About MAG
Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is an international organization that saves lives and builds futures through the removal and destruction of landmines, unexploded ordnance, and other weapons remaining after conflict.
Since 1989, MAG has worked in over 35 countries and was a co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. MAG’s leading priority is to protect the lives and well-being of the most vulnerable individuals in contaminated areas, by providing risk-education and removing deadly weapons. Equally important, we focus on development by clearing land in affected areas to open access for agriculture, water, schools, hospitals, and roads. By listening to and collaborating with local communities, MAG concentrates on clearing areas that have the largest humanitarian impact that will enable local populations to propel themselves to economic growth. MAG’s goal is to build capacity within the country by creating local leaders who will be the future of humanitarian mine action. Find out more...
About Steve Pennington
As a Los Angeles City Fireman, spending most of the last decade of my career in South Los Angeles, I have witnessed pain and suffering as I’ve treated one of the largest stable homeless populations in the country. Many of our homeless men and women are fallen war veterans, many have drug and alcohol addictions and post-traumatic stress disorder from their experiences in war and surprising as it may seem, many chose to live the life they are in. Further to my day job, I am active as a terrorism liaison officer with the joint regional intelligence center in Los Angeles and understand as a first-responder what we face as a country dealing with the reality that we are protecting our freedom from terrorism on our own soil.
While my freedom, our freedom and the effects of our wars on our people are a product of my daily life, I had never really thought about the people on the other side of our conflicts. I recently found myself drawn to a television program that was talking about landmines in Cambodia. I naively questioned, “why were they looking for bombs in a Cambodia jungle if there is no current conflict in that region?” Read more...