Clear Path International: War and Landmine Victim Assistance: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thai-Burma

Visiting Clear Path Partners in Hue, Vietnam

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:26:11 -0500

CPI Executive Director Kiman Lucas and Vietnam staff visited with members of the Hue Friendship Union

It's always good to be in Vietnam, and with our staff in Dong Ha, where Clear Path International began in 2000, first clearing land of unexploded ordnance and then assisting the victims of encounters with them, as well as their families and communities.

Today we met in the beautiful city of Hue, the home of the last Vietnamese emperor, with members of the Hue Friendship Union, our partner organization in providing Accident Survivor Assistance Programs or ASAP.

I was hosted by Mr. Anh, director of the Hue Friendship Union and former mayor of Hue. Clear Path International has assisted 945 explosive ordinance survivors in the three years in which we have operated ASAP in central Vietnam's Hue Province. We plan to complete our projects here in the next year.

Karen Woman Counters Violence with Care and Compassion

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:29:22 -0500

Cresa at far right with children at Mrs. Nana's Farm

By Cresa Pugh, CPI Southeast Asia Resident Manager

Recently, I traveled with Mr. Murakami of the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW), south of Mae Sot, Thailand, to a small, rural village just outside of Umphang along the Thai-Burma border. This is the location of the home and farmland of Mrs. Nana, a woman from Karen State in Burma who has long been critical to the Karen struggle for freedom, independence and basic human rights. Mrs. Nana is originally from a Karen village just across the border within short walking distance from her current location, but the situation between the two areas could not be more disparate.

History
Several years ago Mrs. Nana operated a clinic in the Karen village that provided basic healthcare to the entire surrounding community. Perceived as a threat to the stability of their regime, and seeking to undermine the capacity of local leaders, the SPDC, Burma's military regime, burned her clinic to the ground. Since then, the government has allowed her to rebuild her operation, but only after she agreed to certain concessions, including a realignment of her political alliances. In the meantime, the government continued to plant landmines in the surrounding areas and insurgents, in defense, did as well.

The result is a dangerous, unstable warzone where parents are afraid to let their children leave their homes, thus disabling them from receiving a proper education and access to other community based necessities. Additionally, countless members of the community have suffered landmine casualties and are now unable to not only receive adequate medical treatment and support, but unable to work in such a way that they are able to support themselves and their families.

During his visits to the region conducting mine risk education workshops, Mr. Murakami identified the need for these survivors to have opportunities to break their cycle of poverty, to stop borrowing money from local lenders at interest rates of up to 100 percent, and to begin making their way toward economic stability and self-sufficiency.

The Project
Mrs. Nana identified 10 landmine survivors and amputees who would participate in a farming initiative that would provide them with comprehensive training in construction, animal husbandry and harvesting, and ultimately provide them with opportunities to launch their own income-generating projects. Specifically, the group, under the instruction of Mr. Murakami, will build and operate a fish pond, raise pigs and chickens, and grow mushrooms.

The project will provide food for the local community as well as the opportunity to sell the products in local markets and make additional money that will provide revenue for the farmers and ultimately can be reinvested into the project to purchase more capital. There is also a well on the farm that will be enhanced to provide access to clean water for some in the surrounding village.

Currently Mrs. Nana has 36 children, a number which fluctuates daily - ages 4 to 14 - living in her home whose parents feel the situation in Karen state is too unstable for them to endure. The children are all receiving a formal education at a local migrant school in her Thai village, but sadly, Thai authorities are planning to close most of the migrant schools along the border. Mrs. Nana plans to open her own migrant school on her farm in the coming months; 29 more children from the Karen village will join her once that happens.

Reflection
With the imminent repatriation of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Burma - mainly Karen - at the hand of the Thai government, the situation along this area of the border is unlikely to change anytime soon. It's easy to feel helpless, hopeless, angry, frustrated, defrauded, sad and the whole host of emotions that accompany senseless conflict, but all is not lost. As long as there are militaries and counterinsurgents and generals and juntas, there will also always be people like Mrs. Nana and countless other individuals who counter the terror and violence, the landmines and rape, with healthcare, education, food, shelter, and love.

I am humbled by the privilege to engage in her efforts, and by the opportunity to work with an organization, Clear Path International, that recognizes the importance of this struggle. CPI provides support for the farming initiative itself, Mr. Murakami's mine risk education train-the-trainer and direct training workshops, and to cover the logistics of Mrs. Nana transporting victims from Karen state to a Thai hospital when a landmine accident occurs.

Donate to Clear Path International here.

Young Cluster Munition Survivor Needs Your Help

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:01:31 -0500

Ves Chiveng on his release from the hospital, walking for the first time in six years.

When filmmaker Cathy MacDonald met 15-year-old Ves Chiveng in Phnom Penh, he was in severe pain from a leg swollen and infected with shrapnel that doctors had missed while treating him for cluster munitions injuries six years earlier.

MacDonald, who was in Cambodia making a documentary on cluster munitions clearance, recalls that Chiveng "was in a very bad way" when she first spoke with him.

After his injury near his home in Sre Traeng Village, Cambodian Red Cross took him to Kratie Provincial Hospital for emergency care. But doctors there failed to remove all the shrapnel from the blast. Chiveng's family is Pnong, an ethnic minority, and could not afford the medicines or plasma required for his treatment at state-run hospitals. Although Chiveng and his 20-year-old sister, Phua, live with their uncle and his family of seven Phua is her brother's sole provider. She works in her village a few months a year planting rice and vegetables for about $3 a day.

While Chiveng apparently was eligible for free medical care, his family was not informed of this; nor did they know how to access the treatment required from their small village. As a result, Chiveng was unable to walk or attend school, or receive any effective pain relief for many years following the accident

In February, MacDonald and some of her colleagues at the nonprofit organization, Handicap International, gave Chiveng and his sister money to pay for necessities while he underwent extensive surgical procedures at Kantha Bopha Hospital in Phnom Penh. Chiveng was in the hospital more than two months. Shrapnel also was removed from his right leg and stomach and he was treated for a heart condition. He is now able to walk for the first time since the accident.

Doctors at the Calmette free hospital in Phnom Penh pooled money to pay for Chiveng and his sister to return by taxi to their home. And Cambodian Mine Action Group also raised money to help them.

While Chiveng was in the hospital, MacDonald and Nick Boedicker, program manager of Handicap International, contacted Clear Path International to inquire about the possibility of providing ongoing assistance for Chiveng and his sister Phua during his recovery. HI's victim assistance program in Cambodia focuses on prosthetics and rehabilitation which does not extend to cases such as Chiveng's. Clear Path's work in the country is centered on socio-economic and agricultural support in mine-saturated Battambang Province. Essentially, Chiveng fell through the cracks.

Nevertheless, Samea Vin from Clear Path's partner organization Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development (CVCD) visited Chiveng in the hospital to see how they might help. CVCD helped Phua purchase school clothes and supplies with money from Boedicker, MacDonald and friends while all concerned continued to look for a longer-term solution to the family's troubles.

Chiveng will need ongoing care and transportation for any future checkups or treatment. Phua would like to continue her education, which costs about $10 per month and to train as a hairdresser or seamstress. A bicycle has been bought for Phua to take Chiveng to school, where he will begin again at the second-grade level.

Despite the best efforts of humanitarian organizations, there will always be those who fall through the cracks. Thanks to some caring individuals, Chiveng now has a chance for a much brighter future. Clear Path International wants to make sure that he continues to receive help and that other young Cambodians who find themselves in similar straits also get the assistance they need. If you would like to help Chiveng and others like him, please click here.

