A US rights envoy on Monday appealed to Laos for more information on a prominent activist missing for two months, saying the case was having a “chilling effect” on civil society groups. Sombath Somphone, the 62-year-old founder of a non-governmental organisation campaigning for sustainable development, disappeared in Vientiane while driving home on December 15....
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Our project in Sekong still has eleven days to go, but I’m starting to reflect on the early days, back in January. An issue this year was quality of footwear. Many of the deminers reported to work wearing only flip-flops. The guys all have calloused feet toughened by years of working barefoot out of...
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There’s talk of bringing bomb detection dogs back to Laos. About ten years ago MAG, the Mines Advisory Group, brought two dogs from Sweden for trials. The dogs worked well with their Swedish handlers, but were an expensive addition to MAG clearance efforts and there was doubt, in the end, about whether the dogs’...
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We visited a school and asked students if anyone knew of problem ordnance near their village. Sure enough, several girls told us that their friend had come upon a cluster bomblet while collecting bamboo shoots. None of the girls new the location of the bomblet; we would have to talk to their friend who...
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Among the various livelihood projects that we are enabling few are more popular than fishponds. And, what’s not to like? The ponds don’t have to be big to serve as a suitable habitat for small fish, frogs, snails, crustaceans, and other edible organisms that are already part of the Lao villagers’ diet. With a...
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It may not look like much but this market in Dak Chung is our Wal-Mart, our Walgreens, and our Piggly Wiggly. If they don’t have it in Dak Chung, we’d best decide that we don’t really need it. We don’t get here often because Dak Chung is an hour from camp and the roads...
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There are different ways to distribute cluster munitions but, essentially, they all involve a “mother” bomb that explodes in the air over a target area, releasing numerous, smaller, sub-munitions, sometimes called cluster bomblets. The bomblets fall to earth, detonate, and scatter shrapnel over a wide area. In some instances the bomblets do not explode...
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To remain healthy here I stick to some unwavering standards. The most important self-imposed rule is to never drink questionable water. I used to raise sheep and one thing you’ve got to admire about sheep is their demand for wholesome water. A sheep will die of thirst standing next to a pail of dirty...
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My pack lightens quickly after I arrive here. I usually have goods such as medial supplies that I deliver to hospitals, clinics and aid programs. Once those items are distributed I travel lightly. As clothes wear out I discard them, further lightening my load. When my baggage bottoms out I start thinking of items...
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