Massoud Hassani grew up on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, near a desert filled with unexploded mines left by foreign armies. As a child he would build cheap wind-powered toys and race them across the desert with his friends. His mother smuggled the family away after they lost their father, and Mr Hassani settled in the Netherlands, where he designed a cheap mine-detonating device inspired by his childhood toys. “Mine Kafon”, named for his device, is a short but important film telling his story.
Narrating, Mr Hassani explains the scale of the problem: most people in Kabul will know someone who has been killed by a landmine, and the cost of safely clearing a mine has been calculated at $1200. The second half of the film outlines the solution; Mr Hassani’s device is easy to assemble and its materials cost just €40. Driven over the desert by the wind, it is heavy enough to detonate any mines it touches, but only loses a couple of legs in each explosion, so could potentially detonate several mines in one journey.
The “Mine Kafon” film was directed by Callum Cooper and produced by his Ardent Film Trust. It generated substantial media interest, and saw hundreds of ordinary people praising the invention and offering suggestions to improve it via the comment sections of online media outlets. The subsequent success of Mr Hassani’s kickstarter has enabled him to make these improvements and begin construction; he plans to release his inventions into the Afghan deserts in August of this year. Many lives could be saved.
This story is proof of the power of digital platforms to pool human resources, both financial and mental. You can follow Mr Hassani’s progress via his blog here, and watch “Mine Kafon” below.
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