Helping to clear bombs in Laos

My friend Mark Ratter and his lovely wife Sudjai Xaiyasoud are currently on the Shetland Islands in the far north of Scotland. They've ended up all the way there because that's where Mark was born about 31 years ago and they are visiting family and friends now. They've met in Laos many years ago and married here as well. They decided to move to Phonsavan in northern Laos and they've opened a small restaurant-bar (Bamboozle Restaurant-Bar, worth a visit) a few years ago. It's a place popular with tourists but also with locals and expats. Phonsavan has one big attraction and that is the 'Plain of Jars'. Actually there are several 'jar sites'... Many people visit this corner of Laos to see these ancient old jars built a very long time ago by people who are now probably nothing more than dust anymore...  Phonsavan also has a very dark recent history... A history that left deep scars in the landscape and into the souls and sometimes even bodies of the people. Phonsavan and the area was a huge battleground between the Lao Royal Army with support of Thai volunteers, Hmong groups and the United States of America (the CIA had a lot of influence) on one side and the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese Army on the other side (with support from the Soviet Union and China). The 'Cold War' became very 'hot' over there and the result is that the area (but also huge areas in the south of the country where the 'Ho Chi Minh Trail' was in use) is heavily bombed (not a lot of buildings have survived the war either) and UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) is still a very big problem. Farmers (all of the family helps) working on the field, children playing, people hunting, people searching for scrap metal to sell etc. etc. are at risk of 'bombies' (small handgrenate like balls that didn't explode) and other very high risk material. Cluster munition was used extensively in Laos by the Americans (and Agent Orange and other chemical weapons as well) and very large areas are affected by this.

This brings me back to Mark and Sudjai. Because they are people who care about the faith of others and try to help the Lao people, they are trying to raise awareness and money to help to claear land to provide a better future for the people living on it. A cause I fully support and I hope you might want to do the same... If you want to help, send me a message or donate to Mark and Sudjai directly. It's possible in cash (in Laos, Scotland and the Netherlands) but also by bank in Laos, the Netherlands or the United Kingdom.  

Thanks a lot!

More information about HALO and UXO:

- https://web.facebook.com/halotrust/
- http://www.halotrust.org/where-we-work/south-asia/laos/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxUvqyaFdBw