Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You refuse to go into the field until it has been properly mapped.
You pause at the edge of the minefield and watch as the young man walks confidently through it. You consider carefully that this is an exercise in trust, and you know that you should follow.
The villagers are watching, waiting to see what you will do. Meanwhile, the young man has stopped and is motioning for you to follow. He tells you to follow as closely in his footsteps as possible.
You take a couple of steps into the minefield, and then decide that you will have to find another way to save face with these people. You'll do them no good if you are dead.
You watch as the young man finishes his walk through the minefield, moving very carefully and at odd angles. Then, as he walks back around the far edge of the field, the other villagers begin to leave.
You call to them, trying to reason that you must be alive to help them, but no one wants to hear it. You have lost face in their eyes. If you cannot trust one of them to lead you to safety, how will they trust you to lead them to safety?
You continue to work at this village for almost a year. During your time with them, you do make a few friends, and many of the villagers are willing to talk with you. But none is willing to work with you. You end up bringing in people from nearby villages to teach to find and remove the mines.
When your time with this village is up, you find yourself saddened that you could not have done more. Because you didn't trust the young man who wanted to lead you through the minefield on the first day, now this village has no one who can find and remove mines. And the young men you have trained will return to their own villages when you are gone.
You wish you had taken the chance and followed the young man that first day.
"The decision to walk into a minefield that has not been properly mapped is the hardest I've ever made," says John Johnson, a deminer. "It's a matter of not losing face with the natives. You have to go, it's not something you want to do."