Seattle Man to Run 300K for Landmine Victims

A Seattle physical therapist will compete in one of the toughest footraces on the planet while raising funds to help landmine accident survivors.

Hearts and Mines: A documentary on the work of Clear Path International

All of us at Clear Path are thrilled to see the new trailer for HEARTS AND MINES the documentary by Dr. Joan Widdifield, a long-time CPI supporter. Hearts and Mines follows the CPI Vietnam staff as they work with landmine and bomb accident survivors and their families.

Clear Path International now Independent, Expanding in Afghanistan

After two years as a subcontractor in Kabul, Clear Path International is now a full-fledged independent grant recipient of the U.S. Department of State with a growing vision for aid to landmine accident survivors and people with disabilities in Afghanistan.

Back To School: Nearly 500 Vietnamese Landmine Families Receive Clear Path International Support to Send Their Children Back to School

Mothers get teary-eyed when their kids return to school after the summer. But the tears Tran Phuong Nhu's mother shed outside her daughter's classroom were not from a typical sense of pride and separation. As she watched the eight-year-old girl go inside wearing her best uniform, she could not help think of her husband who is still in critical condition at the Quang Tri General Hospital from a landmine accident that happened in late July.

US State Department Funds Clear Path International Programs in Vietnam & Cambodia

The largest grant of $127,000 will be used to fund efforts that assist survivors of accidents with landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in central Vietnam. The second grant of $50,000 will be used for CPI's rice mill enterprise for landmine survivors in Battambang, Cambodia, where its beneficiaries receive training, microcredit and crop processing services.

Clear Path International Releases Annual Report

In the period covered by the report, the U.S.-based organization with offices in Vermont and on Bainbridge Island, Washington, assisted 6,325 beneficiaries in Afghanistan, 1,679 in Vietnam, 929 in Cambodia and 538 on both sides of the Thai-Burma border.

Clear Path International Beneficiaries in Vietnam Become Deminers Thanks to Mines Advisory Group

As part of its partnership with Clear Path International, Mines Advisory Group in Vietnam has started to recruit CPI-supported landmine accident survivors or their family members to train them as clearance technicians.

Clear Path Featured in Journal of Mine Action

The latest edition of the academic periodical Journal of Mine Action published by James Madison University features a cover photo and an in-depth article about the work of Clear Path International in central Vietnam. Co-authored by Ari Perlstein, a medical student at the Oregon Health & Science University, and CPI co-founder Imbert Matthee, the article highlights the persistent problem of UXO (unexploded ordnance) accidents in a region which ranks among the most mine-affected in the world.

Red Cross says ban on cluster bombs urgent

"We need a strong, legally-binding treaty urgently, in 2008, that would ban the use, development, stockpiling and transfer of inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions," said Herby, who heads the ICRC's Arms Unit.

Landmines and UXO kill and maim hundreds in Afghanistan in 2007

Most victims are males aged 1-26, largely from the insurgency-affected southern provinces where the worsening security situation has hampered de-mining activities.

Young & Rubicam Creates Radio Spot to Support Landmine Victims: Tell us what you think!

All of us at Clear Path International are grateful to Young & Rubicam Malaysia for creating a 35 second radio spot for CPI. Please click "read more" to listen it and let us know what you think.

Good News, Bad News For Mine Clearance In Countries Where Clear Path International Has Assistance Programs

Although increased funding and fewer casualties were reported in 2006, many countries are not on course to meet their Mine Ban Treaty clearance obligations, says a new report from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

YouTube: Thank you, Martha!

This video was shown on the 10th anniversary Celebration of Martha Hathaway's work with landmine and bomb survivors in Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan and the Thai-Burma border.

Senator Leahy Honors Clear Path | Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion Perform to a Sold Out Crowd

10th Anniversary of Public-Private Partnerships at US Dept of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement

Ten years ago an initiative was begun at the US Department of State that would energize the mine action community in a creative and exciting way. In October of 1997 the State Department initiated the Humanitarian Mine Action Public-Priivate Partnership Program. Clear Path has benefitted greatly from the program as have 56 other NGOs.

Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion with Senator Patrick Leahy Benefit Clear Path International!

Sarah Lee Guthrie, the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie and the daughter of Arlo, will be returning to perform in Southern Vermont with her husband, the critically acclaimed Johnny Irion on Saturday, October 13th at Long Trail School in Dorset, VT. Speaking before the event will be long-time Clear Path supporter and landmine advocate, Senator Patrick Leahy.

