We've now been cycling across Europe and Asia for 16 months, and have passed through several countries which have been severely impacted by landmines, bombs and UXO. However, it wasn't until we visited the MAG UXO Visitor Centre in Phonsovan, Laos, that we gained an inkling of the continuing devastation UXO inflict on people's daily lives. 

The Secret War in Laos did more than just blight people’s lives for the 9 years of the conflict. The majority of the bombs dropped by America were cluster bombs – evil devices that explode in mid-air and emit hundreds of smaller bomblets in all directions. These bomblets then explode, and themselves emit hundreds of ball bearings at ballistic speeds, causing absolute devastation to anything in their path.

The US dropped 2 million tons of cluster bombs during the conflict, but around 30% did not explode at the time, leaving up to 80 million of these lethal devices littering the Laos countryside. They can be buried in a rice paddy, beneath a house, in a bamboo plant, under a school playing field, simply waiting for a disturbance – a knock, the heat of a fire, the blade of a plough - to explode. The size of a tennis ball, they are particularly attractive to children, who make up the majority of those killed and injured. The physical and emotional cost of this is extraordinary: with Laotians still regularly killed and maimed almost 40 years after the conflict ended, and it is estimated that it will take a century to clear Laos entirely.

However, the presence of the UXOs does not just have a direct health cost, it is also retarding the development of Laos, and its people’s ability to support themselves. Large areas of land cannot be farmed because of the risk of injury or death when the land is worked, and new infrastructure cannot be built. Watching the film at the centre (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrgUdWhbC7c) was a heartrending experience, and one which highlighted the impossible situation which the Laotians are forced to live in over 40 years since the war ended. We would love to help raise funds to help MAG do their work in Laos and beyond.