From: akm74@aol.com (AKM 74) Date: 04 Jun 1998 22:09:44 GMT US Brigadier General discusses demining programme BRIGADIER General Norton A. Schwartz, Commander of Special Operations Command, Pacific, responsible for US Humanitarian Demining Assistance in the Pacific region, visited the Lao People's Democratic Republic from May 13- 14. General Schwartz discussed with senior Lao and US officials the current status of the humanitarian demining programme in Laos. General Schwartz will also travel to Cambodia to consult on US demining assistance in that country. The United States demining programme in Laos consists of contributions to the UXO-LAO trust fund, hands-on training, and equipment donations. In support of UXO LAO, since 1996 the US government has committed a total of US$ 3 million of equipment for UXO LAO programme and over US$ 5 million to support training in which US personnel train Lao clearance technicians, medics and community awareness workers. These Lao nationals come from provinces where unexploded ordnance continues to affect the livelihood of people in the area. After completing their training, the graduates will return to their provinces to work on demining projects. To date, over 550 people have been trained. On May 13, General Schwartz met with Mr Noi Indavong, Vice Minister of Labour and Social Welfare. He also met with Mr Bounpone Sayasenh, UXO LAO National Programme Director at the UXO LAO National Office. On May 14, he visited the UXO LAO National Training Centre in Nam Souang. Accompanying General Schwartz is Major Matthew T Carr, Demining Coordinator for Special Operations Command, Pacific and his aide, first Lieutenant Peter Vonault. From: akm74@aol.com (AKM 74) Date: 04 Jun 1998 22:13:34 GMT Take a long-term view, Aussie trainer tells Lao coaches A TEN-day cycling training course organised by the Lao National Cycling Federation recently held its closing ceremony at the Ministry of Education Guest House. Twenty-six cycling coaches from various clubs in Laos attended the Level 1 national training course conducted by Australian cycling expert Glen Wilson on behalf of the International Cycling Union (ICU). Over the two-week period, the trainees studied various aspects of coaching cycling, such as: psychology, nutrition, strength training, stretching and racing tactics. At the closing ceremony, Mr Wilson reviewed some of the accomplishments of the course designed to develop Lao cycling in order to attend the ASEAN Games in Thailand at the end of the year and the Olympic games set for Sydney, Australia in the year 2000. Mr Wilson said he tried to impart to his Lao counterparts as much information as he could about cycling and, notwithstanding the language barriers, he was satisfied that much of his message was understood. He urged all of the coaches to do their best to disseminate the information learned at the course to local people in their respective provinces. '"This course is finishing, but it is really just the beginning of the long journey the sport of cycling has to travel in Laos," he said. Mr Wilson stressed that the Lao Cycling Federation should view the sport's development in Laos as part of a long-term plan that includes many small progressive steps forward." If you want to reach international standards, you have to start at the very bottom. It's not realistic to get to that level in one leap, rather it's important to consider where you want to be in five or ten year's time." From: akm74@aol.com (AKM 74) Date: 04 Jun 1998 22:23:14 GMT Festival rocket making--a fading art? By Ay Mit Vat Sida Outhinaram, an exquisite temple in the garden- like Had Dokkeo area bordering the Mekong River in Hadsaifong district of Vientiane municipality, is one of the famous centres for rocket production. The master in this art is Pha Acharn Khamtanh, the abbot. The 46-year old monk learnt his skill from the former abbot of Vat Sida, years ago, and he has passed it on to Youtthana, a 30-year old layman who has been producing rockets for six years now. People come from all over Vientiane province to order rockets from the abbot and Youtthana. On our first visit, a week ago Sunday, the temple was-almost deserted. We were told by a novice that the abbot had gone to Done Noon, near Dongdok. One of his commissioned rockets was taking part in Boun Bangfai there. When we went to Vat Sida this week, Abbot Khamtanh was out to get bamboo to make rocket tails, but we found Youtthana and his