Young Cluster Munition Survivor Needs Your Help

Ves Chiveng on his release from the hospital, walking for the first time in six years.

When filmmaker Cathy MacDonald met 15-year-old Ves Chiveng in Phnom Penh, he was in severe pain from a leg swollen and infected with shrapnel that doctors had missed while treating him for cluster munitions injuries six years earlier.

MacDonald, who was in Cambodia making a documentary on cluster munitions clearance, recalls that Chiveng "was in a very bad way" when she first spoke with him.

After his injury near his home in Sre Traeng Village, Cambodian Red Cross took him to Kratie Provincial Hospital for emergency care. But doctors there failed to remove all the shrapnel from the blast. Chiveng's family is Pnong, an ethnic minority, and could not afford the medicines or plasma required for his treatment at state-run hospitals. Although Chiveng and his 20-year-old sister, Phua, live with their uncle and his family of seven Phua is her brother's sole provider. She works in her village a few months a year planting rice and vegetables for about $3 a day.

While Chiveng apparently was eligible for free medical care, his family was not informed of this; nor did they know how to access the treatment required from their small village. As a result, Chiveng was unable to walk or attend school, or receive any effective pain relief for many years following the accident

In February, MacDonald and some of her colleagues at the nonprofit organization, Handicap International, gave Chiveng and his sister money to pay for necessities while he underwent extensive surgical procedures at Kantha Bopha Hospital in Phnom Penh. Chiveng was in the hospital more than two months. Shrapnel also was removed from his right leg and stomach and he was treated for a heart condition. He is now able to walk for the first time since the accident.

Doctors at the Calmette free hospital in Phnom Penh pooled money to pay for Chiveng and his sister to return by taxi to their home. And Cambodian Mine Action Group also raised money to help them.

While Chiveng was in the hospital, MacDonald and Nick Boedicker, program manager of Handicap International, contacted Clear Path International to inquire about the possibility of providing ongoing assistance for Chiveng and his sister Phua during his recovery. HI's victim assistance program in Cambodia focuses on prosthetics and rehabilitation which does not extend to cases such as Chiveng's. Clear Path's work in the country is centered on socio-economic and agricultural support in mine-saturated Battambang Province. Essentially, Chiveng fell through the cracks.

Nevertheless, Samea Vin from Clear Path's partner organization Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development (CVCD) visited Chiveng in the hospital to see how they might help. CVCD helped Phua purchase school clothes and supplies with money from Boedicker, MacDonald and friends while all concerned continued to look for a longer-term solution to the family's troubles.

Chiveng will need ongoing care and transportation for any future checkups or treatment. Phua would like to continue her education, which costs about $10 per month and to train as a hairdresser or seamstress. A bicycle has been bought for Phua to take Chiveng to school, where he will begin again at the second-grade level.

Despite the best efforts of humanitarian organizations, there will always be those who fall through the cracks. Thanks to some caring individuals, Chiveng now has a chance for a much brighter future. Clear Path International wants to make sure that he continues to receive help and that other young Cambodians who find themselves in similar straits also get the assistance they need. If you would like to help Chiveng and others like him, please click here.

Seattle Man to Run 300K for Landmine Victims

A Seattle physical therapist will compete in one of the toughest footraces on the planet while raising funds to help landmine accident survivors.

Wolfgang Brolley, who also is a chocolatier, business owner and circus arts practitioner, will participate in the eight-day, multinational GORE-TEX Transalpine-Run in which 250 teams of two people each cover 300 kilometers, gain 60,000 feet of elevation and pass through three countries (Germany, Austria and Italy) all on mountain trails through the Alps. This hard-running challenge begins Sept. 4 and will be completed in seven stages and one mountain sprint.

Brolley's cause, Running Cuz They Can't!, asks sponsors to donate money to non-profit organizations that assist landmine and bomb victims. One of the organizations that sponsors may choose to support is Clear Path International, based on Bainbridge Island. Brolley has volunteered his services on numerous occasions to CPI, which has programs in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia and along the Thai-Burma border.

"All the donations I gather will be going to landmine relief and assistance," Brolley said. "People can make a flat donation, or sponsor by mile/kilometer/feet of elevation covered - they just need to know this is a LONG race and those numbers will be big!"

Brolley, who has practiced for 20 years treating sports, spine and over-use injuries, has a bachelors degree from Stanford University in Asian Studies and a physical therapy degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine.

