Wandering Tales of Exploring Laos : Visiting Cope Center, A Museum To Learn About The Danger Of UXO And History Of Bombing in Laos
hive-163772·@macchiata·
0.000 HBDWandering Tales of Exploring Laos : Visiting Cope Center, A Museum To Learn About The Danger Of UXO And History Of Bombing in Laos
 # Bombies! <div class="text-justify"> Bombies is what Laotian refer to UXO which is basically an abbreviation of unexploded ordnance. As a background, Laos is the most bombed countries in the world especially during The Vietnam War. Even to this day, its effect remains and UXO is part of threat especially in the remote areas of Laos where people of all ages could be affected and lose part of their body due to unexploded ordnance. To raise awareness of this, in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, there is an effort called Cope Center, a non-profit govt supported to help people recover and also educate them about UXO. <div class="pull-right">  </div> <div class="pull-left">  </div> <hr> At first, I didn’t know about this place until I met a girl from Guatemala who wanted to go there. Since I didn’t have a plan and was mostly flexible, I went with her without any expectation. I have very little knowledge of Laos other than it is landlocked and the smallest country in SouthEast Asia but after visiting Cope Center, I learned a lot more of their history and how the Vietnam War affected them and how it remains their reality even today. This is what I want to share with all of you, the story of bombing in laos and the reality of Laotian dealing with UXOs even today. ## How To Get To Cope Center  Cope Center is reachable by tuktuk, songthaews or even car. You can also walk, which is something I did with the Guatemalan girl. However walking isn’t advisable as the heat of vientiane is currently a bit unforgiving. It was also an hour walk from downtown to the Cope Center. So, Unless you are into walking and want to save money on transportation, it is not recommended. The beauty of walking to the Cope Center is that you will pass the central bus station, the market, the presidential palace and some landmarks and historical buildings in Laos. Also, the Cope Center is located within the National Rehabilitation Center. ## Is there an entrance fee? It is totally free to visit this small museum but you can also donate and buy items from the gift shop and all these goes to support the rehabilitation effort and also to those who don’t have money to buy the prosthetic leg and their rehabilitation due to affected by UXO. ## Inside Cope Center  Entering the place, you will be greeted by the friendly staff and then enter a room where you will read about the history of bombing by the United States and some figures about UXO in Laos. This is where I got all the information that Laos is the most bombed country in the world. You will also see art displays of cluster bombs and bombs that are found in Laos. The first part of the museum was displaying different types of bombs and how cluster bombs affect the lives of Laotians.  Then, there will be a puppet show that teaches children about “bombies” in which these awareness efforts are made because usually when these little kids play, sometimes they will stumble upon UXOs and this puppetry will show them how to deal with it.  As you move through the exhibition, you will see a Laotian house that is commonly found in the village.  However, what was intriguing was that the house was full of casing of the UXOs as the locals utilise the metals for daily tools from knives to even lamps.   In that house, it was shown that cooking with fire can be dangerous especially if there is UXOs on the ground which will be activated if it’s triggered by heat.  You will then read stories of how people were casually doing their day like farming but suddenly got injured due to the bombs. But there are also tools that are used to detect the UXOs and some of them are made by integrating local tools. It was shown that in the village there is a collective effort to make their environment safer from UXOs.  As you get down from the house, you will see prosthetic legs and how to make one. The rehabilitation is part of the Cope Center to help the people affected by UXOs.  These legs are life changing and people could go on about their life and lead a normal life again. Some of these stories are really moving and shows just how dangerous cluster bombs can be. ## Is it worth it to visit?  I have to say that it’s very worth it visiting this museum as you can learn about Laos and Laotian a little bit more. Personally, it was an interesting story because Laotian history and the Vietnam war were something foreign to me. It wasn’t necessarily something taught and exposed to me. But after visiting the museum, I learned something new and the effect of the Vietnam war that is also affecting its neighbouring countries and even years after, it continues to haunt the Laotians especially in the northern part of Laos.  Inside the museum, I also met a woman and two lovely children from Australia. We had a small chit-chat and I got to teach the children how to use the camera. I find them really polite and they were able to speak in English, French and Australian Sign Language. Then after, I was getting a postcard from the store which was 20000 kip and the message was quite funny. I find that some of the postcards have a dark joke but I picked one with the most neutral message of them all.  If you are in Laos, make sure to visit Cope Center to learn about the history and also to know that in some parts of the world, cluster bombs still poses threat and is daily reality for some. </div> <center> Don't hesitate to upvote for more content like this ! You can also support me below! </center> <center> <a href='https://buymeberri.es/@macchiata' target='_blank'><img src='https://buymeberries.com/assets/bmb-4-s.png'/></a></center> <hr> ||| |-|- || <div class="text-justify">𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 **𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵**. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰.</div> |</center> [//]:# (!pinmapple 17.95787 lat 102.62030 long museum Cope Visitor center d3scr)
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