Mine-clearing record for hardworking Ronin the rat

Mine detection rat, Ronin — his favourite food is avocado and he has been described by handlers as 'hardworking, but friendly and relaxed'. Picture: apopo.org

Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat — Elizabeth Bowen

Visiting Cambodia some years ago, I came upon a band of musicians busking at the side of the road. The dozen or so men and women played sad wistful music on a various instruments, both western and local. But this was no ordinary band. All of its members were victims of landmines planted during the two decades-long civil wars of the Pol Pot era. Each musician had lost a limb or had been blinded.