Fifty years on from the U.S. bombing campaigns in Laos, as part of the Vietnam war, the legacy of unexploded cluster munitions or UXO (Unexploded Ordinance) is still a living scar on the land and its people. Laotians are still living with the deadly remnants of a war many have forgotten. Through these photographs, I hope to remind us of that reality. They capture only a small glimpse of the situation but one that reveals the human cost still unfolding today.

In the capital city of Vientiane, in Laos, the COPE rehabilitation center (Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise), stands as both a place of healing and a living exhibit. Its motto "Helping you move on", COPE offers prosthetics, orthotics, and mobility aids. These tools help people with severe injuries and disabilities regain their independence. This center isn’t just about medical recovery; it’s about making sure that anyone who walks in understands the ongoing weight of this history on real human lives.

I visited COPE in 2023 and on a personal level, standing in that center and seeing the impacts and human cost of those bombs has a profound effect on me. I saw rows of prosthetics and the rusted shells of cluster bombs. This isn’t just about the history; it is still happening. The damage, the loss, and the effort to rebuild were all around me.