On April 22, 2010 the Sub-Committee on Asia, Pacific and the Global Environment of the House Foreign Affairs Committee chaired by Representative Eni F. H. Faleomavaega conducted Congressional Hearings on “The Legacy of War; Unexploded Ordnances in Laos”.  Dr. Robert Keeley, the Country Director of the Humpty Dumpty Institute program in Laos testified before the committee along with Scott Marciel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and representatives from the Mine Advisory Group (MAG) and the Legacy of War.  The Hearing marked one of the first and only instances that an in-depth review of the status of UXOs in Laos has been brought up in the form of Congressional Hearings.

Dr. Keeley and the other witnesses reiterated that Laos is the most heavily bombed country in history, that nearly half of that country is still contaminated with UXOs and that over 25,000 people have been killed or injured in Laos since the Vietnam era.  The hearings originated from a trip to Laos by Representative Faleomavaega from Samoa, Representative Mike Honda from California and HDI’s Congressional Advisory Board Member, Representative Joseph Cao from Louisiana.  During this brief visit to Laos, the group of Congressmen became even more concerned about the state of UXO clearance in Laos.   Please click here to get a full copy of the testimony and a recent article by Congressman Honda on the UXO situation in Laos. 

I am proud that HDI was invited to participate in this hearing.  It serves to remind us that our international work is very important and that we continue to play an important role in the conduct of U.S. Foreign Policy.   HDI is grateful to be singled out by Representative Faleomavaega and Representative Honda for our work in Laos.

Ralph Cwerman

President, HDI

The Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) is very busy setting up its "Mushrooms with a Mission" program in conjunction with its local partner, Project Renew.   In this livelihood development program, we are providing some of the most vulnerable families in Qang Tri Province in central Vietnam with the tools and knowledge to become mushroom farmers. 

Why mushrooms?  Well, mushrooms are one of the easiest, most low-tech crops to grow.   They virtually grow themselves.  And since only survivors of landmine and UXO (unexploded ordnance) accidents can qualify for this program, we had to find something that even amputees could manage. 

Meet Do Thien Dang.  He lost both legs in a UXO accident but still had to find a way to provide for his three children and extended family.  Do Thien is now supplmenting his income by farming mushrooms.  HDI and Project Renew have been signing up families to join the program with a goal of 1,000 families over the next five years.  We provide an automatic market to our mushroom growers by guaranteeing to buy as many mushrooms as the farmers can produce. 

In a mushroom processing facility, the mushrooms will be organically certified, dried, packaged and marketed to various outlets in Vietnam and eventually to other coutries in the region and ultimately to Australia, Europe and North America. 

All profits from the sale of these "mushrooms with a mission" will be invested in a fund used to remove landmines and UXOs from one of the most heavily bombed areas during the war between Vietnam and the U.S. 

And for those of you who wonder how explosive remnants of war that was fought 40 years ago are still threatening the civilian population in Vietnam, just a couple of weeks ago two horrible incidents took place:    

On February 7, 2010, a UXO explosion seriously wounded four men while they were weeding at a coffee plantation near the former U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh. The accident occurred in Tram Village, Huong Tan Commune of Huong Hoa District, where the Van Kieu and Paco ethnic minorities make up most of the local population along the western border area of Quang Tri Province.  Huong Tan Commune is close to the Ta Con Airstrip, the Vietnamese name for the area known by the U.S. military as Khe Sanh Combat Base, an outpost of the U.S. Marines operating in South Vietnam during the war.

In October 2008, also in Tram Village, an explosion of old wartime ordnance detonated in the kitchen of the Van Kieu family. The explosion killed a four-year-old boy and injured the mother and her three-year-old daughter.

