Nearly 40 years after the Tet Offensive in the village of Tien Thiep, Quang Binh Province, Nguyen Thi Thuong carries heavy sandbags across the criss-crossing burms of a paddy field to where three BLU63 cluster munitions lie half buried in the mud, awaiting demolition.
She’s part of an Emergency Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Response Team, called out to deal with the munitions. The 26-year-old pauses on her way back to explain how she feels about working as a Technician for MAG.
“I’ve been with MAG pretty much since I left school and love the job because I know how much the work helps people. I enjoy searching the land and feel proud when UXO is destroyed. I’ve found thousands of bombs and other items since starting work with MAG.”
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| Nguyen Thi Thuong works as a technician for MAG in Tien Thiep Village, Quang Binh |
The cluster munitions were found by a local farmer, Pham Van Liec, and his wife Nguyen Thi Lo. “We were digging in the paddy field with a pick, when we heard a metal clang and saw sparks,” says Nguyen. “We were both scared and carefully moved the bombies so they were all in one place, then told the village head who got in touch with MAG.”
Her family wants to turn the field into a fishpond that, by its second year, would earn her family 10 million VND (USD$625.71) compared to the 1.5 million VND (USD$93.86) they would earn from the rice harvest.
Unfortunately, she fears that there might be more UXO hidden in the field, and this is stopping them developing the pond.
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| Setting up for the demolition of three BLU63 submunitions in Tien Thiep Village |
The team clear the area of interested onlookers and set up the demolition. As the cloud from the explosion disperses, Tran Xuan Thang (whose name translates as “Victory”), Technical Operations Coordinator, talks about how he came to join MAG.
“I’ve seen too many accidents caused by UXO, that’s my main reason for coming to work here,” he says. “Seven years ago my 12-year-old nephew was killed by a cluster munition while helping his mother gardening, and, when I was younger, three neighbours in the village where I grew up were all injured by UXO.”
He worries every day about the dangers faced by people who have to work the land. “I once found more than 100 artillery shells and mortar bombs in the back of a field. The risk that some people have to take every day just so they can grow enough food to eat is shocking. I like to think that my job helps people who perhaps can’t help themselves.”
Other sections:
» Introduction» 40th anniversary
» The luck of the gods
» Deadly trade
» Clearing for the future
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