To donate, contact Wolf at stretchpt@live.com. For more information about the Transalpine Run, go to www.transalpine-run.com. Visit www.cpi.org to learn about Clear Path International.

Hearts and Mines: A documentary on the work of Clear Path International

All of us at Clear Path are thrilled to see the new trailer for HEARTS AND MINES the documentary by Dr. Joan Widdifield, a long-time CPI supporter. Hearts and Mines follows the CPI Vietnam staff as they work with landmine and bomb accident survivors and their families.

Great work, Joan! We look forward to the full movie!
If the movies is not showing up in your browser, below, you can go to http://vimeo.com/7350650 to check it out!

Hearts & Mines trailer from Hearts & Mines on Vimeo.

Clear Path Featured in Journal of Mine Action

The latest edition of the academic periodical the Journal of Mine Action published by James Madison University features a cover photo and an in-depth article about the work of Clear Path International in central Vietnam.

Co-authored by Ari Perlstein, a medical student at the Oregon Health & Science University, and CPI co-founder Imbert Matthee, the article highlights the persistent problem of UXO (unexploded ordnance) accidents in a region which ranks among the most mine-affected in the world. It also outlines the work Clear Path has undertaken since 2000 to assist landmine accident survivors, their families and their communities in the provinces north and south of the former Demilitarized Zone.

With the help of its donors and supporters in the United States, Clear Path has been able to serve nearly 5,000 landmine accident survivors in 14 of Vietnam's central coast provinces -- an effort that won the organization a Certificate of Merit from the People's Committee of Quang Tri, one of the region's most heavily affected provinces.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs reports that nearly 40,000 people were killed and more than 66,000 injured between the end of the war in Indochina in 1975 and 2006 with many of these accidents occurring along the central coast. The article analyzes accident data for the region from the year 2007 and breaks it down by type, location, age, gender, ethnicity and injury to give a cross-section of today's impact on daily life from these Explosive Remnants of War.

The Journal of Mine Action is a highly regarded publication of the university's Mine Action Information Center in Harrisonburg, Va., a leader in the academic discipline that concerns itself with the professional mitigation of landmines and unexploded ordnance in current and former war zones.

Co-author Ari Perlstein spent six months at the Da Nang Orthopedic & Rehabilitation Center, one of the Clear Path's largest medical partners treating landmine accident survivors in Vietnam.

Read the story here: http://www.maic.jmu.edu/

Young & Rubicam Creates Radio Spot to Support Landmine Victims: Tell us what you think!

All of us at Clear Path International are grateful to Young & Rubicam Malaysia (and Randy Lee!) for creating a 35 second radio spot for CPI.

Please listen to the spot below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

It is our hope to get this played on radio stations, so if you are in radio, or know of someone who is, please help us get this on the air! If you have ideas, please email us at info@cpi.org.

Listen to the ad here or right click on this link and save it to your computer!

Download the .Wav file (for radio) here.

Senator Leahy Honors Clear Path | Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion Perform to a Sold Out Crowd

Great news from the Vermont Office of Clear Path International! Our event with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion was a huge success bringing in around $10,000.00 in donations and ticket sales! We sold out of over 200 tickets and it was standng room only... and those standing didn't seem to mind as Sarah Lee and Johnny put on a stellar performance.

Before the show, CPI honored one of its own... it was CPI executive Director Martha Hathaway's 10th year in mine action. In honor of this occasion, Senator Patrick Leahy spoke before Sarah Lee and Johnny took the stage and spoke to the need for a ban on landmines and praised the work of Clear Path International. He then presented Martha and me with a framed copy of comments he made about Clear Path that are now in the Congressional Record.

This was a great honor for Martha, Clear Path and me. Please see photos below and more pictures from the event can be found at this link.

Thank you Sarah Lee, Johnny and Senator and Mrs. Leahy!! I also especiallly want to thank John Goodrow from Leahy's office... he is truly an unsung hero... he fields so many calls for the Senator's attention and has done so much for so many. Thank you, John, for your good work for us and for many, many other causes. The photo below, with the Senator, was taken by John.






