Angola

Aurelio joined HALO in 1998 as a deminer, and during the course of his career has worked in demining, survey, mechanical clearance, and road threat reduction. He spent time on the Mozambique programme and returned to Angola in 2003 to serve as Provincial Operations Manager. He was Location Manager for Huambo province from 2009-2016, and led the Mine Impact Free District Survey in Huambo from 2012 to 2014, visiting areas where HALO clearance had been completed ensuring that there was no remaining mine threat. In 2016 Aurelio became Headquarters Manager located in Huambo Province and is now also closely involved with Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) supporting projects with the Angolan military and national police.

Valdemar joined HALO in 1997 as a deminer and was quickly promoted. After a term as Provincial Operations Manager in Huambo he took over as Location Manager in the province and oversaw clearance operations during the busy period following the end of the war in 2002. After further mine clearance and management training with HALO in Cambodia, Valdemar became HALO Programme Operations Manager in 2007. He manages operational deployments across the programme and oversees all operational training.

Ramadane joined HALO in 2006 in Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique. In 2007 HALO began clearance operations to the south and then centre of the country. During this time, Ramadane held various positions in the organisation, from driver, demining team supervisor, training officer and logistics officer. Mozambique was declared landmine free in 2015, Ramadane continued with administrative work for HALO until the end of 2020, when the programme was officially closed. In 2021, he joined the HALO Angola team where he currently works as field officer in the municipality of Cuito Cuanavale.

Claire joined HALO in 2017 and completed operations management training in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Georgia. Claire spent a couple of years working in Afghanistan before joining the Angola programme in 2020, first as Benguela Location Manager then as GoA Project Manager. She is IMAS EOD Level 3 and HIEDD Level 3 qualified and holds a BA in War studies from King’s College London. Claire hails from the beautiful French Basque Country and is half-French, half-Welsh.

Eugenio joined HALO in 2015 a Payroll Officer, taking on more responsibilities for the programme’s Benguela and Cuanza Sul locations as Admin Support in 2018, where he worked until February 2020. In March 2020 Eugenio joined the Information Management Department as GIS & Data assistant until 2021. In January 2022 he became the programme’s GIS & Data Manager.

Sian joined HALO in February 2020, completing operations management training in Cambodia and Abkhazia before beginning her first posting in Abkhazia overseeing EOD and mechanical clearance of a site of an ammunition store explosion. Since then she has worked for HALO in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh before starting her position as part of the Angola programme team. Sian has a background in conflict resolution and mediation and has worked in the Middle East and East Africa. Sian is IMAS EOD level 3 trained and holds an LL.M in Public International and EU Law.

Laura joined HALO in 2021, passing her operations training in Ukraine before beginning her current role as Field Officer in Kuando Kubango. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English & French from the University of Oxford, and outside of working hours is studying for her Master’s Degree in International Affairs with Kings College London.

Amy joined HALO in 2021 attending operational training in Ukraine and Cambodia. Angola is her first deployment, joining the team in 2022 as a Field Officer. Before HALO Amy worked in advertising as an account director, as well as working in the humanitarian sector in Sierra Leone. During COVID-19 she spent time as a carer in London. She has a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Bristol.

Dan is currently employed as the HALO Angola Programme Officer, having joined HALO in 2020. He is responsible for donor reporting functions for 18 donor contracts, as well as communications, monitoring, evaluation and research. He holds an MA in Security and International Law, and a BSc in International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response, from the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) at the University of Manchester. Dan has an eclectic professional portfolio, including management, research and training roles, as well as many years as a tour guide spent pushing people up and down a river with a stick.

Papel is HALO Angola’s WAM/EOD Officer, and is one of the programme’s longest-serving staff members. He joined HALO in 2000 as a driver, and had progressed through manual and mechanical demining teams, to minefield supervisor (2003), survey and EOD supervisor (2004), WAD supervisor (2006-2009) and from 2009 has held the position of WAD and EOD operations officer for the programme.