Laos: Clearing bombs to make way for schools

As the Country Manager here in Laos, I get to see a whole range of development issues in play from the national level down to the village level. One of the most striking issues for me from my time here has been the ongoing impact of unexploded ordnance (UXO), even though the Vietnam War ended more than 30 years ago.

What is the impact of unexploded ordnance on children?

In one of the communities where we work, for example, the nearest primary school was a 45-minute walk away and, not surprisingly, school enrolment was below average. ChildFund supported the community to build a primary school and during the construction phase, the chosen site had to be levelled and prepared. This preparation took three months of painstaking work by a partner UXO clearance organisation able to work only to 30cm depth at a time. The whole process turned up 189 pieces of ordnance; most of them cluster munitions.

This legacy of the war continues not only to put children and their communities at risk of injury or death, it also affects the availability of safe play spaces for children and the amount of land available to grow food and to make a living. These impacts are continuing to be felt today and for me, it is striking that many of my friends and family are unaware of how heavily affected Laos still is today by a war that ended more than 30 years ago.

Why is it important to build new schools?

New schools will provide a range of benefits for the children in communities affected by unexploded ordnance. Children will have more access to education, with reduced travel times and safer journeys to school.

The new schools will be provided with everything teachers need to plan engaging lessons, which means the children in these communities will be able to enjoy the quality education they need for the future.