aides busy making Bangfai. Several customers were there and followed the various stages of their rockets' production carefully. "The main part of the Bang fai is of course this," Youtthana said, showing a blue PVC tube. It is filled with meu, a mixture of khee cheea (saltpeter) and khee thaan (coal), and sometimes with a bit of maat (sulfur). The saltpeter is bought at 4,500 kip the kilogramme. A case of 12kg can make two or three rockets. What is the dosage of the mixture? "Sorry, that's my secret. No Bangfai maker would tell his secrets," Youtthana said, smiling. Meu is put into the bang (tube) which used to be made of bamboo. Now nothing can stop progress -- there are steel bang and PVC bang. The way to fill the tube with the dark gray mixture and make it as compact as possible, has also changed with time. "Before, we used manpower to pound meu into the tube, then we used a carjack. Now I have this hydraulic device," Youtthana said, pointing to a complicated green machine being operated by an aide. The aide, Khamsaen, was filling a PVC tube to make a 2.5-kilogramme rocket. "Each time, I put in 50 grams of meu, then the machine pounds. For a 5-kg Bangfai, I pound every 150 grams. It is important that the density be the same inside each part of the tube," he explained. Another aide carefully weights the mixture before handing it to him. There are two schools in the preparation of meu: some people make meu khua, that means the powder mixture is fried in a pan, then dried in the sun.Then the powder is pounded very carefully to make a finer powder. "Put meu khua in an iron bang: your Bang fai will go fast and far," affirms Younhana. The second way is called meu dip or raw powder. "If you use meu dip, your Bang fai will be slower, but it will go higher," Youtthana said. A 5-kg rocket takes 300 seconds to reach the end of its trajectory during which the PVC tube is completely burnt. Only the tail falls back down to earth. "The tail is very important" Youtthana emphasised. It is usually made of mai sang phai, a variety of bamboo that Pha Acham Khamtanh collects himself from a grove in Ban Saphang, near Dongdok. The tail must be curved at the end. "The tail should be light if the rocket is to go far, so you must thin it up with a knife. For rockets to go far, you can leave the bamboo as it is. No need to make it thinner." After the powder is compacted into the tube, a hole has to be drilled in the centre of the circumference so that the mesh can be introduced in the tube as deep as the owner wishes. Before firing, the Bang fai has to be "washed". The operation sometimes takes up to a whole hour. It consists of pouring water inside the tube, with the aim of humidifying the powder, at least near the lid. "If the powder is dry, the rocket will explode," Youtthana explained. "I make up to 70 Bang fai per season including ten 12- kilogrammes rockets," Youtthana disclosed. When asked how much he earned per season, he eluded the question with a smile, saying: "Sometimes, villagers come with some powder and ask me to make them a rocket as a contribution to their village's festival. I make it free for them," he said. "For the love of art." A 2.5-kg rocket costs 27,000 kip. A 5-kg one costs 55,000 kip. The price of bang fai meun (12 kg) is 150,000 kip. As for bang fai saen (120 kg), there are not many orders nowadays. "Only big businessmen can afford to commission bangfai saen," said Youtthana. The young man regrets that, for many, boun bangfai has lost its fertility purpose and has become the object of mere gambling. There are lots of bets going on around a rocket. The bigger the rocket, the higher the bets. "A man who had ordered a bangfai meun from me last week didn't fire it at the Done Noon festival because there were no interesting bets on his rocket," Youtthana said. The man will try his luck in another village festival. Is the art of bang fai making fading? I don't think so," said Youtthana.'There are fewer big rockets because of the economic situation but people are making lots of smaller ones and the festival is still very popular despite the shrinking space even in the countryside where more and more houses are built, making it difficult to find vast areas for the safe launching and landing of rockets. "For my part I will teach younger people to make bang fai. This old tradition is part of the Lao cultural heritage. It must not die," Youtthana declared convincingly. From: akm74@aol.com (AKM 