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Spring 2009

Undergraduate Student Profile: Desu Damtew Works to Save Child Victims of Landmines

Working as a physical therapist in a rehabilitation center in Ethiopia from 1992 to 1998, Desalegn "Desu" Damtew noticed an increasingly large number of civilian victims of landmines, particularly children between the ages of five and 12. Ethiopia is among the most heavily-mined countries in the world, Damtew says, with its mines dating back to the Italian Fascist invasion in 1935. Since then, Ethiopia has been involved in several wars and "uninterrupted use of landmines by different warring parties," which continues to result in civilian deaths, particularly children, Damtew said.

Funds from the Ethiopian government and the Red Cross helped treat injured veterans and provide them with prosthetic limbs, but civilians had to pay out of pocket. Some families traveled hundreds of miles to Addis Ababa but found that they could not afford both expensive treatments and a place to stay. Some victims quickly became homeless.

Damtew's observations led him to co-found the Ethiopian Physiotherapists Association (EPTA) in an effort to help abandoned young victims of landmines. In June 2001, EPTA collaborated with the UN Development Program, the United Nations Children's Fund, and other prominent organizations to launch Ethiopia's first landmine workshop.

In his travels through Europe, Japan, and East and South Africa to attend conferences on landmines, Damtew recognized that much of the funding for his cause was coming from Washington. "I realized long ago that Washington runs world politics," he said. "When the opportunity arose for me to stay in D.C. in 2002, I grabbed it without hesitation."

In Washington, Damtew sought a college that would challenge him in the area of international affairs. When he first saw that David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, was on the faculty at the Elliott School, Damtew was hooked. "He was a well-known, active, and influential ambassador in Ethiopian politics," Damtew said. "I can certainly say that every politics-loving Ethiopian knows Amb. Shinn."

Damtew was also excited to hear from a friend that Brook Hailu Beshah was also on the faculty. "His service as deputy ambassador of Ethiopia to the United States was another factor that influenced my decision to join the Elliott School," he said. Damtew is taking Beshah's course on East African security, and he hopes to take Shinn's class on Africa as well.

In addition to his studies at the Elliott School, where he is majoring in international affairs, Damtew continues to champion the cause of landmine survivors. In Washington, he co-founded the Coalition Against Landmines (CALM) and serves as the organization's executive director. CALM raises money to help landmine survivors' rehabilitation in Ethiopia and also raises public awareness in the United States about landmines.

"I believe a great effort is being undertaken to inform Americans about the threats posed by landmines and explosive war remnants on the civilian population in war-torn areas of the world," he added. "But we have a long way to go, especially when it comes to victims' assistance and mine clearance."