Vientiane Lao Peoples Democratic Republic Time and again, when I encounter accident victims in need of surgery or a prosthesis, I turn to my friends at COPE (Cooperative Orthotics and Prosthetics Enterprise) a non-governmental organization providing supportive services to patients at the National Rehabilitation Center in Vientiane. Recently I returned to Boualapha District in...
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Vientiane Lao Peoples Democratic Republic My friend Ta Duangchom has seen far more hard times than good. When I met him several years ago he was walking aimlessly through his village, filthy, shoeless, wearing a ripped shirt and what I later learned was his only pair of pants. It was his daily habit to...
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Vientiane, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic Laos is not the only country in the world contaminated by cluster munitions. Over the past forty years, cluster munitions have been dropped on 29 different nations, killing or injuring an estimated 100,000 people. And, every country that has ever been struck by cluster munitions continues to suffer, to some...
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Mahosot Hospital - Vientiane, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic In my previous journal entry, dated February 27, 2009, I described the way in which my friend Gadam was afflicted by Noma, an ulcerative condition of the mouth, sometimes described as “oro-facial gangrene”. As promised, in this entry I will share the story of Gadam’s arrival at Mahosot...
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Mahaxai Village, Khammouan Province, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic The village of Mahaxai in Khoumuan Province sits in south-central Laos, about forty miles west of the border with Vietnam. During the Indochina War this village the site of violent clashes between infantry of the Royal Lao army and Vietnamese troops fighting on behalf of the indigenous Pathet...
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In Laos, visiting medical teams help victims of a disfiguring disease. Walter Kopek, a resident of Stoneham and Bangkok and semi- retired from the business world, travels frequently to Laos in his work for a charity, Mines Victims and Clearance Trust. He visited Laos recently concerning efforts to clear unexploded ordnance. By Walter Kopek...
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Tha Lang Village - Nakai District, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic We never, ever, in any way, under any circumstance, pay villagers to report ordnance to us. Not one kip in payment. Not a t-shirt, schoolbook, food, candy, bottle of beer, or any other modest reward. Today the guys walked a fine line to win the cooperation...
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Odoumsouk Village - Nakai District, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic I’m well positioned here to get the first word on the quality of the upcoming Lao rice harvest. I can get the real skinny on current fishing conditions on the Nam Theun River. Before just about anyone else in America I’ll know the date that the mango...
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Odoumsouk Village - Nakai District, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic I’ve made it a habit to stop and talk with amputees. I find that about half the time the cause of the amputation was an accident with a bombie, landmine, or other old ordnance. I learn from the tales that bomb victims have to tell and often...
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