Children love to play outside; so did Massoud Hassani growing up in Afghanistan. But the fields near his house in Kabul were filled with mines. There are millions of land mines in Afghanistan, and some of Hassani’s childhood friends did not survive their outdoor play.
When Hassani began attending the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, he didn’t want to create chairs or other household objects. He wanted to do something that would allow him to improve people’s lives. He designed the Mine Kafon (“Mine Exploder”), a large ball with “legs” of bamboo and degradable plastic that is propelled by the wind. When the Mine Kafon encounters a mine, the pressure causes the mine to explode.
Thanks to a Kickstarter project, Hassani has raised enough money to further develop and test his prototype, which has been bought by MOMA in New York. The money will also be used to create a short documentary to raise awareness of the land mine problem and to inspire other designers to develop creative solutions to disarm land mines. | DEWI GIGENGACK
Photo: Flickr.com/Erwinvanderzande