Esquire: The Devil in the Dirt

There are so many landmines in Afghanistan, the country is literally about to blow. But removing these mines is no easy task.

Shell explosion kills 3 family members in Vietnam

The explosion occurred at the victims' house in Duy Xuyen District on Tuesday afternoon when the 31-year-old man named Pham Van Thang was trying to break the shell for scraps. His wife, standing nearby, and the child held in her arms were killed on the spot.

O & P Edge: CPI Clearing the Way for a Safer Future

The bulk of (Clear Path International's) work is deadly serious. With programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, along the Thai-Burma border, and now Afghanistan, the realities of war—even wars that ended more than 30 years ago—could not be any more dramatic. Dealing with the everyday horror can be overwhelming, but Matthee recalls a moment that makes even the most trying days seem worthwhile.

Landmine explosion in Vietnam kills 3 children

The children collected the landmine while tending their buffaloes and tried to smash it open when it exploded.

Clear Path International, International Trust Deal offers new hope for landmine, bomb survivors in Vietnam

The agreement's first proposal commits ITF to raise $230,000 from among its 27 government and private-sector donors to match the funds Clear Path is raising from the US State Department and US-based private-sector

Man Learns to Walk Again After Losing Limbs to Decades-old Bomb in Vietnam

The accident occured at about 11:00 a.m when Thi was digging up a tree stump. In close distance, Vinh was bending down, pulling fallen branches away. A loud explosion woke up the quiet forest as Thi’s pick hit the ground. The ordnance was subsurface and thus, nobody knew what it was; but the powerful blast knocked two men down on the ground.

Reuters: Decade after Diana campaign, few use landmines

Ten years after the death of Princess Diana and the first global treaty against antipersonnel landmines, experts say only a handful of rebel groups and perhaps one state dare use what has become a pariah weapon

Clear Path International to Assist Afghan Landmine Survivors As Part of U.S. Department of State Contract

KABUL, Afghanistan – Clear Path International (CPI), a U.S.-based humanitarian mine action nonprofit organization, has received a multi-year contract from DynCorp International to start a landmine survivor assistance program in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.

U.S. reverses position and is now willing to negotiate a cluster bomb treaty

U.S. officials said they are willing to start negotiating a treaty on the use of cluster bombs, reversing their previous position that no new agreement on the weapon was necessary. But the United States still rejects a proposed global ban on the weapon, which 46 countries began negotiating in Oslo in February. Instead, Washington wants to negotiate another treaty, which goes less far, within the framework of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons.

United States Campaign to Ban Landmines Expands Its Mandate to Include Cluster Munitions Advocacy

From the USCBL: We are pleased to inform you that the Steering Committee of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines recently agreed to expand the mission of the coalition to include advocacy toward a prohibition on the use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

War Era Bombs Injure 2 Year Old and 72 Year Old In Vietnam

Accidents involving unexploded ordnance injured civilians ranging in age from 2 to 72 this last week in central Vietnam's former DMZ.

After More Than 30 Years ABN-AMRO's Loans to Cluster Bomb Makers Move Me To Close My Account

Over the years, I have had no complaints about ABN-AMRO, whose acronym stands for Algemene Bank Nederland and Amsterdam Rotterdam Bank. But, In the one of those moments that turns your stomach, I found out a few months ago that ABN-AMRO and another Dutch financial conglomerate, ING, made loans to European defense contractors that make cluster bombs.

YouTube: Bombhunters Now Available on DVD

Great news! I just got an email from our good friend Skye Fitzgerald who produced the film BOMBHUNTERS about scavengers of live bombs in Cambodia. The film is now available in DVD.

YouTube: Cluster Bombs, A Weapon out of Control

A Human Rights Watch video showing how cluster munitions have endangered civilian populations from the Vietnam era through current conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon.

Vietnam sits atop 600,000 Tons of Landmines and Bombs

According to Vietnam's Bomb and Mine Disposal Technology Centre (BOMICEN) at the Engineering Command, 600,000 tons of war-time bombs and explosives currently lie under the ground throughout Vietnam.

Young Man Loses Hand to Vietnam War Era Bomb

18-year-old Tran Van Khoa was injured by an explosive remnant of the US-Vietnam war at 8h a.m on March 26th 2007 in Trieu Ai commune, Trieu Phong district of Quang Tri province.

Flickr: Children of War Photo Pool

From war zones all over the world, the images show children acting like children (or trying to) while the adults around them act like monsters.

