Western Oregon Journal

Western's Model United Nations Club (MUN) sponsored a week of fundraising for the Adopt-A-Minefield (AAM) organization last week.

AAM is a campaign of the United Nations Association of the United States, which engages individuals, community groups and businesses in the United Nations effort to resolve the global landmine crisis. In just its seventh year of existence, AAM has raised over $13.6 million to combat the landmine problem, and they have cleared nearly 19 million square meters of land.

As part of last week's festivities, MUN invited Lynn Bradach to speak about her personal experience with the devastation that landmines can cause. Bradach, a native of Portland, Ore., had little or no education regarding the proliferation or the existence of landmines prior to 2003. However, on July 2, 2003, her eldest son, Marine Corporal Travis John Bradach-Nall, was tragically killed in a landmine incident in Karbala, Iraq.

Upon hearing Bradach's story via the New York Times, AAM decided to contact her and invite Bradach to a gala in Los Angeles as an honorary guest. Since then, Bradach has been a dedicated volunteer in many different capacities such as an activist, spokesperson and fundraiser.

Bradach gave a presentation in the Werner Center at noon on Thursday, Oct. 27. She explained how she became involved with AAM, what her and her friends have done so far, and she also showed a couple of brief, albeit, informative films. One of the films featured her fundraising efforts, which grossed more than $30,000 and helped clear an entire landmine-infested village in Cambodia. She left a plaque in the village to memorialize her son's life and sacrifice.

After hearing Bradach's presentation, Senior Ivan Hurtado, a member of MUN, said that, "having her here to speak really brings home the problems landmines pose to millions of people around the world-. It helps us to see what good our cause will do."

Senior Speech Communication Major, Laura Maddox believes that it will help motivate our student body to do more.

In an interview, Bradach said that the people who walk to school, work and home in peril cannot live a better life without everyone's help. She also said the most important thing to remember is that "the only difference between us and them is that they were born there and we were born here; no one knows why."

Bradach has inspired many with her steadfast dedication, and she will continue to do so in the future because she has lost so much, but continues to turn that ill fortune into something positive for millions of people.

To find out more about AAM, log onto www.landmines.org.

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