Pétanque

One day, five children went out to play. Only three came back. This short film and documentary photography series visualises the longstanding emotional toll of unexploded ordnance on child survivors in rural Laos.

Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world: an oft forgotten legacy of the Vietnam war. Between 1964 and 1973, the US dropped an average of one planeload of bombs every eight minutes for almost a decade, the majority of which remain a live threat to this day. The US called this a ‘Secret War’: Laos was technically a neutral country. Around half of all victims are children.

This project provides an insight into the daily lives of a community affected by unexploded ordnance, focusing on 11-year-old Layoud, who mistook a bombie for a pétanque ball two years ago. He continues to mourn the loss of two of his best friends, leading his mother Lae to worry about how the incident will continue to affect her son’s mental health in the future.