Israeli cluster bombs cause surge in demand for Prosthetics

Prosthetic limb-fitting centers in southern Lebanon are struggling to cope with the rising toll from the one million unexploded cluster bombs left over from last summer's Israeli offensive on the country.

Britain to ban some cluster bombs

THE British Defence Secretary, Des Browne, has banned Britain's armed forces from using "dumb" cluster bombs, which have killed and maimed thousands of civilians.

Clear Path Newsletter Available in PDF

The 2007 Winter/Spring CPI Newsletter is now available online. Read about our recent matching campaign with the US Dept of State, how we introduced a hippopotamus to Cambodia, and updates from Chi and Lobke, two of our representatives on the ground in Southeast Asia!

Seattle Post Intelligencer: Cluster bombs leave a lethal legacy

Given their high failure rates and controversial deployment, there is a growing movement afoot to restrict the use of cluster bombs. It's time to end the kind of post-conflict suffering I see every time I travel to Southeast Asia for Clear Path International.

Reuters: Hidden Bombs Stalk Vietnamese as States Seek Treaty

"It is sinful that the war has an impact after all these years, that the bombs and the landmines are still there," the boy's distraught father, Pham Van Cuoi, said in the family's small concrete dwelling.

Bombs Injure Three Boys, Kill One Over Tet Holidays in Central Vietnam

Both Son and Cong knew what cluster bombs were since they had seen many before. However, this was the first time they found one half of a bomb: a hemisphere, not a complete steel sphere. They could see the yellow TNT exposed and a round metal section at the center of the explosive.

YouTube: Improvised Explosive Devices of the Vietnam War

A fascinating video on how unexploded US ordnance was used in Vietnam by North Vietnamese forces. Considering how much ordnance is STILL on the ground to this day, there must have been no shortage of the stuff.

Rick Gunn Visits, and Photographs, Clear Path in Vietnam

"Vinh was planting trees on his land," his doctor explained. "That's when he swung his pick into an unexploded bomb."...I cringed..."It might take a while," the doctor concluded, "but Vinh will learn to walk again."

Claymore Camera makes a dumb mine much smarter

From Gizmag.com: "This innovative and inexpensive product is a great tool to avoid the loss of innocent lives by mistake, solving the problem of not knowing what the mine is detonated against, but, above all, it turns regular dumb mines into intelligent mines which represents a revolutionary progress in minefield technology."

2005 - 2006 Landmine/UXO Victims in Central Vietnam

Chi of the Vietnam office compiled the last two years of UXO accident rates in central Vietnam and has posted his findings here. From 2005 to 2006, Clear Path Vietnam responded to 209 UXO accidents.

Clear Path YouTube Video Reaches 10000 Views

We produced this 7 minute video a few years ago with NPR's Corey Flintoff as narrator and the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart donating the music.

Remnants of War: Sara Smits in Syracuse University Magazine

"I’m fueled by the memories and knowing there are people who are struggling with the issues surrounding landmines.” She finds purpose in her research and does speaking engagements to raise funds for Clear Path. “They do amazing work,” Smits says. “I want to somehow give back to the people who gave me so much information and so much inspiration.”

The World's Most Dangerous Weapon: A letter from the Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions

The room is filled with about 100 NGO's, passionate about banning cluster munitions. Some legislators showed up from France and Norway and told us that they are very influenced by what NGO's report to them from the field, and they depend on us for their decisions.

Countries head to Norway for cluster bomb talks

The meeting is an effort by the Norwegian government to start an international campaign against cluster bombs, which reportedly kill and maim thousands of civilians each year. Many of those killed are children.

Pollution: Landmines Are a Global Health Problem

Pollution. Consider for a moment what the word means. If it's defined as "the presence in the environment of any substance of sufficient concentration to be harmful to humans or cause long-term damage to the natural environment," landmines fit the bill.

Thank you, Senator Leahy

Yet again I am so proud to be a constituent of yours. As a volunteer for Clear Path International, I have witnessed first hand the devastating effects of cluster bombs.

One Boy Killed, One Man Loses Hand In Accidents Involving Ordnace in Vietnam

One man lost a hand and a boy his life in two accidents with unexploded ordnace in central Vietnam this week.

Landmine Hopscotch in Malaysia

Our new friends at TBWA-ISC\Malaysia in Malaysia contacted us sometime ago and asked to donate an ambient ad campaign in our benefit to be run in Kuala Lampur.

Israel May Have Violated Arms Pact With Cluster Bomb Use, U.S. Officials Say

Source: The New York Times WASHINGTON, Jan 27 — The Bush administration will inform Congress on Monday that Israel may have violated agreements with the United States when it fired American-supplied cluster munitions into southern Lebanon during its fight with...