Cambodian Villagers Benefit from CPI Savings Program

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:11:25 -0500

It was a historic moment for the members of a unique savings program in Cambodia's Phum Seam Village. At a May 25 meeting held at the farmer's cooperative, they received their first savings account books which will allow them to track their contributions and shared savings.

Cresa Pugh, Southeast Asia resident manager for Clear Path International, was on hand as the heads of 38 households proudly accepted their orange savings booklets. CPI and its partner organization, Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development (CVCD), initiated the program two years ago in this small village in the Bovel District of Battambang Province.

Loan programs are quite prevalent in SE Asia countries. Savings schemes are more rare. They require a significant conceptual change. Does a family borrow money to be able to spend money? Or does a family save its money and then spend its own money? A community savings pool allows families to jointly deposit their funds in a financial institution to earn interest and prepare for the future. It is a more sustainable approach in the long term, as compared to loan programs.

This program was designed to teach the landmine survivors the value of saving money for future needs. Each family contributes a few dollars per year to the community savings pool and, in the event of an emergency, can apply to borrow money from the fund at no charge. Since the savings program began, seven families have borrowed money, which was used primarily to cover medical and burial expenses.

Clear Path and CVCD established the Phum Seam Farmers' Cooperative and Rice Mill in 2006 to provide socio-economic and agricultural support to landmine and bomb survivors in three districts in Battambang. The cooperative is located in the K-5 mine belt, a 1,046-kilometer stretch of land along Cambodia's western and northern border with Thailand, where approximately six million landmines were laid between 1979 and 1989. As a result, the region is home to many landmine survivors. Since 2007, CPI has served over 3,000 beneficiaries through the activities of the rice mill, vocational training and micro-credit lending programs.

Launched with contributions amounting to two tons of rice and 580,000 Riel (about $145), the pool now totals 2,466,900 Riel ($616.72), which includes a $325 donation from CVCD made at the May meeting, and 6,000 kilograms of rice.

CVCD hosts meetings frequently throughout the year to provide financial management training and to give participants a forum in which to discuss issues related to the program and raise questions.

Libraries for Myanmar's Monastic Schools

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:21:09 -0500

Students attending CPI-sponsored Monastic School on outskirts of Yangon, Burma. One little girl has chosen a tanaka-painted Mickey Mouse to adorn her forehead.

Myanmar has always had a thriving literary community. Books and magazines were available to rent for a few cents in every small township from stalls and public libraries. But access to reading materials, especially for poor children, has become severely limited.

Clear Path International aims to reignite the love of books and reading in Myanmar, and to extend children's learning beyond the boundaries of the national curriculum. By partnering with a local nonprofit organization that promotes literacy and access to children's books, CPI will create libraries in nine monastic schools within three years, and provide materials and support activities that encourage both children and parents to read at community-based libraries in suburbs of Yangon.

Clear Path is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that assists landmine survivors and others disabled or displaced by armed conflict in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan. The $20,000 monastic school project is an extension of CPI's work along the border between Thailand and Myanmar, where CPI has provided prosthetic and rehabilitation care, psycho-social services, vocational training and socio-economic support to refugees and internally displaced landmine accident survivors since 2002.

The monastic school system once taught everyone from royal princes to unskilled workers and helped to give Burma a literacy rate above those of other Far Eastern countries in early 1900s. Nowadays, in Yangon and Mon State, monastic schools are limited to providing a free but basic education for orphans and children from the poorest families. Many of the parents are themselves illiterate.

CPI has found that these schools lack basic teaching materials and skills to instill a love of reading. The six schools in Yangon included in the project do not have libraries. The three schools in Mon State have areas designated for libraries but do not have appropriate, good-quality books or the skilled personnel to manage the libraries. In general, public access to reading materials, especially for children, is almost non-existent in present-day Myanmar. Bookshops charge about 5,000 Kyats per children's book ($5.50 US), putting them out of the reach of most parents.

Only good quality books, some in Myanmar and some in English, will be donated to the monastic schools located in several townships. Each school will receive 300 new books and will allow students to enjoy dedicated library time. Teachers or volunteer librarians will be taught each term to catalogue and maintain the books, and to manage the libraries. Additionally, representatives from CPI's partner organization will work with teachers and parents to improve their ability to read effectively to children. Children will be encouraged to perform simple comprehension exercises through school and library-based competitions.

The project begins June 1, 2011 and is estimated to benefit 3,461 children and more than 100 teachers, as well as the families of the students.

Clear Path Launches Large-Scale Ramp Project in Afghanistan

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:43:10 -0500

When more than 800,000 Afghans are severely disabled, it's easy to see why there's a drastic need for schools, hospitals, government buildings and places of worship to be made accessible to them.

But people with disabilities in Afghanistan have suffered from a nearly universal lack of access to these and other important buildings and facilities. The Afghanistan Central Office of Statistics has estimated that 98 percent of all buildings cannot be entered by wheelchair.

This past year, Clear Path International launched a pilot project to alter this situation by constructing high-quality ramps at key locations throughout the country applying best practices established in the industry. Clear Path is a nonprofit organization that assists victims of landmines and other explosives, and others disabled or displaced by armed conflict in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan.

Not only are the projects performing a critical service for this vulnerable segment of Afghanistan's population, they also are helping to establish good will between the United States and Afghan leaders at a time when that relationship has been severely stressed. CPI programs in Afghanistan are funded by the U.S. Department of State Weapons Removal and Abatement (WRA).

"We've had two different reports that the Ulema (Council of Mullahs and Imams in Afghanistan) has specifically mentioned the work of CPI at the Eid Gah Mosque, as well as commented positively in general on the role of Americans bringing accessibility changes at this very high-profile religious site," said CPI Program Manager Matthew Rodieck. "One of the leaders of the Ulema, a double-amputee martyr and former Mujahedin commander, was especially complimentary."

Eid Gah Mosque in Kabul (shown here) is one of the highest profile mosques in Afghanistan and is where VIPs regularly worship and hold funeral prayers of martyrs. CPI through its Afghan partner organization, Accessibility Organization for Afghan Disabled (AOAD), built three ramps complete with handrails. In Kabul, CPI and AOAD also constructed three ramps at the Antoni Infectious Disease Hospital, an important referral site for tertiary care and the only facility of its kind in the country.

In Kapisa Province, north of Kabul, Afghan Amputee Bicyclists for Rehabilitation and Recreation (AABRAR) developed and implemented access ramps at several diverse sites. These included the main mosque of the capital city, which became the only physically accessible mosque in the entire province, the Ministry of Information and Culture, and the Ministry of Education. Several public schools throughout the rural community were also ramp sites in the AABRAR project, each selected based on feedback from local authorities about their priorities.

In Balkh Province, in the north of Afghanistan, Afghan Landmine Survivor Organization (ALSO) constructed access ramps at several educational settings across Mazar-i Sharif, the main city of Balkh. The sites selected included co-educational elementary schools, boys' high schools, girls' high schools, and the Balkh University making it one of the few institutions of higher learning in the entire country with accessible buildings.

Going forward, CPI hopes to build nearly 600 ramps at 350 sites throughout Afghanistan. The $660,000 project funded by WRA will involve the same three partner organizations. A key component of the ramp project is to raise awareness of the rights of people with disabilities, said Rodieck. "Awareness is quite low; there's not much sensitivity."

