I was gutted to have missed the UXO centre in Luang Prabang – for some reason it’s closed at weekends. However, I was adamant I was going to visit the COPE centre in Vientiane.
Before arriving in Laos I was totally ignorant of the ‘secret’ war, where the Americans dropped over 270 million bombs on Laos as part of its Vietnam war efforts.
You too? Ok, I’ll share some facts; Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world (per capita) and 30% of these bombs have not been detonated, many being cluster bombs. This leaves 25% of the villages in Laos being contaminated with UXO (unexplored ordnance), yes today! Since the war (1974-2011) over 50,000 people have been killed or injured (13,500 have lost a limb), 40% are kids and each year there are +100 casualties. I just couldn’t believe it.
COPE (a non-profit organisation) was set up in 1997 and has since then developed loads of great services from; supplying prosthetics and orthotics to UXO survivors to providing physiotherapy, occupational therapy and paediatric services to other people with disabilities. By doing so it has transformed the lives of those who have been affected by the atrocities of war, fixing free limbs to those that need them.
Although many people in Laos know the dangers of UXO, they still take the risks associated with unearthing them as they can sell them as scrap metal. It seems that kids, especially, are willing to take this risk as one bomb can bring enough cash to feed their family for three months. Fortunately, the government has set up a programme and has enlisted the help of bomb experts to educate the Laos folks, not only in the dangers, but also to train them so they can safely detonate them independently. Thank god for good people!
A visit to the COPE centre, although harrowing, certainly opened my eyes. I’ve downloaded a Vietnamese ‘History in an hour’ book, so hopefully at least when I arrive there I will not be cloaked in as much ignorance. Here’s hoping anyway.
House of Wendy travels... 