issue 16 jan-mar / 2013 “the poor and their deadly...
TRANSCRIPT
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ISSUE 16 Jan-Mar / 2013
“The poor and their deadly business”
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Mr. Dieu lives in Tan Duc 1 Village,
a mountanous area of Quang Binh
Province. Seven years ago, he was
the only survivor of a an explosion
caused by UXO which killed four of
his cousins;
With sadness on his face, Mr. Dieu
recalls the day of the accident: “Me
and my cousins woke up very early
that day. We searched along the
riverbank several times and just
found about 10kg of iron. Then we
moved to Reeng cave to search for
more. Using my homemade
detector, I found many long and
clear signals there. I called my
cousins to dig that area and I
myself moved to other areas to
continue searching. Suddenly,
there was a big bang and I went
unconscious. Later people told
me that my cousins were all
killed and their bodies were torn
apart so they had to pick each
small piece and placed them into
four coffins.”
Mr. Dieu continued with tears
streaming down on his face: “My
ears were bleeding for one month
after the accident. From that time,
whenever I saw a detector, I felt
shocked. I am scared of the blast
and so so scared of losing my
family again.”
The houses in Tan Duc 1 village
are scattered between narrow
valleys surrounded by the hills.
The people here survive on
farming and forestry. However
MAG’s work in Vietnam is made possible through the generous support of the following current donors
Above 1:
the farming land allocated for a
person is very limited, so the
villagers have to do other jobs to
have an income after the harvest –
scrap metal collection is often a
profitable option.
Mr. Dinh Van Hung, another victim
of the accident used to be a teacher
at the secondary school. He was
his mother’s pride and joy who
spent her whole life bringing up her
kids after her husband died in the
war. It was during the school
summer holiday that he went with
his cousins searching for scrap
metal and never came back. Three
years have gone by, but it is not
long enough to heal his mother’s
pain. The sight of her son’s photos
still brings her to tears.
News Roundup
* MAG CEO Nick Roseveare and
Trustee Vanessa Forbes visited
Vietnam Programme in January.
* MAG Vietnam hosted two visitors
from US Dept Of State, Weapons
Removal and Abatement (WRA) –
Emma Atkinson and Tom Kodiak –
during the quarter.
* Having said farewell to departing PO,
Greg Secomb in the last quarter, MAG
Vietnam welcomed new PO, Chris
Elliott
Above 1: Mr. Dieu and his homemade detector
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ISSUE 14 APRIL-JUNE 2012
“The poor and their deadly business” (cont…)
The families of the other three victims are also in a
very bad situation, since they used to be the
breadwinners for their families. These victims of
the deadly scrap metal trade have left behind
wives with no employment, and small children with
no opportunities to go to school.
“When I visited the families of the bomb victims
and witnessed their loss and pain caused by the
UXO accidents, I feel more proud of the job I am
doing for MAG. We will continue our mission
“saves lives, build futures” to stop the repetition of
the accidents that killed Mr. Dieu’s cousins”,
proudly shared Ms. Mai Thi Le Huyen, Community
Liaison Assistant of MAG Vietnam.
Continued danger of UXO in Quang Nam
Mrs. Nguyet herself also suffers from injuries
as the result of the war. “There are still many
shrapnels inside my body that put me in
terrible pain whenever the weather changes.
The war was so fierce; people were killed and
houses were burnt every day. I used to think
nobody would survive”, she added.
The war ended but the peace was also a
struggle to Mrs. Nguyet. She and her husband
strove to find food for their children. At the
most difficult time, her husband died; she had
to fight against the life’s problems alone. She
said: “I had to work on bare hills and every
day I saw so many unexploded ordnances on
the ground. But thinking of my hungry kids, I
had to take risk with my life.”
The village is still very poor, and most people
survive on subsistence agriculture. After
harvest, they have to find ways to support
their family and trading scrap metal from UXO
which still scatter the landscape is often an
attractive option. People use very simple
home-made detectors to search for scrap
metal, and unsurprisingly UXO accidents are
not something unusual here. Mrs. Nguyet took
us to Mr. Ba Sem’s house, about 50m from
hers.
ISSUE 16 Jan-Mar / 2013
Above 3: Mrs. Nguyet showing the garden where she’s
found a bombie
Mrs. Bui Thi Nguyet (67) has lived her whole life in
Village 2, Binh Dinh Hac Commune, which is very
similar to many other villages of Thang Binh District
where explosive remnants of war are still posing a
huge threat to communities.