That awareness campaign also will make its way into the classroom at Kabul Technical University's Engineering School where CPI hopes it will result in some practical solutions. "We want to engage the entire faculty on physical accessibility design," Rodieck said. "We want to advocate on a more institutional level that the curriculum become more realistic."

CPI Afghan Program Featured in Journal of ERW & Mine Action

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:17:20 -0500

Volunteer Visits CPI Staff & Programs in Vietnam

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:13:06 -0500

This posting is by Clear Path volunteer Sandy Schubach who recently visited our staff and programs in Vietnam.

The Clear Path team in Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, is truly inspirational. It has been so heartwarming to see them in action, both in the office and at the homes of the beneficiaries. Chi, Duc, Nhi, Phuong, and Tam are compassionate, attentive, and very respectful. I was happy to learn that Clear Path is well-known here in Quang Tri, and 95% of the time they respond to an accident within 24 hours, even on weekends. It was also nice to see the Clear Path logo on display in restaurants and museums. The locals know they can count on CPI to help them if needed for victim assistance.

Besides providing direct assistance to UXO (unexploded ordnance) victims in the form of reimbursement for medical costs, CPI also helps them in other areas. An accident can leave a family without a breadwinner, a devastating loss. Only children living below the poverty level here (about $2800 annual income per family) are allowed to go to school for free, so Clear Path helps with scholarships for those children that need them. Grants can also be made to help a family get back on their feet after an accident. The economic impact of a UXO accident is dramatic. Besides medical expenses, the time spent in the hospital is time away from farming or working. If a child is in the hospital, a parent is usually with them as well, or the transportation costs to get continued medical care are steep.

Some people request a grant to use the money to purchase chickens, piglets, cows, or other farm animals which can generate income and provide a food source. Clear Path takes care to learn the specific needs of accident victims.

The staff here has also started a program to get accident victims in touch with each other to provide caring and support. A recent victim can get inspiration and affirmation from one who has overcome his disability. Groups are taken on field trips, a very special event here. They also participate in the Vietnamese version of special olympics, a wonderful program.

It's sad to think that more than 40 years after the war accidents still happen from UXOs, ruining lives and families. CPI Vietnam provides stellar services in victim assistance here, and I salute them.

Visiting Beneficiaries in Vietnam

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:34:43 -0500

CPI Southeast Asia Program Director Melody Mociulski has been visiting staff and beneficiaries in Vietnam and Cambodia with volunteer Sandy Schubach and CPI Board Chairman Laurie Miller.

We've spent two and a half days here in Dong Ha with the CPI team: Chi, Phuong, Nhi, and Duc. It is wonderful to see them again - like coming home. They have all worked for CPI for several years, Chi and Duc since the beginning, when CPI started in 2000. I am so very proud of their efforts to provide quality and thoughtful victim assistance to UXO survivors and their families in 14 provinces of Vietnam.

Today we visited two beneficiaries: an 11-year-old boy, Binh, whose left eye was severely damaged when he found a bomb ignitor on the street and tried to plug the red wires into an electrical outlet. He was lucky his injuries were not worse. Nevertheless, the accident has had a major impact to his family, both economically and emotionally.

And we met Kha and his wife. He lost a leg many years ago in a UXO accident, and is unable to shoulder the responsibilities of providing for his wife, three children, and two elderly parents. CPI provided them with a pig - one very large mama pig - to raise. Future piglets will be sold to generate income for the family.

We also visited some of the DMZ monuments and museums, conducted performance evaluations and learned more about life and culture in Vietnam.

Tomorrow Duc will drive us to Hue, a UN heritage city, and we will start our trek home via a night in Bangkok.

Courage and Dedication in Lao PDR

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:06:33 -0500

Longtime CPI volunteer Sandy Schubach is traveling with Southeast Asia Program Director Melody Mociulski and videotaping some of our programs there. This week, they are in Lao PDR where Clear Path is establishing a micro-credit program in an area heavily impacted by mines.

Yesterday and today I met so many amazing, dedicated, courageous people: a woman with a disability who opened up her home to help other women with disabilities and now runs a sustainable educational center to teach those women with disabilities skills and independence; an 18-year-old student in that center who has learned to weave with one hand; women who run a nation-wide union of Laos women; a man who has lived in SE Asia for over 20 years and is dedicated to helping clear the area of unexploded ordnance; volunteers who help run a shop to build and deliver wheelchairs to those in need of them; and people determined to set up clinics in the provinces to provide the most basic of heath care.

Traveling and meeting with other non-governmental agencies gives such an insight into the people and culture of a country, and truly makes me appreciate how much I have, and realize how some live with so little. While it's difficult to learn how much some of the local agencies are struggling to fulfill basic needs, it's encouraging to see their optimism and determination to provide services.

On a different note, Vientiane is an interesting city, with exotic smells, crowded streets, temples, heat and humidity. We made an early morning visit to a stupa and enjoyed walking around watching the city come to life. Tomorrow we leave this capital and head north to Luang Prabang.

Mosques, Schools, Hospitals Made Accessible to Disabled Afghans

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:32:39 -0500

CPI has been at the forefront of developing practical guidelines for the construction of physical accessibility ramps in Afghanistan.

With special funding from the Weapons Removal and Abatement section of the U.S. Department of State's Political Military Affairs Department, CPI has developed pilot projects in conjunction with three of its implementing partners. Each partner undertook physical accessibility project sites at key public buildings in different provinces where unmet needs were prioritized and where security conditions permitted the projects to be undertaken.

In Kabul, Accessibility Organization for Afghan Disabled (AOAD) developed and implemented access ramps at four locations, including three mosques: a neighborhood mosque that functioned as a polling station in last year's parliamentary election; a larger community mosque with a rare co-educational madrassa; and one of the highest profile mosques in all of Afghanistan, the Eid Gah Mosque, where several VIPs regularly worship and where important funeral prayers of martyrs are held. For its fourth accessibility project, AOAD selected the Antoni Infectious Disease Hospital, an important referral site for tertiary care and the only such facility in the country.

The photos linked to this posting are from field mission inspection visits conducted in December, January, and February by Matthew Rodieck (CPI-AFG Program Manager) and Zabiullah Azimi (CPI-AFG Program Coordinator).

On the Road in Cambodia

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:12:24 -0500

Clear Path Southeast Asia Program Director Melody Mociulski is visiting programs and partners in Cambodia with Board of Directors President Laurie Miller.

Mid-ninety's and three showers today. Guess I shouldn't complain as our taxi driver told us it was up to 44 degrees Celsius last year during the hot season. And yet, we saw a couple young Cambodian girls wearing jackets yesterday.

Laurie and I met with our implementing partner, CVCD (Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development) today. After a year of email and Skype, it was delightful to have face-to-face time with Sama and the team. It is remarkable to see their strides over the past year on the road to sustainability as an organization and as individual staff members. Both Saveth and Sylong have made significant improvements with their English (definitely important to me as I have no sense of Khmer).

I told them about my interest in savings programs, a major mind shift to go from "borrow & spend" to "save first / spend later." I shared with them that I met with members of an organization in Thailand that is doing this successfully in a few of the Burmese communities.

Saveth blew me away when he explained that they are already piloting a savings project out at the Farmers Co-op. They laid the groundwork by discussing with the villagers the benefits and the mechanics, and they're moving forward. For me, it was a tangible example of how far CVCD has come. Not only are they being creative, but they are thinking strategically, financially, and most definitely, compassionately.

