Report 40 Yai couldn’t resist saying “I told you so”. And, grinning in satisfaction as we walked the length of the irrigation ditch in Dak Door. Thirteen days ago, when we finished clearing the path for the new irrigation system, I told him that I doubted that villagers were up to the task of...
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Report 39 While preparing for a mission like ours, we must consider certain critical measures. Is the medic kit fully supplied with tourniquets and other life-saving equipment? Has the team practiced moving a trauma victim via stretcher? Are hospitals along our route aware of our presence and prepared to receive victims? Do we have...
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Report 38 While clearing a garden extension a few days ago, we found enough military equipment, clothing and personal belongings in one small area to establish beyond much doubt that we’d stumbled upon at least one, and probably two, bodies. That’s not an uncommon occurrence, given the history of the area, and the kind...
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Report 37 Over the years donors to We Help War Victims have provided approximately sixty Lao villages with “Book Box” libraries. Each library contains 200 books, all in the Lao language, that students can read at school during the day and then take home on loan to share with friends and relatives. Since over...
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Report 36 I usually arrive in Laos carrying medical supplies that donors collect for me throughout the year, items that American clinics discard when they update their inventory of supplies. Often, the items are in excellent condition but are approaching an expiration date. I won’t deliver prescription or over the counter drugs even though...
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Report 35 Youa Xiong Vue is the elder of our two Hmong deminers. He’s fifty years old and is addressed by everyone on the team as “Paw Tou” (Uncle). I’m impressed by the dignity with which he carries himself. He’s a soft-spoken, unassuming man who asks little for himself and is quick to see...
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Report 34 We’re overdue for another food run to Dak Cheung, twenty miles east of here, the closest village that has a food market. Making the slow, round-trip over terrible roads always costs us a half-day of productivity so we don’t make the trip until we’re badly in need of either food or fuel. ...
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Report 33 Pang Xi is the elder of our two female deminers but she’s much more timid than Kik, her younger colleague. Where Kik is gabby and fun loving, Pang Xi is reticent and unassuming. She hasn’t much life experience outside the insular confines of her village but, give her credit, here she is...
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Report 32 I’m growing worried about our water supply. We arrived here with eight 20-liter bottles of water, and a 400-liter storage tank. Every container was filled with water from a water factory in Sekong. Does that mean that our drinking water was guaranteed wholesome and pure? As a horse trader in Wisconsin once...
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Report 31 Chan Mai Vue, the younger of our two Hmong deminers, lives in Bolikhamxai Province, in south central Laos. That’s not a region that people commonly associate with the Hmong, but there have been Hmong settlements there for generations. In fact, I made my first visit to that province on a mission to...
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