Mrs. Nguyet lives alone and earns some income from
running her very small grocery store. She started
telling us the story about her life: “The war has taken
so many important things away from me. My father
and brother were both killed in a bombardment when
they were very young. My grandfather also died of a
B52 bomb dropped on the shelter-pit where he was
hiding.”
Above 2: CLA Mai Thi Le Huyen interviewing
Mr. Hung’s mother
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ISSUE 14 APRIL-JUNE 2012
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She said: “Mr. Sem is trading scrap metal. There
is a big yard with a lot of unexploded ordnance
behind his house. MAG staff have taken some
recently but he’s got many more each day. We
still feel scared when living close.”
Then she pointed to the garden where a
dangerous area was marked and safely covered
by MAG two months ago. “Before I found that
bombie, I felt so nervous when I was sweeping
the rubbish near there. Luckily I didn’t hit it. But
the school is not far from here and the kids are
usually playing there after study. Now MAG has
identified it, I feel much relieved. I have MAG’s
number here and I will call MAG if I find any more
bombs.”
Above 4: The UXOs in Mr. Sem’s scrap yard
In the field with MAG
Above 5: Ants with the MAG team in Quang Binh
Continued UXO Danger in Quang Nam (cont...)
To learn more about MAG in
Vietnam and around the world, visit:
ISSUE 16 Jan-Mar / 2013
a pink Honda C90 moped. During the Vietnam War
the US flew 580,000 bombing missions over the
Trail, dropping over 2 million tonnes of ordnance,
much of that in Vietnam. Many of these bombs
didn't explode, and continue to kill, maim and hinder
development today.
During her visit to Quang Binh, Ants had the
opportunity to witness all types of MAG operations
and the pain still felt by the Vietnamese people from
the legacy of the war. Ants experienced many
emotions from her day with MAG, from admiration
of MAG’s work, and excitement when pressing the
detonation button to the sadness of seeing the
victims of UXO accidents which continue to this
day.
Ant’s described the level of contamination she
encountered when she went out with MAG teams in
her blog; “I’d been with MAG less than an hour ...
and could NOT believe what I had seen. However
much you read the statistics, however much people
tell you how bad it is, nothing prepares you for the
shock of how much [UXO] there actually is. It is
quite literally, everywhere.”
Ants Bolingbroke Kent, a TV producer and writer from
the UK, visited MAG Vietnam in Quang Binh Province
on 14th March. Ant’s was raising money and
awareness for the UXO problem in Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia by travelling down the Ho Chi Minh Trail on
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ISSUE 13 JAN - MAR 2012
Donor Updates
US Department of State - WRA
The first quarter of 2013 saw WRA teams remove
1,279 items of UXO by completing 1,338
Dangerous Area tasks, 56 EOD response tasks
and 28,050m2 of static site clearance. 2,512
household surveys were conducted to identify 833
Dangerous Areas.
In Quang Nam, the MAT completed 36 EOD tasks
and removed 120 items of UXO.
UK Aid
During the first three months of 2013, UK Aid teams
cleared 35,500 square metres of land, completed
1,970 Dangerous Area spot tasks, 290 EOD
Response tasks and removed a total of 2,848 UXO.
CL Teams conducted 2,923 household surveys that
identified 1,209 Dangerous Areas.
Irish Aid
1,297 items of UXO were removed, through the
completion of 219 Dangerous Area spot tasks and 8
EOD Response tasks. The CL Team conducted
1,684 household surveys and identified 152
Dangerous Areas.
Humanitarian Demining R&D
The Rockhound mulcher continued to support
mechanical vegetation clearance in Quang Binh
province. The Seppi Mulcher has been operational in
Quang Tri province. Combined, the two mulchers
have cleared 21,290 square metres of vegetation
saving 1,562 hours of manual clearance time.
FACTS & FIGURES
Programme Statistics: January to March 2013
✦ Square Metres Cleared:
107,708
✦ Number of Villages
worked in:
48
✦ Number of EOD
Response Tasks:
390
✦ Number of household
surveys:
7,119
✦ Number of UXO destroyed:
5,544
✦ Number of beneficiaries:
114,071
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MAG Vietnam, 202 B1 Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound, 298 Kim Ma, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel/Fax: +84 (4)37262325 Email: [email protected]