A special thank you to our sponsors for the event:

A Safe Place Self-Storage, Alchemy Promotional Products, Bickford Real Estate, Chandler 4 Corners, Dorset Union Store, Engel, Powell & Spivey, P.C., Express Copy Inc., Finn & Stone, Inc., Bob Gasperetti Furniture Maker, Gunterman Tennis Schools, H.N. Williams Store, The Inn at Manchester.Inn At West View Farm, Lisa Laberge Interiors, Long Ago & Far Away,Main Street Realty McWayne Jewelers, The Mountain Goat, New Morning Natural Foods, Northshire Bookstore, The Orvis Company,Perfect Wife Restaurant, Simple Coffee, Susan Sargent Designs, The Kitchen Store At J.K. Adams

Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion with Senator Patrick Leahy Benefit Clear Path International!

Sarah Lee Guthrie, the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie and the daughter of Arlo, will be returning to perform in southern Vermont with her husband, the critically acclaimed Johnny Irion on Saturday October 13th at 6:30 pm at Dorset Vermont's Long Trail school!



The event will benefit Clear Path International's work with landmine and bomb survivors in Vietnam, Cambodia and the Thai-Burma Border. Speaking before the event will be long-time Clear Path supporter and landmine victim advocate, Vermont's Senator Patrick Leahy.


Please click the BUY NOW button below to purchase tickets!

Acoustic Magazine had this to say about Sarah Lee and Johnny's 2005 CD entitled "Exploration":

"The celebrated Guthrie musical legacy appears to be in capable hands. This duo debut from Arlo's daughter/Woody's granddaughter and her singer-songwriter husband carries the family folk-music torch into rock and country territory with style and spirit to spare."

Read more about Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion here: www.sarahleeandjohnny.com



Thank you to our sponsors!



A Safe Place Self-Storage, Alchemy Promotional Products, Bickford Real Estate, Chandler 4 Corners, Dorset Union Store, Engel, Powell & Spivey, P.C., Express Copy Inc., Finn & Stone, Inc., Bob Gasperetti Furniture Maker, Gunterman Tennis Schools, H.N. Williams Store, The Inn at Manchester.Inn At West View Farm, Lisa Laberge Interiors, Long Ago & Far Away,Main Street Realty McWayne Jewelers, The Mountain Goat, New Morning Natural Foods, Northshire Bookstore, The Orvis Company,Perfect Wife Restaurant, Simple Coffee, Susan Sargent Designs, The Kitchen Store At J.K. Adams

Rutland Herald: CPI continuing to grow its reputation as a force for humanitarian relief

Dorset organization raises land mine awareness

September 11, 2007
By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff

DORSET - Clear Path International is continuing to grow its reputation as a force for humanitarian relief with new developments this year in Afghanistan and Slovenia.

For the first time, Clear Path is operating a program in Afghanistan in partnership with an American company and the Department of State.

Clear Path, which has offices in Dorset and Seattle, has also received a promise of almost a quarter million dollars from a nonprofit organization in Slovenia which will allow it to continue and expand their work in Vietnam.

Martha Hathaway, the executive director of Clear Path, said it was important for the organization to get the kind of wider recognition that leads to expansions like the one it has recently undertaken.

But Hathaway is much more interested in talking about the work Clear Path is doing and the need in the countries it operates than in congratulating Clear Path on its efforts.

In Afghanistan, Clear Path will be creating victims' assistance programs which has been part of its mission for some time.

Hathaway founded Clear Path in 2001 with her husband, James, Kristen Leadem of Dorset, and Imbert Matthee of Washington, as a land mine removal organization. Now, the group works primarily in assisting victims and raising awareness.


Kristen Leadem (left) and Martha Hathaway of Clear Path International in the Vermont office.

In Afghanistan, Clear Path will be working as a subcontractor to DynCorp International which has a contract with the Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. Hathaway said the Clear Path office in Kabul, which has been operating since April, is staffed partially by Americans, working to engage Afghanis in the process.

"The State Department is worried about projects that are not self-sustaining," Hathaway said.

Hathaway said because the government of Afghanistan already had a national strategy for helping victims of land mines, who not only have to deal with their injury but access issues and loss of income, Clear Path would look for ways the State Department can assist the local agencies. That is likely to include things like organizing a national workshop on victims' assistance or creating a system for building ramps and making schools accessible.

While Clear Path has already had some success with similar programs in Cambodia and along the Thailand-Burma border, Hathaway said that didn't necessarily make things easier when they expanded into a country like Afghanistan that has suffered greatly from the use of land mines.