Sama took Laurie and I out to one of the newer squatter communities schools on the outskirts of town. This isn't a program funded by CPI, but I believe that much of their success is due to the capacity building support provided by CPI. These schools are CVCD's core strength and a visible example of the difference they are making in the lives of Cambodians.

After a half hour bumpy, dusty ride in the tuk tuk, we turned down a dirt 'lane' that was barely visible. Families living in this community used to live on the streets after being forced out to the outskirts of town by the government. It resembles a shanty town but is definitely an improvement for these families. Turning a corner with many curious faces staring out at us, we arrived at the one-room school where 24 boys and girls were taking exams.

CVCD built the school and provides a very dedicated teacher, school supplies and one set of uniforms for each child. When the children move on to secondary school, CVCD provides each child with a bicycle for transport to school. Without the bicycle, they would not be able to attend school given the distance and their responsibilities to their families. These children would not have an education without this opportunity. They are the hope for the future for their families and for Cambodia, and are thoroughly motivated to learn.

CPI Helps Raise Funds for School for the Deaf in Kabul

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:40:57 -0500

CPI organized a fundraiser event to support a needy School for the Deaf in Kabul. On Friday, Feb. 11, art work produced by students and staff of the School for the Deaf went on sale to raise money that will keep the school operational during a funding gap.

The school is a public, free, Ministry of Education-certified, co-educational facility located in the Khair Khana neighborhood of Kabul. In service since 1994, the school had been operated by the Family Welfare Focus (FWF, an Afghan NGO), along with clinical support and vocational training for deaf children in grades 1-12. They have recently found themselves facing a short-term funding gap which has left them struggling to cover their operational budget for January through March. (Beginning April 1st, they have donor support in place again).

Closing the school for three months would certainly have jeopardized the progress of the more than 300 students currently enrolled and create obvious financial difficulties for the school's highly dedicated teachers (most of whom are women).

While the FWF School for the Deaf is not a CPI implementing partner organization for victim assistance programming, CPI's goal was to help them help themselves through organizing this first-ever fundraiser. The four-hour event generated more than $2,000 in sales of artwork towards the school's operating costs.

Subsequently, the staff of the Kabul offices of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) have organized a follow-up art sale fundraiser in this same style but at Kabul's Serena Hotel on Feb. 18. This follow-up event was organized by JICA staff as a direct result of CPI's original efforts at bringing attention to the FWF School for the Deaf.

Afghan Cricket Team Wins Despite Disabilities

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:20:03 -0500

There are times when the term "disabled" simply doesn't apply. That's definitely true for the cricket team sponsored by Clear Path International in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province. Although team members all possess some type of physical disability, their winning record against completely able-bodied opponents calls into question whether labeling them as the disabled cricket team is indeed appropriate.

The team was created by CPI's partner, Afghan Disabled Vulnerable Society (ADVS), to provide sports activities for youth with physical challenges, and to change public perceptions about the role of disabled persons in the community. Most of the players live in Jalalabad City, the bustling epicenter of the province near the Pakistan border. They are landmine survivors, young men who have contracted polio, or who've suffered in other ways from violence or disease related to war and the lack of medical care.

And yet they excel at competitive cricket. These men have played together for more than two years, having won several matches against teams without a single disabled player. Recently, they won the overall trophy in a five-team tournament in Jalalabad. Over three days, they defeated each of the opposing teams, none of which had disabled members.

Through its expert coaches, ADVS trains young men for physically challenging sports, teaches them cooperative and team-focused skills and shores up their self-esteem.

ADVS is one of several Afghan organizations that partner with Clear Path to assist persons with disabilities, including survivors of landmine and cluster munition accidents.

CPI's Afghan program, funded by the Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, has already helped more than 16,000 people with disabilities in the war-torn nation. CPI also assists victims of war in Vietnam, Cambodia, along the Thai-Burma border and in Lao PDR.

By CPI Afghan Program Manager Matthew Rodieck

Mines Advisory Group: Casualties from Landmine & Unexploded Ordnance Rise

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:34:10 -0500

Photo Credit: Mines Advisory Group

Our friends at Mines Advisory Group have written about the increase in casualties from unexploded ordnance in Cambodia, where Clear Path International has been providing victim assistance since 2001. Clear Path began in the most heavily mine impacted areas of Cambodia with vocational training programs and shipments of medical equipment to support hospitals. CPI established the Phum Seam Farmers' Cooperative and Rice Mill in 2006 to provide socio-economic and agricultural support to landmine/ERW survivors in three districts in Battambang. In 2010 CPI and implementing partner CVCD initiated a new micro-credit project in Kamrieng District in Battambang Province, one of the areas recently cleared of mines by MAG.

The number of landmine and unexploded ordnance casualties in Cambodia rose by 17 per cent to 286 last year, underlining the continued need for MAG's lifesaving work in the country.
Figures from the Cambodian Mine/Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System (CMVIS) show that 71 people died and 215 were injured as a result of 150 accidents, the same accident total as recorded in 2009.

Read the rest of the story here.

Cluster Bomb Kills Vietnamese Farmer

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 22:13:54 -0500

Ngoc Chinh was simply trying to earn some extra money. The effort cost him his life.
The 49-year-old farmer had been hired to dig holes where trees would be planted in the Hai Lang District of Quang Tri Province. Most of his family was away from home attending the wedding of a relative. Chinh had stayed behind with his daughter who had classes to attend.

On Nov. 24, Chinh left home early, taking his lunch along so he could spend more time working in the forestry area of Hai Lam Commune. His daughter went to class in the morning, did her homework in the afternoon, then prepared dinner and waited for her father to return.

By 10 p.m. when Chinh still had not arrived home, the girl became worried and ran to the neighbors to ask for help. Several men went with flashlights in search of Chinh.
They found him dead on the plot where he had been working. The steel blade of his hoe had been destroyed by the blast from a cluster bomb, the remains of which were also found on the site.

When staff from Clear Path International, a nonprofit organization that assists victims of war-era explosives, visited the family's home, Chinh's body had already been placed in a coffin. His daughter and friends were waiting for Chinh's mother, wife and two other children to return home before holding the funeral.

The accident that took Chinh's life occurred less than two weeks after delegates, diplomats and aid workers from around the globe met in neighboring Lao PDR to further their attempts to eradicate cluster munitions.

The First Meeting of Sates Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions was held in the capital city, Vientiane, from Nov. 9 to 12. To date, 108 countries have signed the treaty, which establishes international law to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions and mandates their destruction.

Heavy Bombing Campaign in Lao Leaves Scars, Live Munitions

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 08:52:46 -0500

Xieng Khuang Province, Lao PDR - Looking down from a window of our airplane, I see that the lush green landscape of the high plateau is pockmarked with brown craters, still empty of vegetation more than 30 years after they were made.

These are the scars of the U.S. government's nine-year-long "secret" bombing campaign over this small, landlocked country that borders Vietnam to the east. U.S. bombing records show that over 20,000 missions involving the release of roughly 46 million cluster munitions occurred over Xieng Khuang Province.

The area was of strategic importance as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, used by North Vietnamese forces with the consent of Lao revolutionary forces to send supplies and personnel around the de-militarized zone in central Vietnam, cut through Xieng Khuang's forests and mountains.

Six groups of foreign delegates, diplomats and representatives from international nonprofit organizations visited the province and a number of unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance sites during the recent First Meeting of Sates Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR. Three of us from Clear Path International, myself as communications director, our executive director and the manager of a program we're starting here in Laos, were among the visitors.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

CPI is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that provides medical and socio-economic assistance to UXO survivors, their families and their communities in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan. In Laos, we are partnering with the Lao Women's Union to provide low-interest loans to female heads of households in Xieng Khuang Province to finance home-based businesses.

