Hendrik Ehlers is Co-Founder of MgM and today one of the two managing directors of the non-governmental, non-profit organisation. Together with Hans Georg Kruessen his life is demining and the destruction of other dangerous relicts of war in the southern part of Africa. Both, Hendrik and George, have extensive experience and knowhow in demining, ops management, survey and explosive ordnance disposal.
How did things start with MgM? What was the initial idea to enter this kind of job and which is his motivation to start the next project? An interview with the Managing Director.

How somebody becomes a deminer?
I have to thank my mother for getting me into landmine clearing – she heard a request for Portuguese speaking volunteers for mine clearance in Angola on a local radio station in Cologne and told me to do something worthwhile with my life. Although I had a business management diploma and had dabbled in some social science studies, I only did part-time work in construction in order to have the free time to compete in international hang-gliding competitions. So, with my life-long friend Hans Georg Kruessen, we took off for Angola where we were going to drive decommissioned, ex-East German army tanks into mine belts around the village of Xangongo, Kunene Province, Southern Angola. Great idea, swords into plowshares…
What did you know about mines and mine clearing?
We knew nothing about landmines until we found ourselves surrounded by ten thousands of TM-57s. "Radical pacifism" was the term for such stupidity and the only way to survive was to learn fast. It took little to find out that the project was just stupid - because anti-tank mines are made to destroy tanks. One of my co-pilots lost his life during one such stupid trip into the minefields, but miraculously, I was unharmed. Anyhow we continued, we were on a mission….
Can you describe how MgM came to be formed in Germany in 1996?
+ My friend and partner since childhood, Hans Georg Kruessen, and I were on Christmas leave back home, when we learned that our contracts Mozambique as Instructors and Supervisors of the Survey plus EOD section were not renewed. We had no chance but to do what many people had told us to do before: Make our own NGO. With the help of our old school pal Christoph Brocks this was done within a few days and MgM was legally founded on 16 January 1996.
How has your experience, and the experience of the founders of MgM, shaped the way MgM has been structured?
+ We wanted to avoid the situation that a HQ and/or board members in Germany could negatively influence our field work. Therefore the entire board but 3 members retired 5 minutes after the foundation case of beer was emptied. Hans Georg and me remained as majority over the silent third Christoph. Then we ran off into the bush. That gave us the unique structure to be in the field and to be on top of the organisation. We call that the reversed pyramid. This enables us to be very flexible and to react based on field realities rather than having to ask some distant body if we may buy a new truck or start a new operation. Without that our Angola operations would have stopped long ago, just because there was no funding…. To take it one step further, Hans Georg and me later both became Chairman, which let’s us take the entire legal responsibility, too.
What do you feel are the most unique aspects of MgM that set it apart from other demining organizations?
+ The above structure is absolutely unique and so is the fact that both of us have no formal military back-ground or similar education. Well, I was conscripted for a year as radar operator on the Hawk system. We learned everything in the field by doing it, which as a side effect generated a number of self-built clearance and management devices that actually work. A very important thing is that we work in a team of multi-talents with maximum decentralized decision making. We are agroup of friends and 99% of our staff is the same since many years.
Can you describe how MgM has grown over the last years?
+ we started with zero and my father allowed us to use his phone, got the first US$ 600k from the German Government in 1996 and grew to an annual budget of US$ 3M in 1998. Whereas the donors supported Angola later only very little (with the exception of the US DoS) the R&D section HEC grew rapidly, so that the balance remains the same. The number of staff has been constantly at approx 150 for Angola and Mozambique with 7 expats going either area. With the latest development in Angola our staff grew to 250 and thanks to the donations of private people the annual budget for 2003 is at US$ 8M.
Have the methods of demining changed over this time?
+ Very little, we started of with MaM, mechanically assisted manual demining, and still work in the same former unique combination of mechanical preparation (veg cutting, grading) in combination with dogs and manual methods. The number of deminers and EOD with MgM was always very small - that I should have said where we differ from other operators: most of our staff are drivers, machine operators and mechanics.
What do you feel has been the most significant change in mine action since MgM has been operating? Has it affected your organization?
