According to British media reports on September 27, Prince Harry wore a bulletproof vest and a protective mask on his "heavy" trip to Angola today, and passed through the minefield with a melancholy expression, paying high respect to the legacy of his mother, Princess Diana.
Prince Harry helped detonate a mine remotely, echoing his mother's visit 22 years ago. The photos of him walking between the warning signs also echo a famous photo taken by Princess Diana in Angola in 1997.
▲Prince Harry walks in the minefield
The photo taken in January 1997 became one of the most iconic photos of Princess Diana who died in August of the same year.
▲In 1997, Princess Diana walked in the minefield of Angola
This was a "specially important" event for the 35-year-old royal family member. Currently, he is on a 10-day trip to Africa with his 38-year-old wife, Megan Markle, and 4-month-old son Archie.
He praised his mother's visit on social media for "helping change the course of history". The official account "The Royal Sussex" wrote: "The Duke felt a great responsibility to come to this place that was profound for his mother. His mother had tirelessly spoken for these places in need, even if the mine problem was not universally welcome." When speaking on the minefield site, Harry praised the efforts made by the Harlow Trust. The work of the Harlow Trust is to help countries recover from the war remove residual mines and other explosives.
▲Prince Harry in the minefield
He said: "Mines are irreversible scars left by war. Only by clearing the mines can we help these communities find peace, and peace can bring opportunities for development. In addition, we can protect the diversity of biological things. I slept next to the beautiful Krato River last night. If natural assets are protected, they will bring unlimited opportunities to the protection-dominated economy."
Prince Harry will then go to Wanbo, which is also the place where the Princess Diana visited. Thanks to Diana's help, the land that once was contaminated by deadly explosives has become a prosperous community with shops on the streets and schools built.
▲The former minefield has now become a community
0, the operation manager of the Harlow Trust, Vardmar Goncalves Fernandez, told the media: "The current prosperity is thanks to Diana's help. She made the world realize the seriousness of the mine problem, and countries and organizations around the world have begun to provide help one after another."
20 years ago, Princess Diana personally passed through a minefield in Angola to raise people's awareness of this cruel and inhumane weapon. The princess' bold and brave actions made the international community pay attention to this issue and provide help. Today, more and more minefields of the past have been cleared from buried mines and have developed into thriving communities, with homes, wooden workshops, shops and schools built.
Princess Diana's attention to the region, as well as her condolences to children injured in the explosion, has triggered global efforts to stop production and use of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, Diana passed away unexpectedly just a few months before the drafting and signing of the Ottawa Treaty, which prohibits landmines, and she failed to see the fruits of her efforts.
▲Princess Diana is comforting the child whose leg was taken by a mine
Angola still has a lot of mine clearance work to be done. In 2002, Angola ended its 27-year civil war, but the remaining mines continued to harm innocent people. Too many areas were still tied to the cage of poverty and fear. Local residents lived in fear all the time, worried that every step they took was their last step.
Harlow Trust said mines and unexploded devices are still hurting civilians, hindering the development of Angola and 63 other countries and regions in the world with mine risks. It is estimated that 60 million people are still facing landmine threats and live in fear at all times.The global casualties caused by landmines reached a ten-year high in 2015; what is even more shocking is that about 80% of them are civilians, and the most innocent groups often face the most serious threat.
Harlow Trust is committed to the process of clearing landmines, and in 1997 they invited Princess Diana to help them increase their attention. Since then, the Foundation has cleared more than 100,000 mines, 800 minefields and 162,000 shells, missiles and bombs in the southern African country.
Most cities have been cleaned up, but there are still a large number of mines in rural areas, and 40% of the country's population lives in rural areas. There are 630 minefields in the eight provinces where Harlow works, and it is estimated that there are more than 1,000 minefields in total across Angola.
▲Mine removal has a long way to go
In the Qiaobei Forest Reserve, Dad Harry said: "I have some of my closest friends here. I first came here since my mother passed away in 1997. This place can keep me away from everything else, and it also gives me a real sense of mission. Now I still feel that I have a deep connection with this place and Africa."
So far, in addition to paying attention to landmines, Prince Harry and Meghan have also used this African family trip to participate in women's rights issues and support and help charities for AIDS patients.
(Siyu)