Our funding for this and other programs comes from the U.S. Department of State Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. During the convention, there was a good deal of discussion in side events about the United States not being a signatory to the convention, which establishes international law to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions and mandates their destruction. To date, 108 countries have adopted the convention.

And while the US was without official representation, officials from the embassy here did attend many of the workshops. In September 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the US has not participated in the convention because there are no good substitute munitions and that the "elimination of cluster munitions from our stockpiles would put the lives of our soldiers and our coalition partners at risk."

Under the current policy issued by the Department of Defense in 2008, by the end of 2018 the US will no longer use cluster munitions with more than a 1 percent chance of not exploding upon impact. Of the estimated 3 million tons of bombs dropped on Lao soil, about a third failed to go off when dropped. They continue to claim lives, usually those of Lao children, long after the fighting ended.

It is the hope of the Cluster Munition Coalition, an international civil society campaign working to eradicate these weapons, and other INGOs including ours that the US will eventually join the treaty and ban their use altogether. President Barack Obama's administration has not yet conducted a review of U.S. policy on cluster munitions, but Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) along with 14 other members of the Senate have written to the president, urging him to conduct a thorough review of the national policy on the weapons.

The US has acknowledged use of cluster munitions in Afghanistan in 2002 and in Iraq in 2003. In June 2010, Amnesty International reported that it appears the US used cluster munitions in an attack on an alleged al-Qa 'ida training camp in Yemen in December 2009, but neither the US nor Yemeni governments have responded publicly to the Amnesty International allegations.

Despite unwillingness by the US to completely abandon use of cluster munitions, it reportedly has been and will continue to be the largest contributor to UXO clearance and victim assistance here in Laos, having spent $51 million to date. In 2010, the US will have spent $5.1 million on UXO efforts by the year's end, an amount that is expected to increase to $7 million for 2011.

During the visit to one of several clearance sites in Xieng Khuang, CPI staff and others witnessed - from a safe distance - the detonation of 36 cluster bombs. The blasts, timed to go off within minutes of each other, sent enormous plumes of smoke, dirt, stones and shrapnel into the pale blue sky and the explosions echoed off the surrounding hills.

Each time, I felt a thud deep in my chest. At one point, I exhaled deeply, not realizing I had been holding my breath, thankful that no lives had been lost, no injuries sustained - this time.

On Basketballs and Bombs

karen@cpi.org (karen) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:28:32 -0500

Lao PDR - I am on a basketball court in Vientiane. The shouts of the players and the cheers from onlookers bounce off the walls of the brightly lit gym as we race between baskets, dribbling, passing, shooting - all from our wheelchairs.

I am not disabled but the special sports chair I am strapped into levels the playing field for those among us who are physically impaired. In theory. In reality, the field is anything but level. The disabled players who have practiced and competed here at the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) are much more adept at the sport of wheelchair basketball, which demands an athletic stamina and dexterity that many of us guest participants have never known and will never acquire.

The makeup of our audience is as unusual as that of the two teams on the court. In suits and ties and other evening attire, foreign diplomats and representatives from international humanitarian organizations - including my own U.S.-based nonprofit, Clear Path International - have come via multiple buses from many hotels throughout Lao's capital city to visit programs run by the Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise, or COPE, in partnership with the NRC.

This is just one of many side events offered at the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It is appropriate that the four-day conference (Nov. 9-12) is being held in the country most heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, a country that more than three decades later has the largest cluster munitions problem in the world.

Roughly 3 million tons of bombs were dropped on Lao soil, the majority of which were cluster munitions. It's estimated that a third of those failed to explode on impact and lay dormant, sometimes for many years, until disturbed by a curious child, farmer or other villager. Thousands of people have been killed or maimed here since 1963 and unexploded ordnance (UXO) continue to claim about 300 Lao lives each year. About half of all victims are children who discover the ball-shaped cluster munitions or "bombies" while playing near their rural villages.

Clear Path International, which provides medical and socio-economic assistance to UXO victims, their families and their communities in other Southeast Asian Countries and in Afghanistan, is just beginning a new program in Lao PDR with funding from the U.S. Department of State Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. So the conference has provided a perfect introduction for myself and four others from CPI to the ongoing and unmet needs of people here, and to the programs already helping war victims reclaim their dignity, health and economic security.

The meeting brings together state parties to the treaty, United Nations agencies, international organizations, civil society and cluster bomb survivors to lay the groundwork for implementing the convention adopted two years ago and translating its objectives into action. The convention establishes international law to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions and mandates their destruction.

On May 30, 2008, following negotiations in Dublin, 107 states adopted the convention. That same year, 94 governments signed the treaty in Oslo. Early this year, the convention achieved a milestone when the 30th ratification was deposited at the UN, triggering its entry into force on Aug. 1, when it became binding international law.

As of this posting, with the current meeting still in progress, 108 countries had signed and 43 of those had taken the next step and ratified the convention, becoming state parties legally bound by its provisions.

While the United States is not a signatory, it has spent millions of dollars clearing unexploded ordnance and providing support services for victims in numerous countries. CPI programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, along the Thai-Burma border, in Afghanistan, and now in Lao PDR have been made possible by such funding.

And the five of us here in Lao on behalf of CPI, our executive director, myself as communications director, and program managers from the countries in which we work are proud to participate in this historic event. I know my colleagues took great pleasure in documenting my own performance on the basketball court, in dress pants and pumps no less.

Seattle Man to Run 300K for Landmine Victims

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:38:34 -0500

A Seattle physical therapist will compete in one of the toughest footraces on the planet while raising funds to help landmine accident survivors.

Wolfgang Brolley, who also is a chocolatier, business owner and circus arts practitioner, will participate in the eight-day, multinational GORE-TEX Transalpine-Run in which 250 teams of two people each cover 300 kilometers, gain 60,000 feet of elevation and pass through three countries (Germany, Austria and Italy) all on mountain trails through the Alps. This hard-running challenge begins Sept. 4 and will be completed in seven stages and one mountain sprint.

Brolley's cause, Running Cuz They Can't!, asks sponsors to donate money to non-profit organizations that assist landmine and bomb victims. One of the organizations that sponsors may choose to support is Clear Path International, based on Bainbridge Island. Brolley has volunteered his services on numerous occasions to CPI, which has programs in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia and along the Thai-Burma border.

"All the donations I gather will be going to landmine relief and assistance," Brolley said. "People can make a flat donation, or sponsor by mile/kilometer/feet of elevation covered - they just need to know this is a LONG race and those numbers will be big!"

Brolley, who has practiced for 20 years treating sports, spine and over-use injuries, has a bachelors degree from Stanford University in Asian Studies and a physical therapy degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine.

To donate, contact Wolf at stretchpt@live.com. For more information about the Transalpine Run, go to www.transalpine-run.com. Visit www.cpi.org to learn about Clear Path International.

UN says that in Vietnam Life-threatening landmine scavenging on the increase

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:36:57 -0500

Via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

"Nguyen Luong Quy was planting a tree on a coffee plantation on the outskirts of Buon Ma Thout, the largest city in Vietnam's Central Highlands in 2000, when his shovel hit a hard metal object.
"There was a big explosion and I must have been knocked unconscious," the 37-year-old farmer told IRIN. "I woke up in hospital and at first I thought I was dead because everything was white."