Contact Your Senators: CPI Supports Congressional Bill Limiting the Use and Export of Cluster Bombs

Clear Path International has announced it supports a bill to be introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Diane Feinstein (D-California) that would restrict the use of cluster bombs by the United States and its allies.

Italians teaching Lebanese kids how to avoid bombs

Using role play, songs and cartoons, Italian peacekeepers are teaching Lebanese children to recognise and avoid the one million or so unexploded bombs in the streets and fields of Lebanon. But Italy is also one of Lebanon’s, and Syria’s, major arms suppliers.

CPI Vietnam Responds to Its First Accident of 2007

Just as I entered the office this morning Duc, our logistic officer, announced that he received a phone call last night reporting of a new accident happened earlier in the day (January 8th). One person was killed on spot and another 12 year old boy was seriously injured

Vietnam receives mine-clearing gear from United States

HA NOI — The United States yesterday donated nearly US$1 million worth of equipment to locate and clear landmines and unexploded ordnance to the Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal Technology (BOMICEN). The equipment will reinforce the centre’s capacity to deal with explosive hazards that have remained after thirty years of conflict.

Vietnam: Clear Path Responded to 88 New Victims of Bombs, Landmines and other Munitions in 2006

As the report shows, nearly 40 percent, or two out of five, of the victims were children (under 18). Thirty-six victims died from their wounds, which were caused by landmines, cluster bombs, mortars, phosphorous grenades and other explosives still left over from the war.

A Judy Collins Christmas in Vermont ... how sweet it was

Some stars shine brighter than other stars, and Judy Collins' star was shining brightly, brilliantly, as she shared her light with all those lucky enough to be in the sold out audience Sunday at the Judy Collins Christmas Benefit for Clear Path International at the Dorset Playhouse.

Bombs kill one boy, injure another in Central Vietnam

Central Vietnam- Explosive remnants of the Vietnam War have claimed their latest victims in Central Vietnam killing a 14 year old boy and injuring an 18 year old in two incidents over the past week.

BBC: New bomb clean-up treaty begins

A new international law is coming into force requiring countries to clear up unexploded bombs and mines or pay teams of de-miners to do it. The treaty on explosive remnants of war covers ordnance such as land mines and cluster bombs.

Judy Collins to Perform War Victim Benefit Concert in Vermont

Dorset, Vermont- The legendary Judy Collins is set to perform a benefit concert in Dorset, Vermont on December 17th at the Dorset Playhouse to aid civilian victims of war in Vietnam, Cambodia and along the Thailand - Myanmar border.

United States Helps to Clear Lebanon of Explosive Remnants of War

From a press release from the US Department of State: The United States is committed to reducing the risk to Lebanese civilians posed by explosive remnants of war. From 1998 to the recent conflict, the inter-agency U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program invested more than $17 million dollars to rid Lebanon of persistent landmines and explosive remnants.

Vietnam: Explosive Remnants of War Incident Report from January 2006 to September 2006

Over the last year Clear Path International's Vietnam staff has been working to create a database for reporting on accidents involving explosive remnants of war that are reported to us and to which we have responded to give assistance. These reports are only the incidents to which we (CPI) have responded and are not representative of the country as a whole. In this blog we post our first report.

Three Men Dead: Wartime ordnance continues to kill in Vietnam

Three men were killed in Vietnam’s southern Dong Nai province Thursday while sawing an unexploded US artillery shell left from the Vietnam War 30 years ago. Two of the middle-aged victims, Nguyen Van Hanh and Nguyen Van Nam, who were killed by the 105mm shell, earned their livelihoods by searching for and selling American wartime ordnance, according to a source.

'After the War…the Killing Continues' Photo Exhibit on Bainbridge Island, WA

Photojournalist Erin Fredrichs accompanied a small group from Clear Path International on a three-week tour of its landmine survivor assistance programs in Southeast Asia last year. The compelling and deeply moving photographs Fredrichs took are now on display at Grace Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island, Washington (near Seattle) through mid October. The pictures are a selection from Fredrich’s Master’s thesis project, “After the War…the Killing Continues,” towards her degree at Ohio University.

Thomas Nash: It's time to outlaw these ruthless killers

The massacre at My Lai spurred the public conscience to put an end not only to the Vietnam War, but also to the use of napalm, the incendiary weapon. The toll from landmines in Cambodia, Angola and Afghanistan prompted some countries to embark on a new process that banned landmines. The civilian toll from cluster munitions in Lebanon may turn out to be a similar turning point.

