I'm back in Vientiane after a few days of work visiting USG-funded UXO clearance and community awareness programs in Savannakhet and Khammouane Provinces.

Many photos, etc. are coming, but for now, I just got home after a longer than necessary return from Mahaxay District in Khammouane, about 500 KM from Vientiane, because of a few breakdowns along the way.

But, I had some enlightening, heartwarming visits with people living in places still severely contaminated by unexploded ordnance dropped on, shot around, or left in Laos over 30 years ago.

In Phin District in Savannakhet I spent some time at a school with an organization called World Education/Consortium that has a US-funded program to introduce mine-risk education into the general curriculum at schools.

In Gnommalat District in Khammouane I visited a village surrounded by amazing limestone karsts and bordered by the beautiful Xe Bang Fai river. MAG is doing the clearance, funded by the USG, for a French organization that will implement food security projects in seven villages in the area.

In Sepon District in Savannakhet with UXO Lao I destroyed 750 lb worth of bombs (a 500 lb and 250 lb bomb) with one high order demolition (I just pushed the button, the Lao technicians did the rest). 750 lbs of exploding bomb are very loud, even from the safe distance of 2 KM.

In Phin District I visited land to be used to expand a village with a UXO Lao survey team. The area was contaminated with mortars and bombies. Below are two full bombies (cluster bomb unit, or CBU) and a half bombie with the fuse still attached. The land is not yet cleared, so what we saw was just surface contamination, but there is likely much more subsurface contamination. The land will be cleared (surface and subsurface) before the villagers begin expansion of the village. We also sat in on the survey team's meeting with the village chief and elders, which was one of the great experiences I've had in Laos (pictures to come).

As I said, I'll expand later with plenty more pictures and stories from the past 3 days, probably more than anyone cares to look at or read. Working on the UXO assistance portfolio has been incredibly rewarding and interesting, and I will miss it when we leave next March.