Le Thi Thu Nhuong, 14, first learned about the dangers of unexploded ordnances (UXOs) four years ago, during a summer camp at the Danaan Parry Landmine Education Centre in the city of Dong Ha in her native province of Quang Tri.

When she returned to school, she joined a communication programme on landmine education and is now one of the programme's top 20 communicators.

"Many people and children from my village have been killed or injured by UXOs. I want to lend a helping hand to stop UXOs from killing my friends," said the ninth-grader.

Her home in Cam Lo District's Cam Thuy Commune, 10km from the provincial capital of Dong Ha, has seen many landmine victims in the past five years. But the number of local people who die or suffer injuries from UXOs has been dramatically reduced thanks to the communications programme, which is implemented by the school with funding from Peace Trees Viet Nam (PTVN), a non-government organisation that has been searching for landmines, bombs and other unexploded ordinances left from the American war throughout Quang Tri Province since 1995.

"I send messages to my friends at school and local people living around my village to keep away from UXOs," Nhuong said. "Kids are particularly vulnerable to landmines and UXOs as many look like children's toys. Steel-pellet bombs and ammunition from M79 grenade launchers kill thousands of people in the area."

Le Thanh Trang, a teacher at the school, said all 300 students are educated about bombs and landmines every week.

"We try to update information for students regularly so they can become aware of UXOs whenever they see them on the ground," Trang explained. "Constant training sessions keep students away from deadly objects, and when they see anything, they are taught to call PTVN's Exploded Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams working in the province."

Le Thi To Oanh, 13, has studied landmine education at school for four years. She also explains the dangers of UXOs to neighbouring children.

"I warn kids not to touch any landmines or bombs they see in gardens or on the sidewalk. I also show them colourful printed leaflets of landmines," Oanh said.

Tony Langer, a detective sergeant from the Western Australia Police, said the Danaan Parry Landmines Education Centre in Quang Tri province was a prime example of effective landmine education.

"It's very useful for local people to receive detailed education about UXOs and landmines. They can watch teaching aids at the centre and see examples of leftover ammunition," Tony said.

Tony, who donated de-mining aprons and two trauma kits to PTVN's EOD teams, said he would return with donated equipment and new skills to help them clear landmines more effectively.

The Danaan Parry Landmines Education Centre has provided landmine awareness education to over 65,000 people in Quang Tri Province, of which 17,500 were children.

PTVN's EOD teams have found over 106,513 pieces of unexploded ordnances and cleared 163ha of land contaminated by landmines.

In Cam Lo District alone, the number of landmine victims has gone down dramatically.

In 2006, landmines and UXOs killed two adults and one 9-year-old and injured four more people. However, these deadly objects wounded only two in 2011 - none of whom were children.

And according to this year's report, only one adult was injured in a landmine explosion.

"Our years of offering landmine education have finally paid off. The number of victims has been gradually reduced by effective landmine clearance as well as regular education. Local people now know more about deadly ammunitions and how to avoid them," said PTVN's in-country representative Le Dinh Quang.

Quang, who has lived in the province since PTVN began its landmine clearance and education work in 1995, added that thousands of trees have been planted on the landmine-contaminated area throughout the province.

"We plant trees as soon as the land is demined. It's our target and slogan to heal the wounds of war. Landmines left from war over 40 years ago have taken the lives of thousands of people, and we are here to stop the killing," Quang said.

A boy posts a sign saying: "One day without mines", at an annual camp.

With so many UXOs remaining, education efforts are underway to raise awareness about them, especially among children in rural areas around Quang Tri such as Khe Sanh, Huong Hoa, Cam Lo, Dakrong, Gio Linh and Vinh Linh – former sites of battles and of the Demilitarised Zone during the war.

Viet Nam was subjected to an estimated 15 million bombs, mines, artillery shells and other munitions during the American War. As much as 10 per cent of these ordnances are estimated to have failed to explode.

According to the results of a recent survey, between 1975 and 2004, 10,597 people in the central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Ha Tinh fell victim to landmines and unexploded ordnances, and 4,817 died from their injuries.

Bombs left behind have killed nearly 40,000 Vietnamese people, with nearly 7,000 deaths and injuries in Quang Tri Province alone. The death toll continues to rise.

According to Clear Path International, the province would need an estimated 20 years and a sum of US$17 million to safely clear out the remaining landmines/UXOs.

"We do not only clear landmines and provide education, but we fill landmine-contaminated areas with green. We hope that children will not be killed by landmines anymore, and that peace and shadows of green forests will replace these reminders of fierce battles," he said.

VNS