Although his left arm was blown off, Quy survived the blast, caused by a bomblet - one of millions of cluster bombs dropped by American forces between 1964 and 1973.

But despite his first-hand experience of the dangers of unexploded ordnance (UXO), like many poor Vietnamese, Quy continues to scavenge for the metal contained in cluster bomblets and other unexploded munitions....

...."Scrap metal provides a decent and immediate income without needing any qualifications or investment," notes Tran Hong Chi from Clear Path International (CPI), an UXO victim assistance charity in Dong Ha, the provincial capital of Quang Tri.

"It's not just farmers or the jobless who need the money. In July, a teacher was killed while digging up a bomb during his summer vacation. He had a good job and should have known about the risks."

At the same time, the global economic slowdown is straining the budgets of the NGOs involved in mine clearance."

Read the rest of this article at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87822

"I'm not under any pressure, like I was before."

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:20:44 -0500

In a country where deminers almost outnumber teachers, Haroon Hamdard had a risky but steady job clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance in Herat Province, on the border with Iran.

is until he made a bad call and lost his right hand.

In January 2003, at age 23, Haroon joined the Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR), where he quickly worked his way up to the rank of team leader.

Nearly two and a half years later, Haroon Hamdard was working in a minefield where he found a cluster bomb. He grabbed it and threw it away from his work area. It exploded in his hand.

After he received emergency medical care and, later, a prosthetic arm, Haroon remained unemployed for six difficult years. He was forced to borrow money from relatives and others to survive. But the self-motivated young man took the opportunity to finish his high school education and in early 2008 received a unique opportunity to go back to work.

With technical leadership provided by Elegant Designs and Solutions (EDaS), Clear Path had just formed the Afghan Mine Action Technology Center, designed to create employment for disabled deminers and fabricate products for the demining industry, and asked the Afghan demining organizations to suggest possible employees. Haroon became AMATC's first employee.

Today, the native of Khewa District, Nangarhar Province, in eastern Afghanistan, makes flail hammers (used on front-mounted tractor drums to set off mines) and other products the center sells to demining outfits. The proceeds are used to support rehabilitation programs for other landmine accident survivors.

Haroon's own income allows him to travel home each weekend and take care of his family, including one son. He continues to repay the loans he took during his years of unemployment.

"Now that I am earning a salary, I do not have to borrow money from others," he said. "I can support myself and my family and am not under any pressure, like I was before."

Hearts and Mines: A documentary on the work of Clear Path International

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:00:23 -0500

All of us at Clear Path are thrilled to see the new trailer for HEARTS AND MINES the documentary by Dr. Joan Widdifield, a long-time CPI supporter. Hearts and Mines follows the CPI Vietnam staff as they work with landmine and bomb accident survivors and their families.

Great work, Joan! We look forward to the full movie!
If the movies is not showing up in your browser, below, you can go to http://vimeo.com/7350650 to check it out!

Hearts & Mines trailer from Hearts & Mines on Vimeo.

In Afghanistan, Goats Provide Livelihood for Landmine Survivors and More

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:59:07 -0500

JALALABAD, Afghanistan - What they say about sheep in New Zealand may not quite be true for goats in Afghanistan. They don't outnumber people here.
But the importance of the animal to individual families' survival in this arid mountainous country can not be underestimated and the gift of a goat can provide for many in a village.

In Clear Path's first survivor assistance project outside Kabul, 18 beneficiaries in the eastern city of Jalalabad received goats and animal husbandry training from CPI's local Afghan partner, Afghan Disabled & Vulnerable Society (ADVS).
Thirteen of the recipients were landmine accident survivors, two were female heads of disadvantaged households and three were Afghans with other disabilities. The $6,000 project was funded by the U.S. State Department's Office of Weapons Removal & Abatement through a contract with DynCorp to whom Clear Path was a subcontractor until early August. Now, CPI receives direct funding from State for its work in Afghanistan.

The beneficiaries, which included the head of ADVS, Said Husin Sadaqat, himself disabled, all reside in villages of the Qarghaye District, Laghman Province. ADVS employed a local veterinarian to provide technical support to the group in the form of milk production methods. Every six months, a female kid will be received from the existing owners and given to new beneficiaries.
More than 60 families (at least 125 people) will benefit from access to tea, yoghurt and cheese from the animals' milk. The beneficiaries will be able to sell these products in their local markets, strengthening their income from a meaningful economic pursuit.

ADVS was established in 1994 to assist Afghans in need. The director, bound to a wheelchair, has provided vocational skills training and income-generating projects for more than a decade.

Clear Path International now Independent, Expanding in Afghanistan

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:31:35 -0500

Waiting in a corridor between consultations, a young land mine victim looks at a new prosthetic leg propped up on a bench. Photo by Alixandra Fazzina

KABUL, Afghanistan - After two years as a subcontractor here, Clear Path International is now a full-fledged independent grant recipient of the U.S. Department of State with a growing vision for aid to landmine accident survivors and people with disabilities in Afghanistan.

Its newly independent status means Clear Path is also ready to begin accepting private-sector grants and contributions for its work in one of the world's most mine-contaminated countries. The program, which has already assisted more than 9,000 Afghans with disabilities, is now CPI's largest victim assistance effort, followed by Vietnam, Cambodia and the Thai-Burma border.

Clear Path's work in Afghanistan, which ranges from providing the traditional prosthetics, physical therapy and income-generating support services, is on the cutting edge of socio-economic support of landmine accident survivors.

A good example of its innovative approach is the creation of the Afghan Mine Action Technology Center, which employs disabled deminers and landmine accident survivors to fabricate tools and equipment for sale to demining professionals with revenues from the center going into medical and social services for survivors. The center was the brainchild of Elegant Design & Solutions (EDaS), a former CPI contractor.

Since it started in Afghanistan in 2007, CPI has been a subcontractor of DynCorp International., which holds a prime contract with the State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement for a range of humanitarian mine action services.

Under its subcontract with DynCorp, CPI received nearly $3 million dollars to provide assistance to landmine accident survivors. Now the door is open for CPI to receive millions more to provide victim assistance services in Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-E-Sharif and parts of eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.

As part of its new status, CPI set up its own office in Kabul and registered as a non-governmental organization with the government of Afghanistan. The program is managed jointly by CPI Finance Manager Peter Albertsson and CPI Co-founder Kristen Leadem. The Kabul office has a staff of three Afghan nationals and agreements with half a dozen Afghan implementing partners.

Clear Path Mourns Loss of Jay Hathaway

imbert@cpi.org (Imbert Matthee) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:03:00 -0500

Jay Hathaway, left, with son and CPI Co-Founder James Hathaway, right

The following is from a letter to the Manchester Journal.

The moment happened less than two weeks ago. I was Skyping our webmaster, James Hathaway Jr., co-founder of Clear Path International and a very close friend now for more than a decade, when his father, Jay, walked in the room to say hello.

I could see him on the webcam as he briefly sat down in James' seat and asked me how things were going at our organization and with my family. We chatted for a while and, as usual, I didn't get much of a chance to ask about him.

That was Jay. Others always came first. And if it hadn't been for Jay's unconditional selflessness, our organization, which now helps thousands of landmine accident survivors around the world may never have fledged and soared that way it has with programs for mine victims in five countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Jay "James" Hathaway, 61, who suddenly passed away from a massive heart attack this weekend, was an exceptional man, always supportive, always full of encouragement. After we founded Clear Path on Bainbridge Island and James, Jay's son, and his former wife Martha, moved to Dorset to set up an office for us in Vermont, Jay and, his wife Terri, were of monumental support to our two co-founders.

