![\"bvong_pix_laos_bounmi_toumi.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/bvong_pix_laos_bounmi_toumi.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Consortium, we met Bounmi and Toumi.\u00a0 They were volunteers helping educate others on the dangers of UXO’s.\u00a0 Xieng Khouang province in Laos ranks second behind Savannakhet province in terms of contamination, but first in casualties, as well as having the dubious honor of having some of the poorest villages.\u00a0 From January to August alone, 32 people have been involved in UXO accidents, with 5 casualties.\u00a0 Of the 32, most were children.<\/p>\n
The two young men were quiet, yet attentive, both with notebooks and pens out even before our meeting began.\u00a0 It was tough for me to take notes, shoot video and photograph at the same time, but\u00a0that was certainly a minor inconvenience for me, since Bounmi and Toumi were handicapped due to\u00a0UXO’s.<\/p>\n
When Bounmi was 14 years old, he was out digging a fish pond, in hopes of feeding his family.\u00a0 When his shovel hit a bombie, it blew off his left arm.<\/p>\n
Toumi was 8 years old when he was out digging for bamboo shoots, again to feed himself and his family.\u00a0 A bombie was lodged amongst the bamboo, and Toumi lost his left hand when his metal digging tool struck the over 30 year old remnant of war.<\/p>\n
They both knew the exact date that the events happened.\u00a0 Bounmi marked and re-marked over\u00a0the date in\u00a0his notebook, again and again.<\/p>\n
FB asked them, even though the war was long before their time, \u201cHow do they feel against the people that dropped those bombs on them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bounmi said that after the accident, he did feel more shy and withdrawn from society, and also having the stigma that marriage might not be a possibility for a handicapped person.<\/p>\n
He said he was much more sad for the younger kids and his family, who face the same dangers everyday.\u00a0 Toumi also expressed sadness, not for himself, but for his society, who has to live amongst the contamination.\u00a0 Both of them didn’t let the accidents end their desire for education though.\u00a0 Bounmi feels that his burden of losing an arm is not as severe as the many others that lost legs (and lives) to cluster bombs.\u00a0 Bounmi is currently studying English at the local teacher’s college in Phonsavanh.<\/p>\n
At the end of the interview, IK asked me if I could ask them in Lao, how they feel about people, strangers like us coming in and asking them to retell their stories.\u00a0 At that moment, stumbling through my Lao, I imagined myself in their shoes, and just stepped away because I just couldn’t find the words.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At the Consortium, we met Bounmi and Toumi.\u00a0 They were volunteers helping educate others on the dangers of UXO’s.\u00a0 Xieng Khouang province in Laos ranks second behind Savannakhet province in terms of contamination, but first in casualties, as well as having the dubious honor of having some of the poorest villages.\u00a0 From January to August […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,59,7,260],"tags":[58,287,63,62],"class_list":{"0":"post-1064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-lao-culture","8":"category-laos-trip","9":"category-photos","10":"category-writing","11":"tag-laos","12":"tag-photos","13":"tag-uxo","14":"tag-xieng-khouang","16":"post-with-thumbnail","17":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00020.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pelE0-ha","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1093,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/uxo-lao\/","url_meta":{"origin":1064,"position":0},"title":"UXO Lao","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/0008.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1070,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/blu-26\/","url_meta":{"origin":1064,"position":1},"title":"BLU 26","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00018.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1061,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/lathsene-village-preschool-xieng-khouang\/","url_meta":{"origin":1064,"position":2},"title":"Lathsene Village Preschool, Xieng Khouang","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"August 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This was the site for a new preschool in Lathsene Village in Xieng Khouang province, part of a \u201cSchools Not Bombs\u201d campaign.\u00a0 The village is somewhat remote, past the plains of jars site one, and nestled in farmland and cornfields.\u00a0 The village has no electricity and the earthy pastureland smell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/category\/lao-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/00021.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1242,"url":"https:\/\/www.b-vong.com\/journal\/lathsene-village-schoolkids\/","url_meta":{"origin":1064,"position":3},"title":"Lathsene Village Schoolkids","author":"Boon.Vong","date":"October 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"From our trip to Laos.\u00a0 The preschool location was in Xieng Khouang Province, one of the most bombed areas in Laos, and one of the poorest.\u00a0 The region also has the sad honor of being first in bombie farming accidents.\u00a0 Lathsene village lacked running water and even electricity, but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lao Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Lao 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