“Tomorrow Is Already Too Late”: Marciano’s Story
In 2010, Marciano was seriously injured by a landmine on a former military position around one kilometer from his home in Quilenda, Angola. The explosion injured his leg and hand. Today, he uses crutches and lives with constant pain.
Now 42, Marciano lives in the Bela Vista neighborhood of Quilenda. Despite his injuries, he works the fields to produce the food he needs. He has received no lasting assistance, and the prosthesis his family obtained for him was so uncomfortable that he found it easier to continue using crutches.
Marciano has also become an important point of contact in his community for information about landmines and the dangers they pose. He sometimes accompanies APOPO’s Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) team to sessions with local communities, helping to share information that can prevent further accidents.
His mother, Jesuína, 87, lives nearby. She remembers learning that Marciano had been injured only after he had already been taken to the hospital in Gabela. “I was very sad when it happened,” she says. Although local people knew that mines had been laid in the wider area during the war, she explains that no one knew exactly where they remained. She describes the area simply: “That hill is death. It is closed now, and no one goes up there.” Without the danger, she says, people would be able to work the land.
The area where Marciano had his accident remains dangerous. Explosive ordnance was discovered there as recently as April 2026, and although that item was removed, Marciano believes more remains hidden. APOPO plans to clear the minefields around Quilenda in 2027. In the meantime, its EORE team continues to provide communities with information about the risks and how to remain safe before clearance begins.
Read Marciano’s story in his own words:
The Accident
My name is Marciano. I am 42 years old, and I live here in Quilenda, in the Bela Vista neighborhood. I have two grown up children.
I was injured in 2010 about one kilometer from here. The area is a hill that had been a military base, so we knew there could have been danger there. But after peace came, people had been farming the land and doing everything there. We had also gone hunting there many times without any problem, so we thought there was nothing left.
The day before the accident, we went hunting and returned without any problem. The following morning, we went hunting again. We went as a group, but where I was, there was only me and a younger boy. I told the boy to stay behind me. Otherwise, it could have been him. He might have died or ended up the way I am now.
I climbed onto a rock and, as I came down to the ground, that was where I encountered the disaster. I did not know anything about what was there. When it exploded, I flew farther than this house. It took my leg and also injured my hand. My hand was almost cut off, but God exists.
Unfortunately, I am here with this life, but I am still able to speak. Because of what happened, I am a victim of war. The accident happened a long time after the war, but it happened because of the war.
Treatment Without Lasting Support
After the accident, the authorities took me directly to the hospital in Gabela. They treated me there, and God helped me.
I spent around two months in Gabela before returning to Quilenda. After I came back, people conducted many interviews with me and prepared documents. Some officials came from Gabela, interviewed me, and took photographs. They knew everything that had happened, but there was never any response. I kept hoping, but nothing came back. I have never received any lasting assistance in my life.
After the accident, my family took me to people in Gabela who fitted me with a prosthesis. But it was not comfortable. It was better for me to remain as I am than to use that prosthesis. I had to find a way to get enough money to buy crutches so I could walk and go to the fields. The pain is always there. Walking with these crutches is not easy.
My family lives nearby, but they are also tired and do not have the means to help me financially. I have to make an effort for myself. They support me by following my condition and asking how I slept and how I am, but they cannot do more than they have the means to do.
Working to Survive
I work the fields. I grow corn, cassava, beans, peanuts, and other crops. If I do not work the fields, I have no way to eat. I do not need someone to give me agricultural produce because I already grow that in my field. What I need is some financial support to help me survive. I work because my stomach demands it. Even with the pain and the difficulty of moving, I still have to find a way to continue.
A Danger That Remains
The people here in Quilenda know where the danger is. The same hill where I had my accident is still dangerous.
In April, someone working the land there found an explosive item. We reported it to the authorities, and they came and removed it. But they only removed what had appeared. There is still a lot left, and the whole hill needs to be properly dealt with.
The area was added to the clearance plans after they found me and learned that I had been injured there. But it was only marked with tape in April. People who have fields nearby work only as far as the indicated point. They do not advance any farther. The children have also been warned that they cannot climb the hill.
Everyone who lives here knows that there is danger there. The only person who might not know is someone who has only just arrived. People say they must not go there because what happened to Marciano could happen to them. I have become one of their examples. It is not an example I wanted to become, but I show them that the danger is real.
Once those explosive items are removed, people will be able to move freely. It is not only this hill. There are other areas around the municipality where explosive ordnance remains and where people need help. Our municipality is very far behind when it comes to this work.
The Urgency of Clearance
These landmines have to be removed. I am asking for a team to come here and reduce this danger.
I have followed this work closely. It is not easy. When someone bends down to remove an explosive item, that person is risking their life. They are well trained and know what they are doing. It is very serious work. The people who do this work cannot come without authorization, and they also need the money to carry it out.
I cannot say whether they should come today or tomorrow. But if I say tomorrow, tomorrow is already too late. The work is needed urgently. I need assistance because I do not have support at this moment. I also need the explosive ordnance around us to be removed. I have many things I could say. But the few words I have said are enough for me.
