Staff story: Abu
Abu Chinarine was an APOPO deminer. He risked his life every day to help rid his community of unexploded landmines left over from the war 30 years ago.
I was a manual deminer for APOPO. Everyone in the community knows about the mines that put our lives in danger.
I decided to do something about it so I joined APOPO.
I carried out tasks such as minefield preparation and landmine detection.
APOPO also deploys HeroRATs to detect the landmines. They are very fast.
Once they find the landmines, I carefully exposed them.
Me and my colleagues would then safely destroy them.
People say I risked my life to find the landmines. But we followed strict safety rules.
We also took regular breaks from the heat and intense concentration.
And there were fully trained medical staff on hand with top quality equipment.
My job supported my family and I helped pay school fees for my nieces and nephews.
I also started up a family business as I knew, one day, all the mines will be gone.
My mother worried about me every day but I know she is proud of what I did.
And my children can now play and collect firewood without fear of landmines.
Thanks to APOPO, my family is now safe!