Israeli Cluster Bombs Litter South Lebanon Endangering Children

Hussein had just been reprimanded by his father. The reason for the chastisement was that Hussein had been outside playing in a field behind his house picking up “toys”. The bucket shown below is his proud collection of U.S. M-42 cluster bomblets. Some boys think the M-42’s are “lighters” or “batteries”. Some girls told this observer that they look like “perfume bottles”

Vietnam: Four Year Old Girl and Father Killed, Others Injured by War Era Ordnance

Another heartbreaking report from our staff in central Vietnam 1. (Ho Vien Khan, born in 1948 and Ho Thi Thia, born in 2002) An accident happened to a man and his daughter on August 5th 2006 in Hong Trung commune,...

Vietnam: Three Children Killed, Five Injured in Two Accidents with War Era Bombs

The accident happened at 5 p.m., in the front yard of Mrs. Vo Thi Ha’s, a local scrap dealer in Cam Nghia commune, Cam Lo district.

YOUTUBE: Lebanese Children Victims of Unexploded Cluster Bombs

UN Humanitarian chief condemns use of ordnance against Lebanon as ‘immoral’

from The AP Newswire: UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. humanitarian chief on Wednesday accused Israel of “shocking” and “completely immoral” behavior for dropping large numbers of cluster bombs on Lebanon when a cease-fire in its war with Hezbollah was in...

US Munitions Still Deadly in Vietnam

On Aug. 13, in the Hoai An district of the central province of Binh Dinh, four 13- to 15-year-old boys died after they found a U.S.-made M79 rifle grenade and broke it open to get the gunpowder. The grenade exploded,...

Unexploded Cluster Bombs Prompt Fear and Fury in Lebanon

A child plays in the streets of Aitta Shaaba, a village riddled with cluster bombs. Photograph: Scott Peterson/Getty Four dead as mine-clearing teams fear death toll from Israeli weapons could soar Declan Walsh in Yahmour Monday August 21, 2006...

YouTube Video: If Some Bombs Are Smart Then 'Cluster Munitions Are Destructive Morons'

This YOUTUBE video from Canada's CBC NEWS shows the dangerous nature of cluster bombs in warfare. Many of the injuries/deaths from unexploded bombs we see in Vietnam are the result of cluster bombs left over from the Vietnam war....

US Department of State to MATCH Donations To Clear Path!

The U.S. State Department has announced it will match up to $60,000 in contributions made by any grassroots and private-sector donors to Clear Path International’s landmine accident survivor assistance work in central Vietnam. The matching period will last at least...

Martha, Executive Director of CPI on Vermont Public Radio

Vermont Public Radio interviewed our executive Director, Martha Hathaway, on her upcoming trip to Afghanistan and the work of Clear Path International in Asia. You can hear the interview here. The text of the article is below (source VERMONT PUBLIC...

Family Catastrophe: Three Children Killed, Three Wounded

On May 30th, 2006, a terrible UXO related accident happened in central highland of Vietnam. Six children from 2 to 11 years old were killed and injured by a cluster bomb explosion. The accident happened in Kong Chro district, Gia...

Father of Five Killed by Bomb in Vietnam

Sounds of lament could be heard from a distance. Neighbors were quietly preparing for the funeral. An altar was set up right at the main entrance to the living room. A green curtain separates the altar from a bed...

A Destructive Blast Occured in Central Viet Nam

The place looked as if there was a strong typhoon had just gone through: trees with torn up leaves; broken bricks, roof tiles scattered around as two third of the house was demolished. There was not even enough space...

Cruel Summer: Bombs of Vietnam War Continue to Kill and Maim

Cluster bombs and other ordnance left over from the Vietnam War continue to kill and maim civilians in Vietnam 30 years after the war ended here. Below is a brief on just some of the accidents that occured in Central...

HRW: Destroy Stockpile of Unsafe Cluster Submunitions

While we call ourselves a "Landmine Victim Assistance" organization, it is really accurate, but much more wordy to say "Victim of Unexploded Ordnance Assistace" organization. Bombies, or cluster bombs, kill and injure more people in Vietnam than landmines. The...

The Landmine's More Deadly Cousin

The landmine's more deadly cousin, the cluster bomb kills and injures people with regularity in Vietnam. In present-day Vietnam, a cluster bomb's "bomblet" or "bombie" resembles a muddy baseball. Children are naturally drawn to them out of curiosity, often to...