Report 13 Update on the Pig War: Round One went to the pigs. They ate our sugar, our beans and our cabbage. All stuff intended for breakfast. But…let’s call a spade a spade: they ate our lunch. Round Two: We come out fighting. Armed with slingshots, we get in more than a few good...
Read more »
Report 12 We’re running into just enough old ordnance now to keep the deminers on their toes. One of our guys turned up a 40mm rocket grenade. Another, several rounds of antiaircraft ammunition. Then, one of the ladies got a strong reading on her detector and after a fair amount of digging was rewarded...
Read more »
Report 11 When I witness people, impatient to expand their gardens, striking bomb-contaminated land with picks and shovels, I’m reminded of a family that I met a few years ago in Xieng Khuang Province. The parents had three young children and were dependent on a small garden and rice field for their livelihood. As...
Read more »
Report 10 Hats off to the Dutch! I arrived in Vientiane a day too late to meet the surgeons from the Netherlands who were in Laos under the auspices of the Dutch non-government organization Bridge the Gap. They had completed their annual surgical mission to Laos the day before and had already departed from...
Read more »
Report 9 I sat out under the stars for nearly an hour last night. We are so far removed from any light pollution that the night sky flaunts a lavish profusion of stars. We’re lucky in northern Wisconsin to have dark, star-studded skies but I can’t recall any night scene as striking as what...
Read more »
Report 8 In spite of two tough days on the road and a late arrival last night Chomrong, our Team Leader, had everyone up early this morning. By 7:00 AM with equipment in hand the team was aboard the truck and we were all bouncing down the road toward Dak Den village and our...
Read more »
Report 7 As we went about our work yesterday, Yai and I were both keenly aware of the ten-year-old girl lying in the clinic next to our camp. Not that any sound came from her room. There is anguish on the child’s face but she bears the pain in her broken arm bravely, silently....
Read more »
Report 6 En route to a new worksite we always visit hospitals and clinics along the way to determine what resources are available should someone on our team need emergency medical attention. The hierarchy runs from provincial hospital, to district hospital to village clinic (sometimes labeled “dispensary”). The provincial and district hospitals typically have...
Read more »
Report 5 In previous years our work with unexploded ordnance has taken the form of “rapid response.” We’ve employed the simple strategy of moving into a remote village that has a known history of contamination and telling residents that if they lead us to problem ordnance we will make the device safe within forty-eight...
Read more »