74) Date: 04 Jun 1998 22:29:05 GMT Calling for Rain By Ay Mit The fifth and sixth months of the lunar calendar (April and May) are the hottest months of the year. Harvest is over and farmers need rains for the next cultivation season. Boun Bang fai, or rocket festivals, are held here and there throughout the country to request beneficent outpourings from the heavens. Just after Pimai, the Lao New Year, villages take turns hosting Boun Bang fai, which is a rite of fertility dating from time immemorial. The bang fai is a home-made rocket in the shape of a phallus which is sent to penetrate heaven and produce rains for cultivation. Rockets are elaborately decorated and sometimes attached with a Mga head as the mythical serpent is related to water and rain. In processions accompanying the rockets, sexual connotations are numerous. Wooden penises of all sizes painted in violent colours are paraded provocatively, together with wooden or live turtles which symbolise the female sex. Articulated male and female puppets in suggestive positions are also part of the festivals. Men dress themselves as women to shock the gods into sending lightning, thunder and, finally, replenishing rains. Chants, shouted by a group leader and repeated by all members of the group accompanying a rocket, are filled with saucy jokes and risque comments. Rockets are also associated with the cult of spirits and rites of expulsion. The village rocket is brought to the Hor Phee, the altar of the spirits protecting the village. A spiritual medium then dances to transfer all of the bad energy in the village on to the rocket so that it is sent away with the bangfai. Mr Phonesay, 62, a resident of Chanthaboury district in Vientiane, who never fails to attend Boun Bangfai, said he regretted the old days' festivals. " Rockets were beautifully decorated. Each was accompanied by fifty to sixty girls, dressed in traditional costumes. They paraded and danced and there was a contest for the best dances along with a competition for the highest and the farthest rocket. All this is gone. I think we should revive the pageantry for Visit Laos Year 1999." Ban Huakhua, Nasaithong district of Vientiane municipality, hosts a rocket festival every year. Villages from Vientiane municipality and Vientiane province as well, send in their rockets to compete. Huakhua village has its own 120kg-bangfai saen each year to expel the village's bad things, to request rain for its rice fields and prosperity for its inhabitants. This year's rocket even weighed 185kg. It was made by a well-known rocket "engineer" Mr Somboun. "I make one free for them every year. They just supply the raw niaterials. A 120kg rocket costs 1.2 million kip plus 500,000 kip for the labour cost. It used to take weeks to make. But over the past three years, since I have been using a hydraulic device I spend only five days on a big rocket" he said. Mr Somboun, 60, said his rockets were guaranteed. If they backfire or explode on the launching pad, the client is reimbursed. He not only makes rockets for customers in Vientiane municipality and Vientiane province but also for clients in Luang Prabang and Sayaboury. There are two ways of firing rockets, according to Mr Somboun. The traditional way is to light a fuel soaked mesh. This way takes time and is not always successful. The new, modern way uses a battery from a nearby parked carte create a spark inside the tube that detonates the rocket. This way is fast and never fails. Another way using a battery and detonator is very efficient and fast. Mr Phonesay opts for the traditional way. "I like the thrill of the waiting. Time is suspended. The fire consumes the mesh. It seems an eternity. And then, the terrible noise of the rocket taking off in a thick plume of smoke. Or in the case when the mesh dies out, you hear the jeers of the disappointed crowd. With the battery, it's bang bang bang! No failure. No suspense. No romanticism. It's not Boun Bangfai. It's Cape Canaveral!" All rockets were not fired with a battery, fortunately for Mr Phonesay and for the crowd. When a rocket misfired, it's owner was thrown in a puddle of mud by his friend. The custom is preserved. The rite was efficient. The gods sent rain down on Huakhua village before all the rockets were fired. Rocket festival goers were exhausted but happy and thrilled. Next weekend in some other village around Vientiane, rocket watchers will have the chance to do it all once again.