The danger began in 2007. While Tad was clearing land to grow rice, he discovered a bomb buried along the edge of his paddy field. “I didn’t dare touch it,” said Mr. Tad. “I only covered it with soil, marked the spot and warned my children, grandchildren and nearby villagers not to go near it. I was afraid the children might step on it and it would explode,” he recalls.

In the hills and farmlands of southern Laos, the legacy of war remains buried just beneath the soil. For many rural communities, unexploded ordnance (UXO) is not a distant memory, but a daily threat - one that limits movement, farming, and safety.