Laos - COPE’s impact

Laos remains the most heavily bombed country in the world. Learning about this had such an impact on us.

COPE (Cooperative Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise) is a local organisation that trains local staff in the manufacture of prosthetics, orthotics and related rehabilitation activities needed in Laos today to help surviving victims of unexploded ordnance (UXO).

We visited the COPE centre based in Vientiane, and it was a very emotional experience. It was only a small museum but as we moved through the simple exhibits we were deeply moved by the history, the stories, and the powerful transformative work the organisation achieves.

Their work is needed to combat the awful legacy of the Secret War in Laos (1959–1975). During the Vietnam War the CIA aimed to block the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos, prevent the communist spread in Laos, and support the Royal Lao Government against the Pathet Lao. America’s method was to drop over 2 million tons of ordnance over Lao in 580,000 secret bombing missions — the equivalent of one planeload every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 9 years (1964 to 1973). At least 270 million cluster bomblets were dropped as part of this bombing campaign.

Up to 30% of those dropped at the time never exploded. These remain in Laos, killing and maiming ordinary people doing ordinary things every year…

… A child is out searching for scrap metal so her family can repurpose or sell it. She finds and handles a UXO and it explodes (24% casualties).

… A father is out in the family’s fields hoeing the earth. His hoe hits a bombie and it explodes (22% casualties are from farming, 14% forest product collection).

… A mother cooks her family’s meal. The heat from the fire triggers a bombie just below the surface and explodes (12%).

… A child finds and plays with a bombie: it explodes (11% of casualties).

In total, 1964-today, there have been 50,000 casualties, 40% of them children. 20,000 were as a result of UXO incidences in the post-war period since 1974. Of these 13,500 lost a limb.

COPE was founded in 1997. They do extraordinary work helping people with mobility-related disabilities, including UXO survivors, access prosthetic and orthotic services, allowing them to regain mobility and dignity.

It was the stories of those they treated that were the most moving. After learning of the death and destruction caused by the bombing, it was uplifting to hear how people are being given new hope and ability to lead their lives. The following two stories are from the 1000s COPE has supported.

“In 2004, Ta was out fishing with two of his sons, aged 8 and 10. He found a bombie and had heard the explosive made it easy to catch fish. So he sent his children behind a tree before going to get the bombie. As soon as he touched it, it exploded. Ta lost both arms, an eye and all of his family's livestock to pay for his treatment. For 4 years, Ta described how he had to “eat like a dog." Then he found out about COPE and through their free support received three different types of arms. He is now able to help his family. He became an advocate for a ban on cluster munitions and travelled to Oslo to watch the signing of the international treaty prohibiting these bombs.”

“Leu was born with congenital malformations, missing her left leg. Rejected by other children because of her disability, she kept to herself. When she was 4, her father heard about COPE. After receiving her first lower-leg prosthesis, Leu regained confidence and began to make friends. Leu has received ongoing support from COPE “because I am still growing, I need to have my prosthetic leg adjusted every 6 months. I’m just like all the other kids at school now and my father has high expectations for me, so I study hard!”

For 20 years, Laos received no aid or acknowledgement from the US for their Secret War activity. It was only in the 2010s (over 50 years later), under Obama, when funding increased significantly. By 2024, the US had allocated $391 million to Laos since 1995, which approximates to $14 million per year. (Yet the US spent $2 million per day for the nine years it bombed Laos).

The museum was a sobering reminder to us of how devastating war is on ordinary people’s lives. It made me think back to others we had met on this trip affected by war. Smiling beautiful Yafa Atef Abualrob who had so warmly talked to us about her life in Palestine. Sai, who fled his home in Myanmar to avoid arrest by the military as a student agitator and can now never go home. Matthew, the Māori we met who served in Afghanistan and struggled to readjust to normal life on his return to New Zealand. And how today, prevalent and ongoing in our news are wars in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza.

It seems sadly, we do not learn from history or past wars to prevent future ones. We are seemingly powerless to hold those with geopolitical might accountable for war crimes. Instead in every war there is evidence of the war to come. Layered on top of this we now have ever increasing hi-tech munitions - stronger weapons help us repeat the same mistakes faster. And we have algorithms that reward rage because rage keeps us scrolling - the more connected we are, the more divided we become.

I think of the old saying, that war doesn’t determine who is right, only who is left.

I wonder what would it really take to learn from these wars? A question I don’t think comes into play in the rooms that count.Read more