It was the Vietnam War and Vietcong soldiers were moving troops and ammunition but on the Laos side of the border. The US had already signed a treaty saying they wouldn't drop bombs on Laos so there was nothing they could do, except the CIA without the knowledge of the US government, or so it is said, waged their own war and sanctioned unmarked planes to drop bombs on Laos and put troops on the ground. There were more bombs dropped on Laos than the whole of what the US and UK combined dropped on Europe during WWII - to the value of $2m per day. Even when President Johnson declared that bombing on Northern Vietnam should cease they dropped even more bombs on Laos. Huge areas of Laos still cannot be cultivated for agriculture as it is too dangerous and each year farmers and children are still being killed or losing limbs. They say it could be another 100 years before they are either cleared or the bombs themselves have become inactive.
Whilst we were in Xieng Kuang, one of the worst hit provinces, we visited the MAG office (Mines Action Group) a British funded charity. They have been working tirelessly since 1994. Since 2000 UXO Laos, a Laos government funded organisation trained by MAG has also been working to eradicate the bombs and make it a safe country to live in. Almost worse than the loss of life is the Secret War has resulted in slowing the development of a country which is still one of the poorest in the World.
Our guide arranged for us to also visit UXO Laos (UXO stands for unexploded ordnance). We were taken to their field office just outside town where we were greeted by the Cordinating Director for that province. He is in charge of 16 teams of 10 people, 18 of which are women. In a classroom like environment he explained to us a large map with numerous different coloured dots on it, each indicating areas they'd cleared, and where they'd identified UXO's awaiting clearance etc. A few years ago the CIA supplied them with a map showing where they bombed to help them identify the areas which unfortunately we were unable to see as there was a power cut during our visit. Afterwards he showed us all the different types of bombs that had been recovered, some were 500lbs and more. The really shocking ones are the cluster bombs that hold small balls holding thousands of ball bearings which are referred to as bombies.
We thought this was the end of our visit but realised we were off somewhere and told to follow his jeep which we did for around 18km to a site where one of his teams had been working for the last month. With different types of detectors they had been working on this paddy field of approx 255,000 sq metres, a field they had already visited several times before in the past. They had detected another 16 UXO's which needed to undergo controlled explosion.
We were given a brief by the team leader - i.e. to follow him exactly, not to speak, and not to touch anything, he then led us out onto the paddy field to see some of the 'bombies' they had found, buried about 18" below the surface. Once we were back at viewing distance he instructed his team to place the charges in permission and cover with the sandbags. The cattle were herded away and with a loud hailer the villagers were instructed to stay away. And then with timed explosives up they went.
The Team were recalled and we had our picture taken with them after which we gave them a little donation for a drink later on and the Director a donation. We asked our guide to translate and to say we were honoured to have been allowed to witness their work today and that they are doing a great thing for their country and to stay safe. We then had to swiftly walk back to our car as we could feel tears prickling the backs of our eyes.
Whilst we were in Xieng Kuang, one of the worst hit provinces, we visited the MAG office (Mines Action Group) a British funded charity. They have been working tirelessly since 1994. Since 2000 UXO Laos, a Laos government funded organisation trained by MAG has also been working to eradicate the bombs and make it a safe country to live in. Almost worse than the loss of life is the Secret War has resulted in slowing the development of a country which is still one of the poorest in the World.
Our guide arranged for us to also visit UXO Laos (UXO stands for unexploded ordnance). We were taken to their field office just outside town where we were greeted by the Cordinating Director for that province. He is in charge of 16 teams of 10 people, 18 of which are women. In a classroom like environment he explained to us a large map with numerous different coloured dots on it, each indicating areas they'd cleared, and where they'd identified UXO's awaiting clearance etc. A few years ago the CIA supplied them with a map showing where they bombed to help them identify the areas which unfortunately we were unable to see as there was a power cut during our visit. Afterwards he showed us all the different types of bombs that had been recovered, some were 500lbs and more. The really shocking ones are the cluster bombs that hold small balls holding thousands of ball bearings which are referred to as bombies.
We thought this was the end of our visit but realised we were off somewhere and told to follow his jeep which we did for around 18km to a site where one of his teams had been working for the last month. With different types of detectors they had been working on this paddy field of approx 255,000 sq metres, a field they had already visited several times before in the past. They had detected another 16 UXO's which needed to undergo controlled explosion.
The Team were recalled and we had our picture taken with them after which we gave them a little donation for a drink later on and the Director a donation. We asked our guide to translate and to say we were honoured to have been allowed to witness their work today and that they are doing a great thing for their country and to stay safe. We then had to swiftly walk back to our car as we could feel tears prickling the backs of our eyes.
That must have been really amazing. How many of them speak English?
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