On January 22nd Hoa, Madame Xuyen and I went to the hospital. Every Saturday a group of kids from Dongsavat or Donkoi go to the hospital for one hour. They perform shows, entertaining the patients, many of whom are children. The hospital is never a fun place to be but on every Saturday, the children of Dongsavat and Donkoi come and make the patients laugh. Hoa and I went and while the whole thing is completely disorganized...in America we would probably have a schedule down to the last minute of time, here in Laos the kids each have skits prepared and have to be reminded after each one what is happening next. Still all the patients really appreciate the effort the kids put in and I am looking forward to going back and being able to see the kids perform their skits and make this group of people laugh!
After visiting the hospital, Hoa, Madame Xuyen and I went to visit COPE. COPE stands for Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise. The visitor's center has a lot of information on America's 'secret war' in Laos. During what we call the Vietnam War and here in Southeast Asia they call the American war, the American military heavily bombed Laos because the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the main supply route for the North Vietnamese southern allied military group, the Viet Cong, was mostly in Laos. While attempting to bomb the trail into smithereens, the American military dropped millions of bombs onto Laos, making it the most bombed country in the world. One of the legacies of this secret war is that many of these bombs, around 30%, did not explode and are still sitting in Laos waiting to be disarmed. According to COPE over 300 people per year are injured because of UXO (unexploded ordinances) leftover from the war. COPE helps with victims of UXO explosions who have lost limbs or have other disabilities by providing prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, and training to survive and support oneself while disabled.
COPE's Visitor Center also has information on the ban cluster bomb treaty. Read more about what the treaty is doing at http://www.copelaos.org/ban_cluster_bombs.php.
COPE also helps other disabled people in Laos. COPE helps children and adults who are handicapped for other reasons such as mental disability, club foot and polio.
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| Kids at the hospital volunteering their time! |
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| Kids performing a traditional Lao dance at the hospital |
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| Kids singing a traditional Lao song. |
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One of the law students who volunteers at Dongsavat
reading a story at the hospital. |
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A map of Laos, each red dot represents one American bombing mission.
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Behind the center is a deaf school and a blind school. We visited and I learned how to sign I love you in Lao.
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