THE ART OF TOUCHING THE GROUND _______ .: Update Penny White Trip Part III

I finally got those films developed *one day* before the thesis kick-off meeting on the 19^th, Jan, 2012.

MAG bomb clearance site, Xiang Khouang, Laos

Foreground: rice paddy field in dry season when farmers are not growing rice on site, but rather growing vegetables in the gardens near by. Yellow sticks in the field indicate where the MAG team has found the UXO, which will be destroyed at 3 pm everyday.

Background: spots of vegetation over the hill indicate where the bomb craters are - four decades after the bombing ended, the bomb craters have changed from symbols of death into ones of life - most of them are now covered with trees or shrubs. White patches over the hill indicate the clearings local people made to trap swallows, which is a special food Xieng Khouang is famous for.

MAG bomb clearance site, Xiang Khouang, Laos

Her name is Vienglada, Deputy Team Leader of UCT13, MAG.

MAG bomb clearance site, Xiang Khouang, Laos

The clearance site has been used as rice paddy field for more than 30 years. The owners of the land grow rice on site in raining season. They know there are UXO, and they found scrap metal on site all the time, but they have no choice other than keep farming.
The clearance site is around 4 hectar. The operation started on 28/12/2011. I got there on the 5th of Jan, by then, the team found and destroyed 79 BLU UXO. One day before I got there, they found a 500 lb big bomb.