Laos virtual alumni reunion

Sonsanouk Lapadid, MCC Laos latrine technician, works with a cement mold as he builds components for wet latrines provided to homes in Pou village, Laos.

The latrine construction project (MCC/CFGB food security and nutrition project) provides wet latrines for 72 families who had no or traditional dry latrines in Pou village, nearly half the village. Wet latrine promotes health through more hygienic waste management. The project goal is to provide wet latrines to families in need in 10 villages. (*in many cases, only first names were available due to cultural practice) (MCC Photo/Silas Crews)
 

Uncle BounNyang Noysumphan is a local agriculture technician in Ban Pou Village in Tha Thom District, Lao People's Democratic Republic. MCC staff visited rice farmers in Ban Pou who are participating in an MCC project focused on food security and improved rice growing techniques. Margaret Sider, MCC Connecting Peoples program coordinator, sits left. (MCC Photo/Lynn Longenecker)

Left to right, Ellen Roth, SALT participant; Gloria Kristianti, YAMEN participant; and Hla Lena Vang, SALT participant, enjoy a brief vacation with Xeyeng Thao, HlaÕs host sister in Luang Prabang, Laos. SALT (Serving and Learning Together) is a program of MCC, and YAMEN (Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network) is a joint program of MCC and Mennonite World Conference. (Photo provided by Ellen Roth)

October 2016 MCC Laos Team

From left, Khob,* Thiene, Is and Dam take a break while helping with other community members to dig a canal for an irrigation system to deliver water to nearby fields in Pou village, Laos in 2012. This project was funded by MCC through its account with Canadian Foodgrains Bank and provided food for work for more than 100 villagers.

With the new irrigation system and training in agriculture and nutrition, rice yields improved and the amount of paddy land increased in Pou village. MCC photo/Silas Crews
 

In this 1994 photo, Bouavanh Maneevong points to yet another bombie he discovered in his rice field; he and a friend had found 45 bombies in this field in 1993. Farmers in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, risked serious injury and death as they cleared bombies from their fields by hand–the only method available to them.

In 1994, MCC, in partnership with Mines Advisory Group (MAG), launched a $1 million project to clear unexploded, Vietnam War-era U.S. bombs from northern Laos. The project trained 20 de-miners during the first year, who worked under the supervision of two MAG ordnance specialists. MCC photo/John Leckie

An ordnance specialist prepares to detonate unexploded ordnance in this 1992 photo. Addressing the problem of unexploded ordnance (UXO) left from the more than 2.2 million tons of bombs and anti-personnel “bomblets” dropped on Laos by the U.S. during the nine-year air war, 1964 to 1973, was a primary concern of MCC. Of particular concern were tennis-ball sized anti-personnel cluster bomblets or “bombies” which could explode in spray of steel shot when struck by a hoe or when disturbed.

MCC explored various methods including plowing with buffalo to bring the bombies to the surface or using shovels instead of the traditional style hoe. MCC contributed both many buffalo and shovels to farmers in the Xieng Khouang province over more than a decade. A specialized shielded tractor was also tried but proved less effective than hoped.

In 1993 MCC contacted the UK-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for advice. An initial assessment of the existing methods led to MAG becoming a partner in the establishment of a UXO removal project which began in 1994. By May of 1996 MCC narrowed its involvement to community UXO education while MAG continued with clearing the land. MCC photo/Jim Kurtz

Mr. Oolo is preparing a branch to produce another stem on one of his fruit trees in Phonthong village, Laos in January 1998. Oolo was a participant in an MCC-supported integrated farming project in Laos. MCC provided project participants with seeds, trees and fish fingerlings, and training in integrated farming techniques. MCC photo/Christopher Kennel