Clear Path International Success Story

Hello to all at Blogidarity! My name is James Hathaway.

First, let me thanks Felix and crew for inviting my organization, Clear Path International, to participate in the Blogidarity project! What a great concept. We are honored to be the first organization chosen... I hope you all find our work as compelling as we do.

So what do we do? Clear Path works in southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia and on the Thai-Burma Border) assisting present day victims of landmines and bombs. Landmines and bombs left over from war, do not just disapear after wars end. Unless there is substantial funding to clear explosive remnants of war (ERW), these pieces of deadly debris will remain in the soil. ERW are not duds! They are just waiting for contact to explode. In Vietnam, we see accidents occur on a weekly basis!

Please see our video (narrated by NPR's Corey Flintoff here) on You Tube here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tfVxoXvUO_Y

But this post is about success stories... and I have so far only given you the problem...

We have served over 2000 families. There are SO many success stories. We started blogging them years ago here. My heart, though, has been stolen by one of our survivors named Ha.

Ha lives on the on the Vietnam side of the Vietnam-Laos border. When she was just a girl, her mother was working in the garden and struck a piece of ordnance that detonated and sprayed Ha's three year old legs with burning white phosphorous. The burns fused her thighs to her calves... for nearly 20 years Ha walked on her knees.

As if that were not enough, her parents died while Ha was a teenager and she was forced to raise her younger brothers and sisters.... from her knees.

When Ha learned of an open Clear Path outreach clinic for victims of unexploded ordnance  in 2002, she hitchhiked a TWO HOUR DRIVE ON HER KNEES to see if we could help. When she made her way into our clinic, she was offered lunch, but refused it in order to be able to give the food to her younger siblings when she returned home.

Ha has had numerous operations since the day she crawled into our clinic. I can so proudly say that today she is walking again. Her story always brings tears to my eyes because of her courage and selfless nature.

If not for donors to Clear Path International, this success story (which is truly Ha's success story) would not be possible. She is not the only survivor of these types of accidents, she is just the I have chosen to tell you about today..... and I hope you will take the time to tell many, many more about this brave, young woman, who stole my heart.

See pictures of my first meeting last year with Ha and her family, here on Flickr.

We need your support.

Comments

[Felix Gerena]

Those are real success stories, James! While sometimes we think there are no ways of "changing the world", you are showing out it is possible to make a dramatic change.

[James]

Thanks Felix... perhaps someday you can join us in Vietnam :)

[Felix Gerena]

Perhaps, James. Thanks for the invitation.

[Trevor Gay]

James - that is a wonderful story. We send our love and prayers to Ha from Annie and me here in England.

Also our prayers go out to you and your team. You are doing such fantastic work in dangerous environments.

The media coverage of war tends sometimes diverts our attention away from the human cost of conflict on individuals. It is so amazing to her of Ha's determination and love for her family. We hope she continues to thrive. God bless you all.

[Rosa Say]

James, thank you for sharing Ha's story, she is truly an inspiration for all of us.

In Hawaiian, ha means "the breath of life" and thus, it is an important part of the word aloha; your alo is your demeanor, and together, alo + ha, aloha is to celebrate one's inner spirit - a living from the inside out.

Indeed, Ha has been the breath of life and the spirit of her family, and it seems so fitting that she inspire us with the breath of life in our first Blogidarity campaign.
Mahalo nui, aloha e,
Rosa

[James]

Trevor and Rosa-

Thank you for your kind words... and Rosa, that could not be more true about Ha! I have blogged your comment today at www.cpi.org/cpiblog.

Trevor, you said:
"The media coverage of war tends sometimes diverts our attention away from the human cost of conflict on individuals."

So true! Landmines (and other unexploded ordnance) are often refered to as weapons of mass destruction in slow motion as they kill and maim so many.

What I like to remind people is it is not the NUMBER of people being injured, but the amount of harm these accidents cause INDIVIDUALS.

Weapons of Mass Destruction? There is no destruction more massive than the death or disfigurement of an innocent child.