This little museum takes less than a half hour to experience, but it is an important experience to have.
Located off the beaten path, even the tuk tuk driver was not sure what I was talking about or where I wanted to go, so google maps led us.
So, why this museum, and what is a UXO?
Laos has been ranked as the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world. The bombs were indiscriminate, destroying farms, schools and homes with equal determination.
Between 1964 and 1973, over 2 million tons of ordnances were dispersed over Laos, which is equivalent to a planeload of munitions every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day for 9 years.
It is estimated 30 percent of the ordnances dropped failed to detonate when released, which is approximately 80 million bombs remaining on the ground as Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in Laos.
The UXO’s continue to threaten the population, making going into uncleared areas dangerous for farming or construction. It also hinders development by limiting access to safe land and the movement of people and goods.
Almost half of UXO accident victims in Laos are children, but the stories presented in this museum are heartbreaking at all ages. Families who survived war and hardship returned to farm their lands, only to unknowingly step on a UXO are just one category of the numerous personal stories driving the UXO program.
The UXO program is attempting to remove the remaining UXO to free up land for use again, especially for farming and commercial endeavors.
The goal is to totally eliminate UXO’s from Laos, but only about 50 square kilometers of land is cleared annually.
The process is lengthy and involves searching old bomb records and information from communities about potential sites of UXO’s.
A technical survey where a grid is laid out on the land and the area scanned with metal detectors. Metal is removed by demining experts, or if it is a UXO, it is either detonated on site or removed to a safe location.
Although the number of injuries caused by UXO’s is reducing, after almost 70 years, it has not been eliminated. The work is tedious, difficult and expensive, and this museum puts all of that into the forefront to educate the population and the world.
This museum brings to light how fortunate we are, as Americans, to live in a country where we can move relatively freely without worrying about stepping on a mine. Or an 80 year old bomb.
70 years and they have not been able to clear the bombs away. I cannot even remember the war that put the bombs on their land, but everyday the people of Laos live with the reality that they could go on a picnic, or into a field and die from the aftermath of war decided decades ago.
That is a sobering and troubling reality to face.
Yet, the artist who created the sculptures in the above videos is helping to use the past to educate the future. The people are taking the metal from the bombs and making them into items sold at the markets, which bring profits to continue the work. In tragedy, good people find ways to help, and this… was an education in that reality.
