• Ukraine: Kharkiv on the Ground Part 2
    Oct 17 2023

    The continuation of a special two-part series finds JJ Chalmers on the ground in Ukraine, joined by HALO’s Mike Newton, Mohammad “Qaissy” Abufarda, and Sophia Badalian. This episode brings JJ and the team to the resilient village of Hrakove, where they meet de-facto village administrator Anatolii organizing aid for the community. As the team journeys back to the HALO Ukraine HQ in Brovary, JJ speaks to interpreter Ivan Yermilov, who recounts his personal experience living through the siege of Mariupol. JJ concludes the series with reflections on the insights and stories shared by everyone along the way, and what lays ahead for Ukraine.

    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • Ukraine: Kharkiv on the Ground Part 1
    Oct 12 2023

    Join JJ Chalmers in a special two-part series as he sets foot on the ground in Ukraine. Along with HALO’s Mike Newton, Mohammad “Qaissy” Abufarda, and Sophia Badalian, JJ and the team visit demining and survey operations in the eastern region of Kharkiv.

    In this episode, Senior Supervisor Bohdan Hreshko leads the team to the town of Chkalovkse, where a football pitch now lays ridden with anti-personnel mines, and an agricultural field in Mykolaivka that is sown with anti-personnel mines instead of crops. JJ speaks to farmers Natalia and Vyacheslav, whose fields are contaminated with mines and tripwires, and home was destroyed by an ammunition explosion.

    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
  • Laos 50 Years On
    Aug 17 2023

    Exactly 50 years since the bombing stopped in Laos HALO is still clearing up unexploded bombs in the landlocked South East Asian country. JJ Chalmers talks to Sera Koulabdara, CEO of the charity Legacies of War and to William Hunter, who runs HALO's Laos programme.

    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • Life at HALO: Earthquakes and Other Emergencies
    May 25 2023

    JJ Chalmers speaks to HALO's Syria programme manager Damian O'Brien, who was travelling back from Syria when the Turkish-Syria earthquake struck in February. His tale of survival is remarkable. Meanwhile Svitlana, delivers risk education classes for HALO in Ukraine. She was woken up by missiles on the first day of Russia's attack on her country.

    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
  • Somaliland: Hope in the Horn of Africa
    Apr 27 2023

    Somaliland cannot be found on an official map or atlas, yet has all the characteristics of a functioning state. HALO has demined hundreds of miles of roads and has been its second largest employer. We hear from Chris Pym and Aislinn Redbond on how we're now dealing with a new threat to life: the climate emergency.

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
  • The Princess and the Minefield
    Apr 13 2023

    In 1997, nobody had heard of the HALO Trust. Few people cared about landmines. Then the most famous woman in the world walked through a minefield being cleared by HALO in Angola. We talk to Paul Heslop, the man charged with escorting Princess Diana and keeping her safe. A walk that highlighted the landmine problem to billions of people around the world.

    Show More Show Less
    37 mins
  • Chris Moon survivor extraordinaire: kidnapped, blown-up and running ultramarathons on one leg
    Mar 30 2023

    Chris Moon was clearing landmines for HALO in Cambodia in 1993 when he was taken captive by the Khmer Rouge. He is one of the few westerners who survived - and even became friends with one of his captors. He then went to clear mines in Mozambique - only to inadvertently set off a mine in supposedly safe land. He lost an arm and a leg - but then devoted himself to running ultramarathons.

    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
  • Ukraine: One Year On
    Mar 9 2023

    We hear from explosive ordnance education instructor Yulia Chykolba and HALO Ukraine's Imogen Churchill on how HALO relocated from the Donbas to clear landmines laid around Kyiv and Kharkiv during the last year and the importance of educating people of the risks of handling unknown shiny objects in fields and forests.

    Show More Show Less
    36 mins