Lipscomb students join international efforts to eliminate landmines
|
Lipscomb University Students for International Peace and Justice are joining international efforts to eliminate landmines by hosting a "Night of 1,000 Dinners" on Monday, Feb. 28 in the Great Hall at Woodmont Hills, 3710 Franklin Rd, Nashville.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the opening address given at 7 p.m. Dress is semi-formal, and donations will go to the Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) to clear landmines from minefields, according to Matt Vollrath, president of Students for International Peace and Justice.
The proceeds given to MLI will assist work being done in Sri Lanka, which was the main mine-affected country hit by the Tsunami.
The Lipscomb University Students for International Peace and Justice (SIPJ) is hosting the "Night of 1,000 Dinners" because they believe the worldwide problem needs more attention.
"The issue of landmines does not receive nearly as much attention as it should," said Vollrath. "People are suffering in areas all over the world because of the destruction caused by landmines, but their suffering hardly ever receives attention."
Ruth Mick, landmine committee leader in SIPJ, began the Lipscomb campaign of "Night of 1,000 Dinners" as a way to bring attention to the issue.
"Night of 1,000 Dinners" is an international campaign of Adopt-A-Minefield. Since its launch in 2001, thousands of gatherings have been held in over 50 countries. The dinners enable people to get together to express concerns and raise awareness of the landmine problem while also raising money to go toward eliminating it, said Mick.
"Approximately every 27 minutes, a person is killed or maimed by a mine explosion. That is about the length of time it takes to have dinner.
"Our hope is that people will take time out of their busy schedules to come to our "Night of 1,000 Dinners" and to bring some friends along. With money collected through donations, we can change the numbers and save more lives than are lost in that time."
There are an estimated 70 million mines left in the ground in over 90 countries, according to the 1000dinners.org.uk website. However, no one knows exactly how many there are until they are found. And any area of land that is suspect cannot be used for agriculture, infrastructure, resettlement, schools, access to water resources, and such because of the presence of landmines. In fact, it doesn't even take one landmine to create a minefield. The mere suspicion of a mine makes a minefield.
"Landmines not only cripple and kill people, but they also generate fear, inhibit social-economic growth and deny the use of productive land, said Mick. "People are getting blown to pieces by this sudden and unexpected tragedy and their land is considered unsafe, therefore making it wasted and dangerous earth. We need to figure out how to help alleviate this problem."
Vollrath believes that is exactly what "Night of 1,000 Dinners" is about.
"We in SIPJ believe we all have a responsibility to care about people, especially people who are often forgotten by society. "Night of 1,000 Dinners" is our way of joining with people all over the world to do just that.
"It is easy to be overwhelmed and think there is no way we can actually make a difference when the problem is so widespread and atrocious. But it is a shame to ignore the issues just because it seems farfetched or unrealistic that we can make a difference. We can't continue to use that as an excuse to be apathetic."
David Knopfler, recording artist, was quoted on Adopt-A-Minefield's website saying, "The statistics of mines that need clearance are staggering, but the truth is it's a challenge that is absolutely doable."
Vollrath plans for the evening to provide an opportunity for the community to learn ways to take part in the process of clearance.
"The "Night of 1,000 Dinners" is a chance for our community to come together and enjoy a delicious dinner of international food, catered by Sodexho, Lipscomb's dining service, while also enjoying quality entertainment and becoming aware of the problem of landmines throughout the world. We plan to use the evening to show and to tell people exactly how they can do something about the problem."
Proceeds from donations made that evening will go to the Marshall Legacy Institute.
"We are adding the proceeds we make that night with money we raised through a benefit concert, and we will present a check for the total amount to the Marshall Legacy Institute," said Mick. "MLI trains landmine-detecting dogs to send to various countries to permanently remove landmines so communities can be more stable.
"We were drawn to the Marshall Legacy Institute because they are getting rid of the problem before someone gets hurt."
MLI works with the Humane Society of the United States and other partners to raise private funds to provide mine-detection dogs to the countries in greatest need. MLI uses dogs to detect landmines because dogs have the ability to do so by "sniffing out" the explosives in the mines. The dogs are trained to locate the scent, sit still, stay safe and alert a human partner to mark the spot so the mine can be removed or destroyed. This detection skill, as well as the dog's agility and size, makes the dog one of the most versatile and valuable partners in the landmine removal team, according to the MLI website.
"I'm excited about the opportunity to meet new people from the community who have a similar passion for things like this," said Vollrath. "We hope to raise enough money to train at least one dog and be well on our way to train a second. It takes about $20,000 to train a dog. We are about halfway there with money from the benefit concert. We hope to present the MLI representative with $20,000 or more that night.
"I also hope that people learn from this event that even though issues seem very big and as though they can't be tackled, it is important for us all to take the time to try. When we take that time and allow ourselves to do whatever we can to help others, God does bless those efforts, and we will make a difference. And no matter how small that difference may be, at least we've done something...the effects of our efforts may be small, but they are still very real."
The Marshall Legacy Institute is a nonprofit, international humanitarian organization formed in the 50th anniversary year of the "Marshall Plan" to extend the vision of General George C. Marshall to address 21st Century Problems. MLI applies skills and resources to building indigenous capacity in the developing world to alleviate suffering, restore hope and create conditions that nurture stability, according to the MLI website.
For more information about Lipscomb's "Night of 1,000 Dinners" or about the Students for International Peace and Justice, contact Vollrath at vollrathmd [at] lipscomb.edu or by calling 937.243.2636. For a local number, call SIPJ advisor Richard Goode at 615.279.5748.