From Hanoi we took a plane to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. This is the first time we took a plane since arriving in SE Asia. After getting off the plane and dropping off bags at the hostel we rented some bikes and headed for the COPE Centre- the Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise. Here they have an interpretive centre educating people about the UXO (unexploded ordnance) left behind after the Vietnam War and how hazardous it is for the Laotian people in rural areas. I was blown away by so many of the things I learned, like how more bombs were dropped on Laos by the Americans than by both sides combined in WWII. And why? because the Viet Cong were using parts of Laos as their supply line (the Ho Chi Minh trail), so the Americans kept trying to sever it. Also, when the American bomber planes didn't find the targets they intended to strike, they would just dump them indiscriminately over Laos because it was too dangerous to land with them on board! When you broke it down, the Americans flew a bombing mission every 8 minutes, 24 hours per day, for 9 years! Not all the bombs exploded on contact, so what is still left to blow up is called UXO. It's this UXO that is preventing Laotians from farming large tracts of land because they are afraid they will be injured or killed. It's pretty hard for a country to industrialize when they don't have the land base to feed their people. By most estimates, there is about 84,000 km2 needing to be cleared of UXO. To put it into perspective, international organizations are clearing the Laos countryside at a rate of 40 km2 per year. You do the math, if we don't increase the rate of clearing, that's 2100 years before the whole country is safe. So this COPE Centre not only raises awareness, but also produces prosthetic limbs for victims of UXO, polio and club foot.
Jared checking out the exhibits
Some facts for more learning
After this we biked to the Arc de Triomphe, a replica of the one in France. Rumor has it the French government had donated the concrete for a bridge project, but they decided to make this instead.
Until next time!
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