"Every country impacted by land mines is different but we can take the bits and pieces of institutional knowledge we've gained over the years and apply it where it makes sense," she said.

According to Clear Path, an average of 90 people are injured by land mines or explosive remnants in Afghanistan every month and about half die before they can be treated.

The grant from the Slovenia-based International Trust for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance also presents new opportunities for Clear Path.

Under the agreement, the trust will raise $230,000 from among its 27 government and private-sector donors to match what Clear Path raises from the United States government and donors.

Hathaway said this is the first time Clear Path has received funds from the trust and marks the trust's first efforts in Southeast Asia.

The trust was founded about 10 years ago to assist people in the Balkans but Hathaway said as land mines became less of a threat in Europe, charitable organizations there have begun to look at ways they can help victims in other places.

According to Hathaway, Clear Path will use the money to assist ongoing efforts in Vietnam through capital purchases and the hiring of new staff rather than to create new programs.

Despite Clear Path's successes, which have led to more contracts and funding, the need is still great and money remains an issue.

The problem of land mines, especially those which remain after a war is over and injure civilians, gained international attention more than 10 years ago through the support of several well-known figures, primarily England's Princess Diana.

Land mine removal is expensive, however, and organizations like Clear Path, which assist with rehabilitation and the development of resources so victims can earn their own living, are in it for the long-term.

"Donor fatigue is a real problem," Hathaway said.

While Clear Path is raising more money than it has in the past, it comes from fewer donors, primarily the large donations like the ones from the trust, rather than the numerous pledges of $50 or $100 they received in the past.

Clear Path also has the disadvantage of being based in Seattle and out-of-the-mainstream Dorset, far from the significant donors based in New York City or Washington, D.C.

Clear Path has raised money through benefit concerts and a music CD. Its next concert will be on Oct. 13 at the Long Trail School in Dorset with performers Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

For more information on Clear Path on the Internet, visit its Web site at www.cpi.org.

Contact Patrick McArdle at Patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.

O & P Edge: CPI Clearing the Way for a Safer Future

The below is an excerpt from a very well-written and researched piece by Brady Delander who interviewed Martha, Imbert and me. He would have talked to Kristen too, but she is pretty busy over in Afghanistan at the moment!

Thanks, Brady!!

CPI: Clearing the Way for a Safer Future

By Brady Delander

Will and determination help expand worldly mission of Clear Path International.

James Hathaway was late for his flight�"of course," he says�when he saw his opportunity. Imbert Matthee was deep in the jungles of Vietnam when the purpose of his efforts crystallized. Such is the world of humanitarianism. Anything can happen at anytime? it usually does.

Hathaway and Matthee, along with Martha Hathaway and Kristen Leadem, are the co-founders of Clear Path International (CPI), an organization established in 2000 originally dedicated to the removal of unexploded ordnance�landmines, clusters bombs, etc.�in war-torn locations around the globe that now focuses on helping the victims of such explosions. "There is certainly no shortage of work," says Martha Hathaway, CPI's executive director and co-founder.

The bulk of that work is deadly serious. With programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, along the Thai-Burma border, and now Afghanistan, the realities of war�even wars that ended more than 30 years ago�could not be any more dramatic. Dealing with the everyday horror can be overwhelming, but Matthee recalls a moment that makes even the most trying days seem worthwhile.

Read the rest of this story here.

Clear Path International, International Trust Deal offers new hope for landmine, bomb survivors in Vietnam

Source: ThanNien News:

The agreement's first proposal commits ITF to raise $230,000 from among its 27 government and private-sector donors to match the funds Clear Path is raising from the US State Department and US-based private-sector.

ITF's funds would bring CPI's total Vietnam budget for the 2007 - 2008 fiscal year to nearly $500,000, making it possible to provide services to more than 1,700 survivors of accidents caused by landmines and other unexploded ordnances (UXO) in at least four central coast provinces.

ITF's funds would be used to provide direct medical and socio-economic support to survivors and support several projects expanding physical and rehabilitative services available to persons with disabilities in their communities.

Read the rest of this article here.




Clear Path International President, Imbert Matthee (left) signs new agreement to give hope to civilian victims of war with ITF Head of Department for International Relations Sabina Beber Bostjancic.

Clear Path Burma Site: Landmine death toll rises in Karen state

This news comes from the Clear Path International funded landmines victim clinic at the Mae Tao clinic on the Thai-Burma border.

