[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS, GLOBAL: Laotians use war scrap

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

In Laos, villagers turn American war scrap into inventive tools

By Karen J. Coates
MinnPost
July 29, 2010

Editor's note: The International Convention on Cluster Munitions, 
prohibiting all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of such 
weapons, comes into effect on Aug. 1. Villagers in Laos, meantime, 
continue to find creative ways to use scrap metal from these deadly 
munitions as part of their everyday lives.

VIENTIANE, Laos - A scorching sun settled across southern Laos, as 
farmers burned the land to make new fields.

A woman hacked at weeds with two young children in tow, the heat of a 
nearby fire caking her in a sweaty, sooty film. She paused a moment, 
wiped her neck, then hoisted her hoe. Sitting behind her thatched hut 
was the casing of a 750-pound bomb made at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas. 
Its label was clear: "Special firework. Handle carefully. Keep fire away."

Laotians everywhere continue to unearth American bombs, dropped nearly 
40 years ago. Today, wartime remnants spark some of the country's most 
creative construction and engineering. Villagers turn scrap into tools 
and utensils - everything from bowls to buckets, boats, spoons, knives, 
hoes, troughs, ladders, planters, cowbells, stilts and pedestals for 
satellite dishes.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.minnpost.com/globalpost/2010/07/29/20073/in_laos_villagers_turn_american_war_scrap_into_inventive_tools

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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