LEAH NASH PHOTOGRAPHY

CROATIA: Remnants of War | Landmines in Croatia

Croatia's substantial mine-affected areas are seen as a humanitarian concern by the European Union and a factor if Croatia wishes to become a member of the EU. Since 1991 approximately 1,800 people have been injured in mine explosions and more than 400 have been killed. The mines are a result of the Homeland War with Serbia, which pitted neighbors against each other. The war, which devastated the country, ended more than a decade ago, but the landmines that still cover the landscape continue to serve as a physical, economic, and emotional reminder. This story was created for GEO Magazine.

In Babin Dup, dog leader Marko Kulas searches for mines using his trained german shepard Milo. Kulas works for Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), a mine action program, the only non-profit demining company in Croatia. In Croatia, 28 commercial mine-clearance companies and the NPA use 583 deminers, 45 demining machines and 103 mine-detection dogs to perform demining.
   
Signs around mine-affected areas serve as warnings and reminders of the country's history.
   
Branko Nedoklan spends time with his son Petrom at their home in Ceric. Branko lost part of his leg and his foot in an accident 2 years ago when his tractor ran over a land mine. Branko now wears a prosthetic and rebuilt the tractor which he still drives every week over the same mine-ridden land.
     
  
At Otto Bock in Samobor, orthopedic technician Tomislav Svigir shows student Stanisevksi Dordi the newest C-Leg Prosthesis System with a wireless remote control. The leg is the standard prosthesis issued to U.S. fighters who have lost a leg above the knee and costs $30,000 to $40,000. The price puts it out of reach of most Croatians.
   
Mladen Kovacevic had his arm and leg blown off when he was a teenager but doesn't let that stop him from playing tennis, swimming and boxing. He travelled to America to get prosthetics but metal left in his limbs from the accident made them too painful.
   
Miroslav Kusanic was a deminer during the Homeland War. Now he is on probation for doing his own demining and will be put in jail if he violates the law again. The laws puts the people in a tricky position because it leaves them unable to cultivate their land if it has not yet been demined. This forces many of them to do the job themselves illegally.
     
  
In honor of a new playground in Valpovo children from a local kindergarten sing songs about their town and wear traditional Slavonian clothing for a "Playgrounds Without Mines" program sponsored by the Croatian Red Cross. The CRC has helped install more than 50 playgrounds to give children safe places to play. More than 60 children have been injured and 11 killed by land mines since 1991.
   
In the village of Vuksicu a goat herder leads her sheep through land still riddled with mines. She says she has no other choice. According to Croatian Mine Action Center data mine-suspected areas still cover more than 1,000 square kilometers with around 240,000 mines remaining in 12 out of 21 counties.
   
In front of a former factory in Nustar, Karlo Zupanic and Matej Mujkic pelt Antonija Zupanic with snowballs, who then runs inside crying. Because of its proximity to the Serbian border, Nustar was often shelled during the Homeland War and the destruction can still be seen in the people and the buildings.
     
  
Two years ago Ljubice Mecanovic's husband was killed in a landmine explosion while he was hunting. She says that since then it has been very hard to collect any money from the government because of his death. She also says she feels isolated and snubbed by her neighbors because they resent her family for reminding them of Croatia's wartorn past.