+ Introducing MaM (Mechanical assisted MineClearance) thinking definitely has changed the way many operators work today, the other major change was to go away from destroying as many mines as possible towards socio-economic impact. In 92/94 we "cleared" a mine-belt around Xangongo in Kunene Province, Angola, from 42.000 AT mines, destroyed some 25.000 AP mines mostly stockpiled in the area and cleaned ammo dumps from some thousand tons of explosive garbage. The bangs were big fun, but the humanitarian output was rather little. I think we saved quite some cattle…. And the "clearance" was so well done, that we’ll start it all over again within a field-test of US DoD MCC-system starting in October 2003 for 15 months. Now, in 96/97 we cleared in Bengo Province, Angola, 250 kms of road from 23 mines, as a result almost 60.000 IDPs returned home after 7 years in camps. Giving highest priority to social-impact has changed MgM and all other operators significantly.
How important is transparency to MgM and how does MgM incorporate that aspect into its organization?
+ Our motto is Safety, Quality, Transparency and non-profit Innovation. So, transparency was not only a must for us, for example with our website www.mgm.org that brought since 1996 unheard-of project inside information for the first time ever, but also through challenging others to do the same via the infamous MgM Demining network. I think we have set the level here worldwide. It feels very nice to have nothing to hide and contribute to the community be it through the invitation to communicate through the network or to copy freely whatever we develop.
How does MgM utilize innovations and technology in demining? Do you have field examples?
+ When Hans Georg had to clear the road from Maputo to Renamo Garcia in 95, he was overtaken by a grader. The image of unearthed mines neatly lined up on the berms would define our later way of working. But not through inventing something, but by looking at military scrap yards and combine/modify existing solutions into a working system. This was the case for the first boom mounted vegetation cutters on a Wolf and later Samil20s, for the armored graders with dogs (Voodoo System). For Rotar Mk I and Mk II we found solutions in the construction industry and now with our latest baby, the MAXX Multitool, it was the hazardous environment demolition industry that offered the perfect robotic base. You still will hear a lot of this little machine, it is what everybody has been looking for since years. We experiment a lot and as we started relatively late, we could afford the luxury to buy state-of-the-art equipment in communication and documentation as there was no need to be backwards compatible. We developed a standard kit for all vehicles using not only selcall HF, but also passive GPS enabling the CommsCentre to track all movement. We developed a number of MgM specific software solutions for survey, logistics and archiving, we build our own field UPS, VPN-Sat comm suites, Survey Kits, First AidKits, mobile offices etc. All of our development ist strictly field orientated.
What have been the successes and drawbacks of some of the technology that you have used?
+ Major drawback is that prototyping is quite an expensive entertainment. Diversification of heavy kit causes quite some standing around of massive investment, this is why we look more and more into versatile multi-tools. On hi-tech we have always underestimated the amount of training and supervision it takes for example in order to make an Angolan dog handler use a computerized weather station… This is why we favour low-tech like MAXX, not excluding to combine them with hi-tech systems like Mineseye or similar.
Where do you feel research and technology need to be headed to better aid demining operations?
+ Thanks for a simple question. Detecting mines and/or define areas free from explosives. This at better effectivity without compromise on safety and quality.
How does demining, and MgM specifically, aid in the rebuilding of infrastructure?
+ We got into it without really wanting and then it quickly became integral part of our work. If the road is undriveable, you have to re-build it, if the bridge is blown up, you have to build one, if there is no water you have to repair the well/pump, if there is no health post, the paramedics make overtime etc. After some time this creates an entire system thinking and today we understand ourselves not as a pure EOD team anymore, but as a specialist team re-opening hazardous areas integrated into the aid work of other orgs..
Do you have examples from your own work where demining has changed the socio-economic impact caused by mined areas?
+ The above mentioned Bengo operation was called by a former WFP Director the most successful repatriation operation WFP ever has done. Of those we want to do many more.
How has infrastructure development and socio-economic impact affected donor support for your organization?
+ Ha, that is a tricky one. In the end you find yourself clearing the occasional ammo dump, just that donors don’t think you are lazy or incompetent by the low numbers of mines destroyed. We once were even threatened with demining funds abuse, as making a road driveable was understood as such. We are not very active in mines-awareness towards the affected population, we usually do this through a local partner NGO like Trindade in Angola. The mine-awareness we try a lot is donor education, but this is rather difficult, as many donor reps just arrived in country, are on leave, are just about going somewhere else or know it all anyhow. There are exceptions, unfortunately few.
