Roots of Peace group helping to rid world of land mines

Published: 2004-05-06

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (CNS) -- When Heidi Kuhn and her teenage daughter, Kyleigh, presented a $70,000 check to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan earlier this year to help rid the world of land mines, the money represented millions of pennies collected by children in California's Marin County. The mother and daughter, who are members of St. Raphael Parish in San Rafael, made their presentation in New York at the U.N. General Assembly during a convocation of students -- U.N. delegates' children who attend the U.N. School. The money, collected over a three-month period by a nonprofit organization called Roots of Peace, is to help clear war-torn fields in Afghanistan of land mines, which lie hidden with no time limit on their capability to kill and maim. Begun seven years ago, Roots of Peace has raised more than $1 million, including matching donations from other groups, to remove land mines in Croatia, Cambodia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Roots of Peace is replanting the land with grapes, wheat, cherries, walnuts and other food crops.

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