Demining as a “common job”
We paid a visit to a Team “B“ of Federal Civil Protection Administration in Glamoč, in a former park Busija, where they were making identifications and records of unexploded ordnances, so-called UXOs. As we were waiting for the Team members to return from a breakfast break, we talked to a team leader, Darinko Brnić.
“These teams were developed within the Federal Civil Protection Administration. Each team is designed as to consist of two teams, namely a Team A and a Team B. The A Team works on destroying detected UXO and has 4 members. On the other hand, our B Team has 9 people: 7 deminers, including Davorka, and a nurse and a team leader. We are subordinate to a regional office of BH MAC in Mostar”, said Brnić. Talking to him, we also found out that deminers consider their job to be a “common job”. He also pointed out that every single job had some kind of risk attached to it. “We are trained for doing this, we respect norms, procedures, and this is just a job for us”, said he, adding that he never discriminates between Davorka and other colleagues. “To me every deminer is a deminer.”
A dire necessity forced her to become a deminer
Even just taking a look at a minefield causes fear, and a fragile 46-year woman holding a mine detection device in her hand is sifting through every single centimeter of the ground being conscious that even a slight lack of caution or a wrong move can cost her a life. A particularly sensitive aspect of her job is the fact that she is a mother of six: Antonija (26), Ivana (24), Željka (23), Blaženka (19), Stipe (16) and Ivan (14). When her children were younger and she travelled around with the team, grandmother took care of them. Today children are grown and taking their own ways, explained Davorka showing photos of her daughter Ivana’s wedding and a recently-born grandchild Iris, laughing and saying that Ivana’s marriage brought her two more children.
“I have not been handled with kid gloves in my life, but I never lost my faith in God and people. There have been so many adversities in my life, as if I had always been walking on minefields. I grew up with two brothers, and our mother took care of us, since the father left us and went abroad. My both brothers, whom I used to love so deeply and be very close with, died tragically, one in a car accident and the other in the battlefield. The hardest thing of all was when my daughter fell sick. As a small child she had a tumor operated, and now thank God she is well, and I pray she remains healthy. All these things did not break me, I kept encouraging myself and others and was ready to provide help anytime and anywhere needed”, Davorka described her life in short explaining that life (dis)advantages and poverty forced her to search for any kind of job in order to sustain her children, so she started working as a deminer.
Working in her pregnancy
“I never rested, not even when being pregnant. I had to work, help people and earn a living for my kids. It was difficult, but I am grateful to God and people who have always been by my side. I need to particularly mention a friar Jozo Radoša-Đoka and association “A drop of love” from Tomislavgrad, who are always with me, nuns Magdalena Marić, Salutarija, and my friend Mira Pandža, as well as all others who provided help for us”, Davorka pointed out. All her children are away due to their jobs and education, except for her son Ivan, who is still with her. Being asked if he is concerned for his mother, he replied: “No, I am not, I believe my mother knows what she is doing and I pray to God for her protection”.
Source: Dnevni list