“My name is Caetano, I am 48 years old, and I am from the northern region of Malanje province. I have been working with APOPO for 8 years, now as a rat trainer and before that I also worked as a deminer. Before joining APOPO, I worked with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) from 2011 to 2015, also in demining. Before that, I was involved in street and market trading. And before that, I was studying.
I am married and have five children — two daughters and three sons. My eldest daughter is 16 years old, and the youngest is 15 months. My wife is also a trader, selling food products like tomatoes and potatoes. Three of my children are in school, while the youngest two are not yet old enough.I first heard about demining work through a radio announcement. I applied for training as a deminer and got in. At first, my family was not happy about my decision. They were afraid and thought the job was too dangerous, encouraging me to look for something else. But I wanted to take on this challenge. Now, after years in this field, they have changed their minds and see that it is a safe and important job.I started at APOPO as a deminer before becoming a rat trainer. At first, it felt strange, and I found it hard to believe that rats could help detect landmines. But as I learned the theory and then moved into practice, I realized how efficient they are. I quickly grew to love the work.Rats are very simple, sensitive, and dynamic animals. Working with them is safe and much lighter work compared to using manual detectors. Plus, they make our job much easier by covering large areas quickly. Compared to manual detection, rats are much faster. They can clear a 10-by-30-meter area in less than 20 minutes, something that would take much longer with metal detectors. In a single day, we work with four to five rats.
Each rat has its own behavior. Some are quicker at detecting landmines, while others take time to clean themselves before starting work. My favorite rat is Nguza — he is very active and always ready to work. There is a connection between trainers and the rats. If I am in a bad mood, the rat can pick up on that and be affected too. If a rat is not feeling well, we can notice it and try to motivate them. This bond is important because the rats are very responsive to their surroundings.
Many people do not believe that rats can detect landmines. When I tell them I train rats for this, they are surprised and skeptical. But after I show them photos and explain how it works, they are impressed and understand the importance of what we do. It brings me great joy to know that our work allows people to return to their land. We have cleared areas that were once completely mined, and now those same areas have farms and plantations. That makes me very proud.
I would love to see APOPO grow even more in Angola, just as it has in Cambodia. There is still a lot of work to be done since Angola is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. We need more support to expand operations, have more bases, and train more rats. I am very grateful to the donors and ask them to continue supporting APOPO. We are fighting a serious problem and saving lives.
I also have great respect for the trainers in Tanzania, who prepare the rats before they come to us. They do an incredible job, and they may not always get to see the final impact of their work. But they should know that what they do saves lives every single day. I hope that APOPO continues to grow and that we can eliminate landmines in Angola as quickly as possible. We want more teams, more resources, and more support. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are on the right path.”
