David McCracken - MA in Human Security and Peacebuilding

I come from Chilliwack B.C., but I’m living in Thailand where I’m working on land mine issues, training people how to clear land mines. I’ve also been associated with the Land Mine Monitoring group making sure there is compliance with the Land Mine Treaty.

I came to this university many, many times in the past but only at night, having been dropped off at sea, swimming here and sneaking around and doing all sorts of horrible things and swim back out again. I was in the army and I never saw this place by daylight until I came here as a student.

I worked with land mines in the field for quite some time and noticed that there wasn’t a synergy with the programs that were meant to help people. People were still dirt poor and unable to move onto the cleared land and make lives for themselves. I thought there must be better ways to do this.

I searched all over the world, different universities, countries, looking for a program and when this one came up on the screen, I realized that it was exactly what I was looking for. I had all the practical experience behind me with mines, but I wanted to marry it with the theoretical. This program really marries theory and practice together. And that’s why I came here.

It’s everything I imagined it should be and more, and it’s getting better. I was in the first program, the inaugural one, and it has gotten better over the next two cohorts, no question. My life and my career have changed during the program. I did my program study in Baghdad, while the war was going on. When I finished my first residency I flew straight to Baghdad and what I learned here in that residency helped me immensely in working there. I helped to develop a part of the Iraqi government to deal with land mines and created organizations in Iraq that are still working now, clearing up the mess.

I’ve learned to focus land mine clearance to the greater benefit of the community. It might be repairing the infrastructure or clearing land for agriculture, but it’s discovering those social and economic needs and their impact, prioritizing them and focusing the line action to deliver what people can most benefit from. This is a marriage of people who are going to deliver a service to those who are going to benefit and trying to get the most benefit to those people.

If you’re interested in changing the world or helping, come to RRU.