During the Vietnam War, from 1964 to 1973, the United States dropped over two million tons of explosives on Laos, in an attempt to immobilize the supply routes to Northern Vietnam. That works out to approximately one planeload of bombs dropped every eight minutes, for nine full years. This is astonishing when you consider that Laos is only one quarter the size of Ontario. However, the most shocking part of all is that it is estimated that up to one third of those bombs did not explode, turning this beautiful country into a lush mine field.
On a recent visit to this magical place, I learned that over 30 years later, people are still dying from the unexploded ordnance, or “UXO.” The victims are often children who aren’t aware of the dangers associated with these shiny pieces of scrap metal, or those who see them as just that, an opportunity to make some money in the scrap trade. Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world and the bombs mean the land cannot be used effectively and productively, and in turn, cannot develop an efficient economy and infrastructure. Farmers often fall victim when they plough their fields and harvest more than they anticipated. Building new roads is an expensive and time-consuming task due to the clearing processes involved with such developments.
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