VietNamNet Bridge – The tragic deaths of four children in Vinh Long Province last week served as a timely reminder of the deadly legacy of the unexploded ordnance left throughout rural Vietnam after the American withdrawal of the mid 1970’s. According to the Vietnamese government, around 15% of the total landmass of Vietnam remains contaminated by the kind of ordnance that exacted such a lethal toll seven days ago.

Photographer, Na Son, with his work. (Photo: Simon Speakman Cordal)

The work of some of those clearing that ordnance is being highlighted in the War Remnants Museum’s latest exhibition, Impact for Peace, running from December 7th to 25th. Focusing on the work of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), the exhibition features the work of three photographers, Sean Sutton, Aidan Dockery and Na Son.

Depicting the impact the remaining ordnance has on those living by and with it, as well as the people who risk their lives clearing it; the exhibition is a stark reminder of the enduring legacy of war. “I’ve witnessed war” Na Son said, “I’ve seen the rockets. I respect MAG and the people who work for them. They are more than brave. I don’t think that word even covers them and what they do.”

Around 14 million tonnes of ordnance, nearly three times that used by the allies in World War II, was dropped on Vietnam during the American War. Of that, an estimated 5-10% failed to detonate, remaining in and on the ground for future generation to stumble upon.  “For us, the war did not end in 1975” Mrs Huynh Ngoc Van, Director of the War Remnants Museum, explained, “it has continued up ‘till now. It killed four children in Vinh Long on Monday and it continues across Vietnam”

MAG was formed in 1989 in response to the mass of Soviet mines left in Afghanistan following the troops’ withdrawal. Since then, MAG has operated in forty countries, freeing up land for agriculture and other peaceful means of support for the communities living there. In Vietnam, MAG currently works in Quang Tri and Quang Binh and has recently expanded operations into Quang Nam Province.

The Impact for Peace exhibition shows the work MAG deminers do, the effect that has on the communities living with the ordnance, as well as the horrific consequences of what can happen when unexploded ordnance is accidentally triggered. For Na Son, his main focus was on those who had benefited from the work MAG do, “I wanted to show the people. I wanted to show the land and the paddy fields that had been returned to them”.

With the exhibition now featuring in such a prominent role at the War Remnants Museum - consistently one of the most popular museums in Saigon - MAG’s work will now play to as wide an audience as can be hoped for in the city.

For Portia Stratton, MAG’s Vietnam Country Director, that is one of the key successes of the exhibition, “The War Remnants Museum is such an important and prominent site. Being here is going to help us raise awareness of the level of ordnance remaining in Vietnam and dangers it poses to the people.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Huynh Ngoc Van, “People thinking of war should come here and see this. It’s forty years since the war ended and we are still experiencing its consequences. It has never gone away.”

By Simon Speakman Cordall in HCMC

Source: SGT