Things were not easy then. It was shortly after 9/11. The recession hit and philanthropic giving was down for international causes like ours. But never mind that. Jay and Terry took James and Martha under their wings and helped nurture our humanitarian dreams with sage advice, introductions, outreach and special events planning such as the two Judy Collins benefit concerts at the Dorset Playhouse that many in your community will recall. Terri even made several trips to Vietnam to help organize our office there. And on the countless trips James and Martha took overseas to help us grow, Jay and Terri were there to look after the couple's boys, Ryder and Colvin.

From Bainbridge Island, where many Clear Path colleagues and supporters live, we mourn Jay's loss with all of you near the Hathaways' home. Dorset, Manchester, Vermont and the world have lost a great living soul. We will miss him more than words can say. On Wednesday, we will be there with you in spirit, Jay's indefatigable spirit.

Imbert Matthee
Executive Director
Clear Path International

Landmine Surivivor Farmers' Co-op in Cambodia Doubles in Size

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:51:37 -0500

SEAM VILLAGE, Battambang Province - Life was a struggle for Ream Luong before he joined the farmer's cooperative set up by Clear Path International and its partner in one of Cambodia's most heavily mined regions. This spring, the partners doubled the co-op to 150 households from 75, expanding an enterprise that's helping many landmine accident survivors succeed as rice farmers.

Ream Luong, Photo by Pat Roe, Clear Path International

Disabled by a landmine accident when he was 23 and now going on 50, the father of three whose wife died of a sudden illness was deep in debt to loan sharks. Every year, he had to borrow to invest in his crop and, because he couldn't store his rice, he had to sell it at harvest time when prices are rock bottom.

The co-op, aimed at providing a socio-economic support structure for landmine-disabled farmers and disadvantaged members of their communities, has turned that around for the below-the-knee amputee from Paum Takeav Village not far from the Thai border.

Thanks to low-interest spring-time micro loans, agricultural training, better crop seed and a chance to store his rice at the partners' rice mill, Ream is now virtually debt-free except for what he owes the project. He and his three children are now among the 750 direct and indirect beneficiaries of the farmers' co-op, which issued $30,000 in $200 loans to the members at an interest rate of 2 percent per month and provides many other services to the households.

Many members of the farmers' cooperative have independently organized their own rice banks. The members each contribute a portion of paddy rice to the bank at the harvest time. One member is elected to chair the rice bank and is responsible for tracking contributions, withdrawals and loan repayments. As the year progresses, if a member needs rice due to an emergency or unforeseen situation, they may borrow from the bank. The loan recipient will then repay the loan in rice with interest, thereby increasing the total amount in reserve.

While CPI does not officially organize or manage these rice banking systems, this sort of community self-reliance is encouraged and discussed in community workshops. Additionally, CPI offers free storage in the warehouse for members who wish to join such a program. Currently, there are 38 members who have established a rice bank, and there is 3,050 kilograms of rice in the bank.

Back To School: Nearly 500 Vietnamese Landmine Families Receive Clear Path International Support to Send Their Children Back to School

chi@cpi.org (Chi) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:01:38 -0500

DONG HA, Central Vietnam - Mothers get teary-eyed when their kids return to school after the summer.

But the tears Tran Phuong Nhu's mother shed outside her daughter's classroom were not from a typical sense of pride and separation. As she watched the eight-year-old girl go inside wearing her best uniform, she could not help think of her husband who is still in critical condition at the Quang Tri General Hospital from a landmine accident that
happened in late July.

Tran Phuong Nhu at the scholarship granting ceremony

The third grader was among 52 children from landmine-affected families in Dong Ha town who received special scholarships from CPI at the school on Aug. 21 as the organization conducted the last round of assistance ceremonies at the start of the new school year. Sadly, Tran Phuong Nhu was a last-minute addition.

In all, 482 students in nine districts from four provinces north and south of the former Demilitarized Zone at the 17th parallel received CPI scholarships this year. The scholarship grants are for elementary to high school students who were injured by accidents with unexploded ordnance (UXO) or, as in Tran Phuong Nhu's case, whose family members sustained injuries from such accidents. UXO accidents still happen almost every week in central Vietnam.

Each scholarship grant worth about $35 covers most of the minimum tuition even the poorest families have to pay the public schools. CPI also awards special uniform and materials packages to mine-affected students with the best grades. One hundred and twenty nine, or more than a quarter, of the 482 students this year received such gifts in recognition to their tireless efforts to overcome their challenges at home and at school.

Nguyen Hong Hoa from Hiep Duc district, Quang Nam province, was one of the "honor" students. The 15-year-old boy lost two legs and an arm in 2007 when he was in 6th grade. His education was interrupted and everyone was afraid that he wouldn't recover from the psychological wound. But when Hoa went back to school a year later he did very well and gained an "excellent student" title.

Students from Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province and their parents gathering at the event.

CPI's educational scholarship program began in 2001 to a few newly mine-affected students in Quang Tri province. Since then, the activity has become an annual event. To date, 3,130 scholarships have helped families reduce their burden and nourish their hope of a better future thanks to their children's ability to keep returning to school.

Landmine accident survivor Nguyen Quoc Tich and his eldest son, Vuong, ride to the ceremony to collect a scholarship for Vuong's younger sister.

Clear Path International Provides The Gift of Hands for the Landmine Survivors at Care Villa

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:28:35 -0500

Palaw weeding after receiving a prosthetic hand from Clear Path International

By Melody Mociulski

Mae Sot, Thailand - Since we began supporting the Care Villa in 2002, we at Clear Path have dreamed of providing prosthetic hands for the amputees we serve there. Many of them have lost one or both arms in a landmine explosion and are wholly dependent on others for their care. Almost every time we visit our Karen friends at the giant sprawling Mae La refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, we are asked for a device that will allow the men to use their upper limbs.

Now, two young American volunteers, Missy Malkush and Rachel Clagett, have made the dream come true. They arrived at the Care Villa this month with the gift of hands.

Care Villa, located about an hour from the Thai border town of Mae Sot, is a 24-hour residential care facility for 18 physically-handicapped, dependent Burmese landmine survivors who have lost their eyesight, hands, legs, hearing, or some combination. Most all suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression. They are marginalized by their community and are considered a burden to their families who already live in impoverished conditions.

Clear Path International is the primary source of support for these 18 men, aged 15-65, providing shelter and daily caretaking. To help the men deal with the anguish of their situation, music provides an outlet for their voices to be heard. A song written by one of the men describes their spirit to heal and find fulfillment in their lives.

I lost my eyes, so I can't look at you.
I lost my arms, so I can't hold you.
I lost my legs, so I can't come with you.
My heart is broken, but I've still got my voice.
So I'll sing.

Rachel, pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, and Missy, with a Master's in Prosthetics and Orthotics, have been friends since their freshman year at Wake Forest University. They found themselves at a complacent point of their lives, and on a whim and unbeknownst to each other, each googled landmine victims and discovered Clear Path. A few months later they began their journey to Mae Sot to volunteer with Clear Path at the Care Villa and the Mae Tao Clinic to help landmine victims.

