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Angola Diary
26th - 30th November 2001
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26th November
Got up at 05:20, exercised till 05:35 and had breakfast with the team
06:00 left with the team to the mine field were they were briefed by the supervisor, and rehearse the demining techniques and security rules; 07:00 started clearing his lane; searching for mines until 13:30. Capoco cleared 8 squared meters and investigated 8 signals, but didn’t find any land mine. Capoco returned to the base were he had lunch at 14:00, had shower and rested until 16:30.
18:00 went to a local theater to watch a movie (shown on a little TV screen at price of $1.00 per head)
27th November
Got up at 05:00, to remove clothes from the line because the sky was dark; it was going to rain.
05:30 had breakfast(porridge made of CSB).
06:00, left to the mine field at the back the Land Rover Defender 110, pickup. At 06:30 attended the supervisors briefing; The supervisor (Pilartes) complains that deminers there are not enough volunteers for the rehearsals, and this made Capoco volunteer for the exercise.
07:00 Capoco was assigned to his lane, he worked at that lane until 13:30, with breaks every 30 minutes.
Capoco detected 6 metal signals. The groung was easy to dig (during the signal investigation) due to the rain earlier in the morning. No mines were found after the signal; Metal(zinc) roofing sheets was found instead (thus the signals). Capoco cleared 10m2 and went back to the base for lunch.
14:45 went to rest, and woke at 16:00 to helped with transport water for the compound. 18:20 Capoco went to see his friend Mario Albano, and had diner with him 19:000 only to return at home at 20:40. Capoco went to sleep at 21:30.
28th November
Capoco woke up at 05:20, had porridge for breakfast, and left to the mine field on the back of the Land Rover. As usual, the team was briefed by the supervisor. Capoco was assigned to his lane and. Today Capoco did not detect any signal. At the end of the working day(13:30) in the mine field, he cleared 9m2. Capoco had lunch (maze and pork meat) at 14:00 and spent an easy afternoon playing card with his team mates. Had dinner at the HALO Base and went to bed at 21:00.
29th November
Capoco woke at 05:30, had breakfast with his team mates. His meals in the morning doesn’t vary much usually porridge.
After briefing with the supervisor, he entered his lane and detected 12 signals 2 were empty cans of some sort and the rest were variety metals.
13:30 Capoco went home for lunch. He ate (rice with beans and fish) at the HALO camp. 15:00 he went to rest and.
19:00 he had dinner with the rest of the team. And listened to the music until 10:00, and went to sleep.
30th November
Today, Jose Capoco woke up at 05:00 and exercised with football until 05:30, had tea with buttered bread, and went to the mine field.
He worked in the minefield until13:30, and went for lunch at the HALO base, he had beef and funge (local dish made of maze flour). 14:50, he cleaned his tools, uniform, and together with the team he helped made the inventory of the material used that between the 26th and the 30th.
15:30 rested until 16:00. Than played football at the local stadium.
18:30, went to the Zebra bar to meet his friends who were watching television. 20:00 he returned to the base for dinner, and had visitors who came to listen to the music. They stayed up till late.
Jose Maria Capoco
Deminer
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