World-renowned climber and Everest Summiter David Keaton takes to the fields

Mountain climber David Keaton has reached a lot of high points in his lifetime including both versions of the “Seven Summits” and the 50 U.S. state highpoints, but much of his focus is now on fields—“Freedom Fields” to be exact.

Freedom Fields USA, whose motto is “free from landmines free to live” is a non-political group of concerned Americans that, to-date, has cleared more than 2,500 landmines in SE Asia. These landmines cause nearly 10,000 casualties a year throughout the world—most of the victims are civilian women, children and farmers. Once cleared, the minefields can be turned into areas of productive use and this, in turn, will stimulate economic growth in war-torn areas.  

Freedom Fields has been focusing on areas that are politically stable enough for humanitarian demining assistance. The current project is in Cambodia in an area that is approximately 450 miles long that contains more than two million landmines. This is one of the largest concentration of landmines in the world with reports indicating that 29% of the victims being children. Landmines are manufactured for as little as three dollars each, but may cost as much as $1,000 each to be removed which is a very dangerously slow process that must be done carefully by hand. The project and other Freedom Fields USA projects are being supported by generous donations and the sale of jewelry with more information on ways to help being on the Freedom Fields USA webpage. 

Freedom Fields is not only focusing on clearing landmines and raising support for their projects, but also on raising awareness of the magnitude of the problem of landmines and unexploded remnants of war. This group of private citizens is inspired by knowing “…that the price of freedom includes a responsibility to help others that share our world.”  For more on David D. Keaton see here.

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