern Iraq.

MLI’s MDD teams have made a thoroughly positive impact on demining operations there. Since their start in October 2008, the three teams have successfully completed three tasks within Kirkuk governorate, clearing a total of 50,877m² of contaminated land. They’ve worked to clear contaminated villages, from which large portions of the population fled. Many of the people remaining are handicapped from mine accidents. Other sites cleared included vital agricultural and grazing areas.

MLI deeply appreciates the loyal partners it has found in cooperating with MAG, partnerships it has in this project with MAG, MDDC, and the Global Training Academy (GTA) on this project.

MDDs and their handlers at a demining site outside Kabul