Less then a week later, a cluster bomb exploded and killed Ho Van Nguyen on February 12, as he was cutting weeds around his banana trees and preparing for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year celebrations.  The accident occurred in Mai Lanh Village, Mo O Commune of Dakrong District, which is in the western part of Quang Tri Province, along the former wartime DMZ.  On the eve of Tet, Nguyen’s tragic death suddenly thrusts his family into extreme difficulties. His wife and six daughters, the youngest only three years old, are facing shock and grief, and an uncertain future. The family’s emotional tragedy (some of the images may be disturbing) is compounded by the loss of their only breadwinner, who also supported his aging parents.

Since the war ended in 1975, more than a third of the 105,000 casualties in Vietnam have been caused by cluster munitions, called “bombies” or guava bombs by the local ethnic minority people. 

Watch a short news clip recently aired by World Focus:

I could not begin HDI's new blogsite with better news.  A few days ago, we learned that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a new Dole-McGovern Food for Education grant valued at $4.1 million to the Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) in FY 2010 to continue our UXO clearance and direct feeding program in Laos for another 15 months.   An agreement to be negotiated immediately will provide HDI with $3.2 million in cash resources.  An additional $900,000 will cover the cost of transportation for 910 metric tons of beans, canned salmon, corn-soy blend, milled rice and vegetable oil to feed approximately 19,000 children daily in one of the most remote and food insecure provinces in Laos starting in September, 2010.  The Humpty Dumpty Institute was among only seven NGOs that received new USDA approval this year.  This is the third tranche of our 3-year UXO clearance and school feeding and rehabilitation program in Laos.  

To date, in partnership with International Relief and Development (IRD), over 3.45 million nutritious snacks have been served daily to nearly 16,000 food insecure children in Laos and over 135,000 take home rations have been provided  to schoolchildren, particularly young girls, as incentives to stay in school and attend regularly.  All 109 participating schools have reported that 98% of their students attended at least 80 percent of classes, increasing the number of Lao children in Khammouane Province who are regularly attending school by over 20 per cent.    

Laos has the unfortunate distinction of being the most bombed country in the world.  The removal of unexploded bombs coupled with our educational development activity has brought renewed hope to the people of Khammouane province.    To date, in conjunction with the Mines Advisory Group, we have cleared over 2.2 million m² and destroyed nearly  4,000 items of unexploded ordnance.   In addition, over 400 school and agricultural sites have been cleared of unexploded bombs.  Due to the use of improved mine detection equipment allowing for faster clearance, we increased our clearance output by 225% over the past 15 months.   In sum, the children we feed now have a better chance for educational advancement and the land we clear has made large areas available for cultivation, and provided new and safer access to schools. 

The Humpty Dumpty Institute has also made great strides in the school improvement and garden component of this program, with 150 renovation projects completed by the end of 2009.  With an eye toward sustainability, school gardens have been planted in over 100 villages, with many already producing  vegetables to supplement daily school feeding.  Of the 109 schools targeted for this activity, over 100 have received seeds and tools, 50 new water wells are operating, and school facilities have been renovated in over 90 villages.  We have also supported and enabled health and hygiene training to all the schools.   

In 2010-2011, the Humpty Dumpty Institute will expand its program to an additional 41 schools and will sharply focus on sustaining an immensely improved educational system in a much safer environment.    We will build on our achievements by continuing to increase student enrollment and attendance rates and by providing a safe educational environment to more school children in Khammouane Province.

USDA’s approval to continue funding our program in Laos for a third year is a very serious commitment that reflects the vitality and sustainability of our program.   With this grant, the Humpty Dumpty Institute will have received nearly $17 million in funding from USDA for its humanitarian programs in Laos, Sri Lanka and Angola. 

Ralph L. Cwerman

President, HDI  

OUR MISSION

The Humpty Dumpty Institute forges innovative public-private partnerships to find creative solutions to difficult humanitarian problems through a series of unique programs. Currently, HDI's mandate is to support mine-action programs around the world, help alleviate both domestic and international hunger, and foster dialogue between the United Nations and the U.S. Congress.