Hearing about the needs of the men at the Villa, Missy reached out to a colleague at LN-4 Hand, a non-profit in California which has designed prosthetic hands for developing countries. The hands are simple, innovative and easily fitted. With a protective sock worn underneath, the universal size prosthetic is wrapped around the limb and secured tightly over the bones of the elbow joint with a Velcro cuff. A combination of stationary and adjustable prongs provides multiple gripping patterns to fit the amputee's needs. LN-4 Hand generously donated 10 hands which Missy and Rachel personally carried with them to Mae Sot.

Training is essential for using a prosthesis. If one does not know how it can be helpful, it is just as good on the shelf. The Care Villa men have lived for more than 10 years without one or both hands. They have loving people to help them with their activities of daily living. They may not want to wear a device. However, waking up and brushing one's own teeth, or being able to bring a fork to one's own mouth provides a sense of independence. Missy and Rachel hope that "they are not only providing these men with a limb", but that they are showing the men that "they can do even more than they thought possible".

Missy and Rachel brought cucumbers and cake for the first training session. The cucumbers were fantastic because once jabbed, they did not go anywhere until they were in the mouth. Remembering that most of the men are blind, the last thing they wanted was to discourage them by continually bringing an empty spoon to their mouths. The cake was for the tongue's delight. Cucumbers and cake - a suitable midday meal for a new hand or a pair of new hands.

Tupo lost his sight in only one eye. As he could see how to use the new prosthetic, he learned quickly and easily. The first thing Tupo wanted to do was to hold a pen in his right hand and write, something he had not been able to do for far too many years. Although the Burmese script is beautiful, it is difficult to write with its many circles and curves. With his new prosthetic hand, he happily wrote all over his left hand and in a notebook - an exciting moment.

Tupo writing Burmese again

In a place where time moves slowly and dreams seem out of reach, the gift of hands from Missy and Rachel and LN-4 Hand has brought new hope and excitement to the 18 Burmese residents of the Care Villa. Missy and Rachel: a heartfelt thanks from all of us at Clear Path!

McNamara's Lethal Legacy Lives On After His Death: Wartime Bombs Kill Six in Central Vietnam

chi@cpi.org (Chi) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:05:21 -0500

QUANG BINH, Central Vietnam - As a stark reminder of the Vietnam War's deadly legacy around the day one of its chief American architects dies, six people in central Vietnam were killed in two separate bomb explosions.

Former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara, who has been criticized for escalating the war in Vietnam during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, died on July 6 at the age of 93.

On July 4 and 6, accidents involving ordnance from that war occurred in Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces on both sides of the former demilitarized zone that once bore his name: the McNamara Line.

In Quang Tri province on July 4, Tran Long, age 35 was found dead by a small crater formed in the sandy land of Trieu Son commune. A short distance away, Nguyen Diem, age 39, had been also been injured in the explosion and died in transit to the hospital. These two men left behind wives and five children.

Just two days later, at 7:30 pm local time in Quang Binh Province on July 6, another war era bomb, weighing 500 pounds, was disturbed and detonated taking the lives of four men.The eldest was 30 years old, and the other three just 25. Three of the men were married with small children.

Tran Long's son at his father's funeral.

Tran Long's Widow

A Dangerous Job

All six men were killed while performing the same type of work - collecting scrap metal. Briefly described, scrap metal collectors use metal detectors, wandering through sandy areas once occupied by military installations or weaving through thick vegetation to reach areas which were once regular targets for massive B52 bombing raids. They look for anything made of metal - a rusty chunk of steel from a broken bomb case, a corroded brass ring from a rotating band of a projectile, or a smashed-up aluminum fin tail off a mortar round. Everything is picked up. At the end of the day, it is sorted at scrap dealer shops. Steel goes with steel, brass with brass, and cash is paid by the weight.

Scrap Metal Collected from the former Battlefields of Vietnam

Dinh Manh Hung, 26, was the only one among the six men who had a stable job as a secondary school teacher. He had been teaching chemistry for two years. However, as it was summer vacation, he wanted to earn additional income during his off time. The other five men were all farmers. They had their land to cultivate rice and other secondary crops. At home their wives raise animals. However, they still had available time after doing farm work. As the family demand for income was high, they found themselves spending more time in the woods digging up metal rather than tending their crops. In fact, their side job sometimes brought in more income than what the crops could provide.

At Tran Song Hao's home a deep search metal detector was seen. In other corners of the house there were piles of metal junk collected earlier, most of them large, thick fragments of bombs. Hao was not only a scrap metal collector; he was also a scrap metal dealer.

Time and experience taught these men skills for this job. The four men involved in the second accident knew where to search for metal junk on the Ho Chi Minh trail, the main supply line of the North Vietnamese which traversed their homeland. This network trail had been a regular target for B52 bombardments. When a heavy bomb is dropped from a high altitude, it often makes a deep penetration. When it explodes, some of the fragments make another penetration into the sides of the crater. This is especially true if the bomb uses a base fuse, causing the explosive train to travel from the tail to the nose of the bomb, pushing most of its fragments (parts of its steel case) deeper into the ground of the crater. Understanding this process, the scrap metal collectors find bomb craters, check them with deep search metal detectors, and dig up the metal fragments.

Earlier in the day, the metal detector emitted strong signals deep from the center of a crater. The men decided to wait for the sun to go down to avoid the heat. They got back to the site at 6:30 pm to start the excavation. None of them could believe that long before any of them were born, a complete bomb made its way deep inside the crater but failed to explode.
TO LIVE BY THE SWORD AND DIE BY THE SWORD

I knew Tran Long well before his fatal accident. In July 2005, CPI responded to a new accident. A young man had been injured while digging up scrap metal for his livelihood. I went to the Quang Tri general hospital to visit and interview the survivor. It was our first meeting. Long survived from that accident when the tiny piece of metal he picked up exploded. The blast took away four fingers on his left hand. We had a very open conversation, and I learned that he had just spent a fortune, several months of his savings, to purchase a deep-search metal detector.

Tran Long in treatment for losing his fingers in a previous accident.

As I said goodbye to Long after our conversation in 2005, I thought he had learned a hard lesson and that the loss of his fingers would remind him of the risks. I was positive that his wife would also persuade him to find safer work.

I was wrong. I never would have thought that four years later I would meet him again in a totally different situation. He is no longer in this world.

The fatality accident site was approximately 12 kms from their village. Both men traveled there by motorbike, taking along their work equipment. Diem took the lead with the detector, searching for signals, while Long followed him to excavate. The explosive was subsurface. When it exploded, Long received the direct hit of the blast. Duan received only one injury. A fragment entered his body in the back, exiting from his chest.

Blast area where the men lost their lives.

CONSEQUENCES
Five out of the six families have children. The oldest one is ten years old; the youngest one is still being breast-fed. All together, 8 children lost their fathers forever. I doubt if any of them are fully aware of the loss for they are all still innocent children, too small to understand.

Contrary to the innocent children are the exhausted, worried, grievous faces of the five widows and an old mother. They have all just lost a sole provider. In the long road ahead they will be struggling on their own. From now on, they must shoulder not only a mother's role but all other roles and responsibilities left by their husbands.

Article: In a rugged part of the world, help needed now and far beyond

james@cpi.org (James Hathaway) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:41:29 -0500

From the Manchester Journal in Manchester, VT:

Since 2007 Clear Path has constructed 25 handicap access ramps at 13 different schools in Kabul, the capital city, and provided training about the rights of the disabled. It has established the Afghan Mine Action Technology Center, which employs disabled Afghans to produce equipment for de-mining efforts. The center also brings state-of-the-art prosthetic devices to those who need them

Read the rest of this article on Clear Path International in Afghanistan here.