At one mine clearing operation, the local villagers walk along, relax, and set their bundles down on the road being cleared without blinking an eye. They may wonder why all the work is being done in an area they use daily without incident. But this particular job was requested by an international organization, which would not continue its development work until it was done. So far, nothing has been found. Conversely, on a tea plantation that is being cleared, a walking path had been moved to avoid a particular area, and many years' worth of vegetation covers the old pathway.
Local habits are evidence that a very real risk is present.
Because all reported and suspected minefields must be investigated, a large part of mine-clearing operations involves reconnaissance and logistics. Employees travel a region for days to meet locals and collect roughly drawn maps of rumored mine fields. If the information is corroborated, a work plan is created and teams are eventually moved into the area to clear the mines. With such operations, daily concerns such as repairing vehicles, buying food, providing petty cash for each camp's emergency needs, and ordering new boots and uniforms make up a large part of the NGO's concerns. These issues can also lead to less obvious difficulties.