(VOVworld) – Quang Tri, the hardest hit province by American bombing during the war, has set up a team of communicators and volunteers to jointly address the aftermath of war and raise public awareness about bomb and mine clearance and for UXO victims. This activity is involving an increasing number of individuals and organizations at home and abroad.

Volunteer programs launched by Quang Tri’s Youth Union to help victims of bombs, mines, and other unexploded ordnances have gotten more and more young people to participate.

Soldiers disarm a bomb in central Quang Tri Province. (Photo vov.vn)

Over the past 3 years the number of injuries due to UXOs has fallen by 80%, according to Nguyen Khanh Vu, the Union’s deputy secretary.

Vu said ““Safety Days” have been organized at primary and secondary schools across the province. The Youth Union has also organized regular communications programs and art performances.”

The provincial Youth Union has coordinated with associations of women and veterans and foreign NGOs to combine communication programs and commune or hamlet meetings to raise public awareness.

Ngo Xuan Hien is a volunteer with RENEW, a Norwegian bomb, mine, and UXO clearance project that has been underway in Quang Tri for 15 years.

“Public education and communications are done through the Community Reporting Network launched by RENEW in collaboration with the Youth Union. The network is in charge of training and providing Youth Union officers with necessary skills of communications and identifying bombs and mines. These personnel will then reinforce UXO safety messages and encourage the local population to report UXO sightings to Project RENEW’s teams for timely and safe removal,” according to Hien.

A Peace Trees Vietnam member lays out the shells found at a farm in Quang Tri Province. (Photo: Dan Tri)

Peace Trees Vietnam, a US NGO, has been rated one of the most efficient foreign organizations in clearing UXOs left over from the war and providing social support in Vietnam over the past 20 years.

Vo Thi Ha, a Peace Trees volunteer, said its achievements are due to developing a network of volunteers across hamlets and communes and bomb, mine, and UXO education programs for school children.

She added “every International Children Day on June 1^st, we organize summer camps where high school students can participate in outdoor activities like singing, role-playing, painting, games, competitions, leaflet distribution, and puzzles related to mine risk education. We invite a number of UXO victims to meet and talk to the students so they can draw their own lessons.”

Volunteer programs in Quang Tri have helped bomb and mine victims access capital sources for economic development. RENEW volunteer Nguyen Duc Toan said that “about 600 project households have been eligible for loans and most of them have increased their income. We’ve organized training courses to teach locals how to manage money and raise cattle scientifically.”