Mines Advisory Group, Technicians, Sia Thorthongyer, age 19 (left) and Vonekham Dalavong, age 29 (right), take their dangerous jobs seriously, but find humor is sometimes the best way to avoid stress. They joke about the perils of 12 women trying to share one bathroom in the morning. Sia said, "Sometimes we are all standing crossed legged in the que pounding on the door yelling emergency with threats for who ever is in the bathroom. Sometimes we just run to a bush."..Laos was part of a "Secret War", waged within its borders primarily by the USA and North Vietnam. Many left over weapons supplied by China and Russia continue to kill. However, between 90 and 270 million fist size cluster bombs were dropped on Laos by the USA, with a failure rate up to 30%. Millions of live cluster bombs still contaminate large areas of Laos causing death and injury..The US Military dropped approximately 2 million tons of bombs on Laos making it, per capita, the most heavily bombed country in the world. ..The women of Mines Advisory Group (MAG) work everyday under dangerous conditions removing unexploded ordinance (UXO) from fields and villages...***All photographs of MAG's work must include (either on the photo or right next to it) the credit as follows: Mine clearance by MAG (Reg. charity)***.
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