Souce: Democratic Voice of Burma

Landmine death toll rises in Karen state

July 05, 2007 (DVB)�The number of people killed by landmines in Karen State has increased dramatically this year as tensions continue between rival Karen rebels, according to staff at the Mae Tao clinic on the Thai-Burma border.

Saw Eh Thamwe, the coordinator of the clinic�s mine victim department, said that the clinic had treated 16 people injured by landmines in June alone and that increased tensions between the Karen National Union and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army were to blame.

�This year has the highest number of land-mine cases due to intensified fighting. in previous years, there were as few as ten landmine cases a year but in the first six months of this year we had 30 cases,� Saw Eh Thamwe said.

Married couple U Pho Htin and Daw La Pyait from Maw Htoo Tha Lae village near Myawaddy were bought to the clinic yesterday after they were injured by a landmine while gathering bamboo shoots in the jungle in the early morning.

�The wife lost both of her legs and her husband has gone blind. Because their wounds were quite serious we have sent them to the Mae Sot hospital with the assistance of the [International Committee of the Red Cross,� Saw Eh Thamwe said.

See photos of our work on the Thai-Burma border here.
See previous blog posts on the Thai-Burma border here.

Clear Path Newsletter Available in PDF

The 2007 Winter/Spring CPI Newsletter is now available online. Read about our recent matching campaign with the US Dept of State, how we introduced a hippopotamus to Cambodia, and updates from Chi and Lobke, two of our representatives on the ground in Southeast Asia!

Download the PDF file here!

Seattle Post Intelligencer: Cluster bombs leave a lethal legacy

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Cluster bombs leave a lethal legacy

IMBERT MATTHEE
GUEST COLUMNIST

Every evening, 14-year-old Phan Van Rot set fish traps in the stream outside his home on the coast of central Vietnam. The following day he would collect the fish on a string and take his catch to the house.

One morning, after heavy rains breached a dam upstream, he noticed something peculiar in the water: a round brown object. He bent down and reached for it. Just as he lifted the small but heavy ball from the sandy stream bottom, it exploded.

It was a cluster bomb. It took his left hand above the wrist and his left leg below the knee. Shrapnel perforated his abdomen. The date was July 5, 2002 -- more than a quarter-century after the war in Vietnam ended.

You can change Rot's name, the place of his accident and the date, but the result will be the same. In the past hour, it probably happened again somewhere else. Perhaps in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq or Chechnya.

Cluster bombs, invented in World War II and now standard air-dropped munitions for many nations, leave a lethal legacy. According to one estimate, 98 percent of cluster bomb casualties are civilians.

Aside from the "collateral damage" they cause in wartime, most "brands" of cluster bombs do not reliably explode when intended, while others are designed like landmines to go off on the ground so the enemy is denied access to territory, roads, utility installations and so on.

Their recent use in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah last summer was another wake-up call to the havoc they wreak. In the last three days of the fighting, 4 million cluster bombs were dropped. At least one in every four did not explode. The ones that remained caused 161 casualties among civilians, including 19 deaths, by Christmas -- initially at a rate of three accidents a day.
Given their high failure rates and controversial deployment, there is a growing movement afoot to restrict the use of cluster bombs. It's time to end the kind of post-conflict suffering I see every time I travel to Southeast Asia for Clear Path International, our non-profit organization that assists landmine and bomb victims. In the past two years, we have assisted more than 200 new accident survivors like Phan Van Rot in central Vietnam alone, many of them victims of cluster bomb accidents.
In February, Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation to restrict federal funds for the use, sale or transfer of cluster bombs except for clearly defined military targets. The bombs would also have to be 99 percent reliable or more. Currently, dud rates range from 5 percent to 40 percent.
The bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The two senators hope a similar bill will be introduced in the House.
Our state's delegation should support this legislation, which comes at a time when other countries are seeking even tighter restrictions. In Olso last month, 43 countries signed an agreement calling for a ban on the munitions by 2008. The United States (not even invited), Russia and China were absent.
With all the laser-like precision technology supposedly available these days, why do armies still insist on using a shotgun approach to warfare using products that could have been improved decades ago and leave a deadly mess for generations?
Imbert Matthee is president of Clear Path International, which has offices on Bainbridge Island and in Vermont.

Reuters: Hidden Bombs Stalk Vietnamese as States Seek Treaty

REUTERS/Kham

This article ran today on the Reuters wire and reports on the accident Chi blogged about today.

