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Laotian Students Seek to Eradicate Unexploded Ordnance

Left: Khamseng Homdouangxay of Vientiane, Laos and Phounsy Phasavaeng of Sekong Province, Laos, display a shoulder bag handmade by countrywomen made handicapped by unexploded ordnance (UXO).
Photo by Jim Bishop

An aunt of Khamseng "Seng" Homdouangxay lost a leg while hoeing a beanfield, and his uncle suffered permanent, severe brain damage – each from an unexploded ordnance (UXO). Homdouangxay, now 27, and Phounsy Phasavaeng, 28, were born after ammunitions ceased falling on their Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the most heavily-bombed nation in history. Yet their lives, like all Laotians', remain shadowed by "bombies" (pronounced "bomb-bees") – fist-sized pellets that burst from the cluster bombs deployed by U.S. aircraft from 1964-73.

In 1966 – for nine days of what Americans dub "The Vietnam War" but Laotians call "the American War" – bombardment in Phasavaeng’s Sekong province forced her mother and siblings to hide in a cave. "They had no food, no milk," she says. A baby died from hunger. Phasavaeng never knew that infant sister, but became close to a nephew who picked up and threw a bombie while playing in 1986. The resulting explosion was so violent the family could not bury that child's remains.

On their first U.S. visit, Phasavaeng and Homdouangxay - the first Laotians to attend Eastern Mennonite University’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute – have studied conflict resolution and trauma healing while educating peers from 44 nations about unexploded munitions that continue tomaim and kill civilians in their country more than 30 years after the war ended.

They showed a film, "Bombies," produced by the Mennonite Central Committee, and helped sell shoulder bags made by countrywomen handicapped from UXO. Phasavaeng participated in a panel with James Madison University Mine Action Information Center (MAIC) trainees, including young men from Jordan and Azerbaijan maimed by landmines.

Landmines, unlike UXO, are planted in the ground, intended for later explosion. The U.S. has ratified landmine restrictions but has not signed the Ottawa Convention banning them. SPI and MAIC hope to collaborate on future projects.

Laos took heavier bombing than did Germany and Japan combined in World War II. Secret U.S. raids included "dumping" bombs on Laos intended for failed attacks on Vietnam. Of the more than two million tons of ammunition dropped, 30 percent failed to explode on impact. These unexplored ordnance (UXO) have lain in wait to menace farmers and children – causing more than 20,000 casualties since the end of the war.

Though UXO are gradually decreasing, Phasavaeng notes they continue to stymie agriculture and economic development. At a risk, villagers collect scrap metal, shaping it into household objects. The "Bombies" film showed a blacksmith literally beating swords into plowshares – using tools crafted from weaponry.

An American friend told Phasavaeng about SPI when she was seeking assistance in helping her parents heal from the tragedies. Employed by a government agency, UXO Lao, she earns an equivalent of $40 a month for managing a data system and providing technical support. She has also participated in hands-on de-mining operations.

In Homdouangxay’s home, the heaviest-bombed Xieng Khouang province, "People don’t talk about trauma. They just live with it." He translates for Mennonite Central Committee Laos and works with the Global Family Project for children’s schooling.

MCC, after decades of trying to find safe ways to clear UXO from the fields and villages of Laos, now assists victims and conducts safety education. SPI director Pat Hostetter Martin and her husband, Earl, have lived and worked extensively with in Southeast Asia, where Earl helped design one of the first devices to try to address the problem of UXO in Laos - a "bombie beater."

As a boy, Homdouangxay unknowingly tossed bombies from a hilltop. Now he observes that aid from Laos’ government is insufficient for disabled UXO victims; some become homeless. A Buddhist, he notes Laos' socialist government bans most missionaries but allows MCC to do humanitarian work. His group is seeking government approval to start a peacebuilding program.

Before SPI, he says, "I only learned in theory; now I know the real people." On that basis, notwithstanding what his country suffered, he’s convinced "Americans are nice. They are generous."

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Chris Edwards is a free-lance writer from Harrisonburg.

— article by: Chris Edwards; posted June 13, 2006