A Day with our Emergency response team
In February, Restoration Laos president Michael Ambler visited the team. Here is his account of a day in the field.
Our call out today was to a tiny, remote village in the jungle near the mountains that separate Laos from Vietnam. Villagers go into the forest every day to look for bamboo shoots, snails, mushrooms, and more: for Lao people, the forest is a pantry, and foraging is crucial to their livelihoods and diets. The day before, villagers had come upon a casing of 15 cluster bombs, all still lethal. This happens regularly; a plant grows, rain washes away some soil, and bombs that had been buried now are on the surface, ready to kill or maim anyone who disturbs them. Often it's children who are sent to forage, and children are in the greatest danger of all.
Team 5 carefully inspected the bombs, built a dome of sandbags over them to direct the detonation into the ground, and set a charge of plastic explosive. Next they carefully cleared the forest for hundreds of yards in every direction-including the village's entire heard of cows, who also spend the day in the forest. Finally, from a safe distance, we fired the charge, and the forest shook. Then, silence... and peace.
These fifteen cluster bombs could have killed a family-but thanks to our team's quick response, they
Later that day I was with an education team as they taught village school children about unexploded bombs: how to recognize them, and what to do if they saw them. When the instructor asked the class of nine year olds if anyone had ever seen one of these bombs, every single hand went up. Two girls slipped out of the class and spoke earnestly to a team member: they had bombs in their garden, just down the path from the school. Soon after, two more explosions echoed as those bombs were safely destroyed.
This is not a theoretical issue for the people of rural Laos. They live with our old bombs every day. Our team responds fast to these most dangerous bombs-those on the surface of the ground where people live and work every day. It costs $120,000 to fund them for a year. That works out to $120 for each bomb we destroy, before it can destroy a life. I hope you'll join us in this life-saving work.
Curious about our original team, Mine Action Team 53? They're thriving under new sponsorship... click here for details.
Every child in this class has encountered live bombs. Two children reported bombs currently in their
The Vietnam War is not over for the people of Laos: Live bombs are a constant danger
Laos is the most heavily bombed country on earth. There are still almost 80 million live cluster bombs, as well as larger bombs, littering the country from U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War. Restoration Laos funds a team of brave Lao explosives clearance experts who are restoring land, safety, and peace of mind, one village at a time.