The article also makes mention that both US and Vietnamese ordnance pollute the landscape and how the work of NGOs and the Vietnamese government are helping clear land and assist victims.

What the article fails to mention is that the US Government is one of the lead donors in clearing deadly ordnance and assisting victims of their accidents in Vietnam.

At the end of the piece there is a passage that references our good friend Phuong who has been mentioned on this blog before.

Le Thi Hoai Phuong was 17 when her left leg was blown off by an explosion while she and her father were plowing. Now 31, she has an artificial leg.

Four years ago she took up running, the long jump and high jump and she became a champion, winning three gold medals at the 2005 Southeast Asian Para Games in the Philippines.

"To people who have a disability, I would like to say that you need to be strong in your mind," Phuong said. "Don't blame anyone. It's just your bad luck. Take the people's joy as your happiness."

BBC Series: Saving Lives on the Burmese border

As part of a series on life on the Thai-Burma border, the BBC visits with Dr. Cynthia and the Mae Toa Clinic in Mae Sot. Clear Path has been funding work with landmine survivors at the clinic since 2002. CPI representative, Lobke Dijkstra has been blogging her experiences there on this blog for the past year.

In addittion to the article below is an excellent photo gallery.

If you were to trek into the jungle in eastern Burma, and mention the name Dr Cynthia, people would know immediately who you meant.

Cynthia Maung is well-known to Burmese in the border region, because her clinic in the Thai town of Mae Sot offers free healthcare, whatever the circumstances.

Most of the staff - including Dr Cynthia herself - are living in Thailand as refugees, having fled from Burma's harsh military regime.

Her clinic caters for thousands of other refugees, as well as economic migrants, and every year an increasing number of patients also come across the border from Burma, especially for treatment.

Such is the draw of the clinic - and the paucity of Burma's healthcare facilities - that even Burmese soldiers, with access to the country's best medical care, have been known to abandon their posts and turn up at Dr Cynthia's door.

"There is a real need for Burmese people to get access to basic healthcare, because conditions there are so bad," said Dr Cynthia. "We treat everyone we can, and we don't discriminate."

Allied to the clinic is another organisation, the Backpack Health Workers Team, which trains and equips local people to provide basic medical services in their communities back in Burma.

Often working in active conflict zones, riddled with landmines, these backpack medics risk their lives for their work - in fact seven have already been killed.

Read the rest of this article here.

Rick Gunn Visits, and Photographs, Clear Path in Vietnam

Photographer Rick Gunn is biking around the world and contacted us recently while biking through Vietnam and asked if he could visit some of our project sites. Here is an excerpt from an article that ran in the Tahoe Daily Tribune and is also on Rick's site with his stunning photographs of Vietnam another locations he has visited.

In my heart I wanted something different than the picture postcard experiences offered up by my travel guide. What I sought was something more meaningful, something deeper.

So I sent out a few e-mails.

In a stroke of luck, I received a reply from James Hathaway, co-founder of Clear Path International, a U.S.-based humanitarian mine action organization operating in central Vietnam. Clear Path International has provided surgical, medical, and financial assistance to more than 2,500 survivors of ordnance accidents and their families since the year 2000.

After an invite, I cycled 70 miles south to Da Nang, then made my way to the Da Nang Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center, one of the places where Clear Path International assisted mine survivors

There I was introduced to 25-year-old Vinh Nguyen Dinh. Vinh was being fitted for a new prosthetic leg.

When his doctors were done with the fitting, I watched as Vinh pulled himself to a set of training rails.

Twenty minutes later, with muscles trembling and sweat pouring from his head, I stood in silent witness as Vinh took his first unassisted steps since the accident.

"Vinh was planting trees on his land," his doctor explained. "That's when he swung his pick into an unexploded bomb."

I cringed.

"It might take a while," the doctor concluded, "but Vinh will learn to walk again."

.

Read the rest of this article here

Clear Path YouTube Video Reaches 10000 Views

Ok, actually right now it is 9,991 views, but today it should reach 10,000.

