How an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education Session Helped a Mother Turn Knowledge into Safer Practices for Her Family
How an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education Session Helped a Mother Turn Knowledge into Safer Practices for Her Family
How an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education Session Helped a Mother Turn Knowledge into Safer Practices for Her Family
When Knowledge Became Protection
How an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education Session Helped a Mother Turn Knowledge into Safer Practices for Her Family
When Knowledge Became Protection
Published on Saturday - 2026/08/15Yasmeen Abu Aoun never expected that information she received during an awareness session would one day help her protect her children from a real-life danger.
Yasmeen is a mother of four who lost her husband during the war. She now lives with her family in a displacement camp near an area that may contain remnants of war.
Amid the daily challenges her family faces, Yasmeen once believed that if one of her children found an unfamiliar object, the safest thing to do would be to pick it up and move it away. She did not know that approaching, touching, or moving a suspected explosive item could increase the risk of harm.
Yasmeen’s understanding changed after she attended an Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) session implemented by Save Youth Future Society (SYFS) in partnership with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG).
During the session, Yasmeen learned key safety messages, including the importance of not approaching, touching, or moving unfamiliar or suspected explosive items; moving away from the area; warning others; and reporting the suspected hazard to the relevant authorities.
For Yasmeen, these messages were more than information. They became practical guidance that helped her understand how to respond safely if her children encountered a suspicious object.
Shortly after attending the session, Yasmeen’s family faced a situation that demonstrated the importance of what she had learned.
Her eight-year-old son returned home carrying an unfamiliar object that he had found with other children near the waste disposal area.
According to Yasmeen’s account, the object was treated as a suspected item that could potentially be a remnant of war, and the relevant authorities were notified so that the situation could be assessed and the potential hazard addressed appropriately.
For Yasmeen, this moment marked an important turning point.
The information she had received during the awareness session was no longer simply something she had heard. It had become knowledge that helped her recognize a potential danger and respond more safely.
Through this experience, Yasmeen realized that prevention does not begin only when a suspicious object is found. It also starts by being aware of areas that may pose risks to children, monitoring where they play, and teaching them how to recognize unfamiliar objects and what to do if they encounter one.
Since then, Yasmeen has become more attentive to where her children play. She regularly reminds them to stay away from unfamiliar objects, never touch or move them, and immediately inform a trusted adult or the relevant authorities.
The knowledge did not stop with Yasmeen. She also noticed that her son began sharing what he had learned with his friends, warning them not to approach or play with unknown objects.
In this way, a message delivered during one awareness session reached beyond the session itself—moving from the facilitator to a mother, from the mother to her children, and from the children to their peers.
Yasmeen believes that the awareness session did not simply provide her with information; it helped change the way her family understands and responds to potential hazards around them.
Her experience highlights the importance of continuing explosive ordnance risk education and ensuring that it reaches more families, mothers, and children living in areas affected by explosive remnants of war.
Such awareness can help families make safer decisions and reduce exposure to potentially life-threatening hazards.
Awareness messages were translated into safer practices within the family, including increased attention to potentially hazardous areas, avoiding unfamiliar objects, not touching or moving them, warning others, and reporting suspected hazards to the relevant authorities.
Yasmeen’s experience demonstrates how awareness can extend beyond a single session and become practical knowledge that is shared within families and communities.
Sometimes, the right information at the right time can be an important step toward protecting an entire family
