Life was fine for Elisabeth Nassalan, an industrious wife and mother bringing up six healthy children in Senegal’s southern Casamance region. Her gardens, near the village of Djifanghor in the West African country’s most fertile area, produced enough tomatoes, peanuts, and okra to sell at local markets, with profits going to feed and clothe her family. But in the early hours of September 5, 2001, she stepped on a landmine while out harvesting mangoes in her uncle’s garden. Everything she knew and all her hopes exploded in the blast that claimed both of her legs.

Elisabeth Nassalan and her son Jonas rest outside their home in Senegal's Casamance region.
Photo Credit: Richard Nyberg/USAID

Fighting back tears, she recalls the horror that invaded her life during an anonymous attack, orchestrated by faceless combatants unaware of their victim and the consequences. An armed struggle for independence of Casamance stretches back over two decades, and although peace seems to be on the horizon, thousands of landmines remain under the soil. Over 650 people, like Nassalan, have stepped into tragedy. And of them, 147 lost their lives, including 23 children below the age of 14.

"It took me a month before I realized I was at the hospital," she said. While she recuperated for 90 days in the hospital in Ziguinchor, thoughtful neighbors cared for her children and tended her gardens.

On returning home, she hit rock bottom: her husband abandoned her in an act seen far too often in rural Casamance. But with the help of USAID and its partner, Handicap International, Nassalan has hope for a brighter future. With microcredit support, she was able to open up a small shop in her house. Villagers come to buy staples like soap, cooking oil, Maggi cubes, coffee, and matches. This modest but regular income makes a world of difference to her and her children, now aged 3 to 24.

USAID, through Handicap International, has assisted about 140 handicapped persons in the Casamance since 1999, helping them in particular as they reintegrated into society after spending months in hospital. Specific support includes as prosthetics, transport, educational support, and vocational training for young landmine victims and start-up funds for alternative forms of income, such as Nassalan's home kiosk.

The number of landmine accidents decreased from 48 in 2002 to 19 in 2003. And to prevent against future accidents, especially as more people return to their villages, USAID supports an extensive awareness-raising campaign reaching over 400,000 people using the radio, 890 village volunteer agents, and over 1,300 school teachers.

"At the beginning it was terribly difficult, as I had the children and didn't think I could provide them a decent education and success in life," she says. "But now, even though I am alone, I am able to earn money and care for my children. The assistance I have received has helped me greatly in making a fresh start."

And she constantly looks to new ways to improve conditions for her family. Sliding off her wheelchair onto a plastic mat, she sits at a manual sewing machine and shows what she has learned so far. In time, she will sell clothing to boost her income.

Life for Nassalan could certainly be easier. But judging by the smiles on her children's supportive faces, things could be much worse. With backing from USAID, she's making the best out of it.