We produced this 7 minute video a few years ago with NPR's Corey Flintoff as narrator and the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart donating the music. We have shown it countless times at donor events and featured it on our DVD. Our programs have matured quite a bit since then... and the video is becoming a bit out of date... but it is still a good introduction to Clear Path.... so in hopes of pushing this out to another 10,000 people, here it is:

Remnants of War: Sara Smits in Syracuse University Magazine

Source:Syracuse University Magazine on our good friend Sara Smitts

	Remnants of War
		Sara Smits (left), at a beach in Vietnam with Phuong, an amputee and Clear Path International outreach worker who was a gold medalist in the Asian Paralympics

Ty, a 23-year-old man, shows off his disfigured hand, the result of ccidentally hitting a cluster bomblet while hoeing in a field.

Roped-off munitions

Billboard warning people to stay clear of munitions they find

A Clear Path International vehicle en route to a de-mining site in Quang Tri Province

Display of Vietnam War bombs, outside the office of the Mines Advisory Group, Dong Ha Town

In a crowded hospital in Dong Ha, Vietnam, a 5-year-old boy is among the latest victims of a war that ended more than 30 years ago. A phosphorus mine he innocently picked up and placed in his pocket burns a hole through his thigh. Once exposed to air, the chemical burns until it is completely consumed. Sociology doctoral student Sara Smits G’02 saw the tragedy unfold at the hospital and heard the boy’s story, as well as the stories of many other victims in the Quang Tri Province who have been maimed and scarred by weapons left over from the Vietnam War. In her dissertation, Smits seeks to tell their stories and raise awareness about the ongoing suffering. “I’m examining the boundary between the end of war and the war that still continues for people in that area,” she says. “I want to show there are social consequences of war beyond combat casualties and environmental concerns.”

Her research into the effects of landmines and other unexploded ordnances (UXOs), such as cluster bombs and grenades, stems from her interest in social movements and war and peace. In 1997, Smits, who earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a master’s degree in sociology from the Maxwell School, attended a conference about UXOs in Washington, D.C. During that same time, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) won the Nobel Peace Prize, and Princess Diana adopted the cause. Since Princess Diana’s death, the issue’s prominence decreased, Smits says. “I wanted to revive awareness that this is still a problem and people are still working on these issues.” 

UXOs are in more than 80 countries and cause more than 15,000 casualties a year, according to ICBL. “In Quang Tri Province, you can guarantee that every day or every other day someone is a victim of these munitions,” Smits says. Situated along the demilitarized zone during the war, the province sustained the heaviest bombing, and, consequently, has the most unexploded devices. To gather personal stories of victims and see what is being done to combat the problem, Smits ventured to Vietnam for several weeks in 2005 through a Goekjian Summer Research Grant (see related story), and in March with funding assistance from the sociology department. She worked with Clear Path International (www.cpi.org), a Vermont-based nonprofit organization that assists UXO victims with medical costs and programs to sustain them for the future. Smits visited hospitals with Clear Path workers and saw victims who suffered such injuries as loss of limbs and shrapnel wounds. She encountered the 5-year-old burn victim on one of her final visits. “He’ll be able to walk again,” Smits says. “But seeing his pain and the difficult conditions of the hospital, where there are three to four people to a bed, was one of the harder parts of being there.”

After receiving approval from the local Vietnamese government, Smits made home visits to interview UXO victims about their lives before and after their accidents. Ty, a 23-year-old man, told her of the injuries he sustained at age 16 when a metal object he tapped while hoeing exploded. He has shrapnel in his eye, scarring on his face, and a disfigured hand. He spoke of the difficulties of participating in activities with friends and his low expectations for getting married. However, assistance from Clear Path enabled him to get trained in repairing motorbikes, ensuring opportunities for his future. Smits also met a woman named Phuong, who lost a leg, but achieved her dream of having a child and won gold medals in the Asian Paralympics. “The most important thing that stood out to me is that they are moving on,” says Smits, who is also impressed by the support victims receive from family and community members. “This is what they have been given, and they are trying their best to persevere.”

Smits is also researching other groups working on the issue, including ones raising awareness to stop the use of landmines. “I’m trying to understand the social movement with its number of different networks,” says Smits, who spent time watching the Mines Advisory Group, a British organization, clear mines. She also met many U.S. veterans revisiting Vietnam. “I’d like to do some research with veterans and examine their connection to Vietnam,” she says.

Reflecting on her international experiences reinvigorates Smits as she works on her dissertation. “The best way to learn is to live among the people and create connections,” she says. “I’m fueled by the memories and knowing there are people who are struggling with the issues surrounding landmines.” She finds purpose in her research and does speaking engagements to raise funds for Clear Path. “They do amazing work,” Smits says. “I want to somehow give back to the people who gave me so much information and so much inspiration.” 

