There are said to be millions of guns buried in caches all over the Republic of Mozambique, in south eastern Africa, as result of the country’s bitter 16-year civil war.
When the cease-fire was finally agreed in 1992, United Nations troops were meant to disarm both sides but most weapons remained hidden or buried.
Since 1995, the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM) has been working to help people exchange weapons of war for tools to earn a living through the Transforming Arms into Tools project.
The iniative is an attempt to eliminate the threat presented by the hidden weapons. Mozambicans are encouraged to hand them over in exchange for items like ploughs, bicycles and sewing machines. In one case a whole village gave up its weapons in exchange for a tractor.
The Mozambique government supports the operation. It knows former rebels would not hand in weapons to the authorities for fear of prosecution.
Once the weapons are decommissioned, they are cut up and turned into sculptures by the artists in Maputo. This process has produced the Tree of Life by artists Kester, Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos and Adelino 
Serafim Maté and the Throne of Weapons.
Photography: Mike Farrier
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Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.
Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.
Brian Usher is photography consultant for The-Latest.Com. He is a highly experienced editorial and commercial photographer whose work has been published throughout the world, appearing in many well known magazines and newspapers. Brian has featured in several books and has been a writer for the Royal Photographic Society magazine.
Heidi Kingstone has spent time in Afghanistan reporting for a number of publications. Her work has appeared in the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Sunday Times and other international journals. She has also reported from places like Iraq, Rwanda, Lebanon, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. Heidi is The-Latest's Editor at large.
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