And they do, with appalling frequency. About 800 people are killed by landmines every month, 30-40 per cent of them children. Ever courageous, never sleeps, never misses. Once laid, an anti-personnel mine can remain active for as long as 50 years. And clearing them is no easy task.
Trained workers have to crawl their way along, probing the soil inch by inch.
Between four and six million land mines were laid in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia during the recent conflict in the former Yugoslavia. The White House event also highlighted another project aimed at improving the lives of children and people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The only superpower they need is the power of knowledge.