—Kathleen Haley

Landmine Hopscotch in Malaysia

Our new friends at TBWA-ISC\Malaysia in Malaysia contacted us some time ago and asked to donate an ambient ad campaign in our benefit to be run in Kuala Lampur.

Pretty cool... they have laid out hopscotch grids on steps to show how simple tasks such as climbing a flight of stairs can be much more dificult to a handicapped person. Many of the landmine and bomb survivors we work with have to face life with a degree of dificulty that most of us can only imagine.... by supporting our work, you are helping making someone's life just a bit easier.

Thank you to TBWA-ISC Malaysia!

See the related post on the Frisbee Landmine Campaign in Singapore donated by Rapp Collins

A big thanks to Judy Collins, our sponsors and all of our volunteers that made our Judy Collins Christmas in Vermont fundraising event a huge success! The article below is from THE MANCHESTER JOURNAL.

A Judy Collins Christmas in Vermont ... how sweet it was

by Anita Sandler

Some stars shine brighter than other stars, and Judy Collins' star was shining brightly, brilliantly, as she shared her light with all those lucky enough to be in the sold out audience Sunday at the Judy Collins Christmas Benefit for Clear Path International at the Dorset Playhouse.

The house lights dimmed then went black and an angelic voice filled the space of the Playhouse with a sound pure and clear enough to take the breathe away. Collins' voice is the same, only richer than when I first heard her in the folk days of the 60's and 70's.

Then the lights went up and the Dorset Church Choir was poised to sing, waiting for Collins to enter dressed in a long white satin gown, with her long glorious white hair, a picture of grace and elegance looking like a snow goddess, the perfect package to accompany the perfect voice. Playing her 12-string signature Martin guitar she began with "Joy to The World." In spite of a false start - she joked about it later as a momentary lapse of memory - a truly joyful noise erupted, blending Collins' voice with the dynamic of the choir. Jane Wood, the choir's competent musical director, and the choir members were obviously thrilled to be part of the evening's performance. Collins often looked over her shoulder to acknowledge them. In fact, she was so thrilled singing with the choir two years ago at her first Clear Path Benefit, that she asked for them back this year.



Collins' gift of compassion and giving was the reason she was in Dorset, to raise awareness and financial aid for Clear Path International, the philanthropic organization based in Dorset which helps the victims and families of those who have died or have been maimed by the unexploded bombs and landmines. The Founders of Clear Path were at the concert, several having just returned from Asia. James Hathaway spoke briefly about the cause.
Judy's political banter was appreciated and applauded by the audience. Her jokes and stories were all delivered with a gleam in her eye and a slight smile that pulled you right into her circle. She talked of her past, her musical history, her family and her politics, all with the ease of a friend sharing her life. She immediately made the audience feel comfortable. She laughed at herself, at politics, at aging. In every story there was a joy in the moment - that was what she intimately shared. She was truly present in the moment.
Collins' music director Russel Warden, accompanied her on the piano and was an important element in creating the night's musical perfection. Judy moved easily from guitar to piano and back but when she took the microphone in hand to sing Steven Sondheim's "Send In The Clowns," a performance for which she won a Grammy, you felt you were in the presence of perfection. Throughout the evening she interspersed her hit songs with her favorite Christmas songs, all sung with the Dorset Church Choir. It was wonderful hearing "Both Sides Now" and "Chelsea Morning" again, sounding the same if not better than when she first recorded them. She sang the first song she ever wrote and the last song she wrote, accompanying herself masterfully on the grand piano. The words of both songs were equally poetic and powerful, the first speaking of love between a man and a woman; and her last song searching for a more spiritual connection with life. Her main message was "believe in your dreams," something Judy Collins obviously knows a lot about.
When the concert ended and we walked back out into the warm Vermont night there was a communal feeling of having been given a precious gift - Judy Collins herself. What a world we live in that matches an artist and philanthropist like Judy Collins with a great cause like Clear Path, sending love, compassion and dollars to other parts of the world. Clear Path was the true star of the evening. With people like Judy Collins to inspire and elevate us, maybe we all made a difference just by raising our voices with Judy and The Dorset Church Choir in singing "Amazing Grace." How sweet the sound.
Anita Sandler is an artist, musician and freelance writer living in Manchester.