How did MgM develop its Standard Operating Procedures? Do you have a procedure for updating them or field input from your supervisors or deminers?
+ The first one was adapting the 95’ ADP set written by Mike Croll based on the British Army’s handbook. Well, we adapted pretty much…. We do an annual update and whenever a new technology or methodology is introduced we add a chapter. Responsible for this is our Safety Officer Ken O’Connell who in this aspect is superior to Hans Georg and me. But above all there are the national SOP requirements which differ significantly from country to country. In the future, the paperback version of IMAS will make everybody’s life much easier.
What do you feel is the most critical trait necessary in a deminer? In a field supervisor?
+ It needs discipline and concentration. It also needs courage and dedication to the cause. It is very nice to see that our staff loves the work, and that is valid for all levels.
How extensive is your training for deminers and supervisors?
+ Strictly demining related training is done in accordance with the requirements of the local authority like IND for Mozambique and INAROEE/CNIDAH for Angola. They certify SOPs and staff. Our Safety Officer Ken does additional refresher courses on an, as needed basis. Dog Teams are under permanent training/evaluation and so are paramedics through their work with the population. We stimulate local staff to get driver licenses, take computer courses, learn languages etc, but I guess all training could be better.
What do you feel has been the most significant accomplishment in MgM’s work in Angola?
+ To have cleared important-to-people areas from explosive hazards without a single accident neither through nor after operation. Also that we have not left Angola even in the worst financial and war situation is something that we are proud of.
What are your future projects in Angola?
+ Specialised on the clearance of roads, bridges, landing strips etc the work load for Angola is vast. The big vision is to clear from Kunene via Kuando Kubango to Moxico and through this re-open and re-connect the entire east/north-east with the rest of the country.
You have described Mozambique as one of the most beautiful and fertile countries in the world as well as a "beacon of hope". What are the unique components that make it so?
+ Can’t remember when I said that, but it is definitely beautiful and fertile and people love peace and work hard to return to normality and happiness. Angola will take the same route.
Can you describe the significance in demining the Limpopo railway in Mozambique?
+ There are two aspects. One are to create safe agricultural land for the population which traditionall stretches along this 42 kms of densely mined railway. The other one is the technical challenge of a lousily laid minefield in various rows stretching 42 kms through partially very dense vegetation with dense population. This has become our number one test and application area for vegetation cutting and intelligent berming/sifting procedures. With one Hydrema Excavator, heavily modified by Hans Georg and one MgM/HEC Rotar Mk II we still are too slow. The extended test of the US DoD Unidisk brought much more effectivity into the process. The significance is also the dialogue between the sole donor, the German Government, and our conflict of quality against speed. Hopefully the Germans continue to allow us to work on quality and do not apply something like commercial standards to this nightmare.
What are MgM’s activities in Namibia?
+ Well I live in Windhoek and run my duties as voluntary chairman from my house. From an office/workshop I also run the International Desk as Programme Manager in financial and logistics management. As it is not far I also travel often to Kunene Province and handle operations personally. But most things done in Namibia have to do with HEC, which is the R&D branch for MgM. HEC designs and builds demining equipment of all sorts and does the testing and documentation of our R&D joints with US DoD, EC-ESPRIT and others. Namibia is the rotating disc in the centre of MgM. One more word on HEC. It is, until date, nothing but an informal non-profit commercial feed into MgM. All it generates in terms of equipment is directly channelled into MgM’s demining operations. Thanks to a special agreement with the Angolan Government, MgM also runs a non-profit commercial workshop in Luanda serving the NGO community and paying for MgM’s administration and logistics in Luanda. All of the above is handled from the International Desk in Namibia and audited through MgM Germany.
Based on your extensive field operations in Africa, what do you feel has been the most catastrophic result of landmines in Africa?
+ Something we call "The return of the white spots" relating to large areas without people and without information like on medieval maps. You don’t know about these areas and the problems people suffer, as nobody can go there. This is the real catastrophe, but we as the demining community can stop this and make the world a better place. I do not like to think of demining as something saving individual’s lives – although it does and is essential part of it. But in my dreams I sometimes am haunted by the faces of 80.000 victims of landmines in Angola only. We have to become better and do more.