Clear Path International Provides The Gift of Hands for the Landmine Survivors at Care Villa

Since we began supporting the Care Villa in 2002, we at Clear Path have dreamed of providing prosthetic hands for the amputees we serve there. Many of them have lost one or both arms in a landmine explosion and are wholly dependent on others for their care. Almost every time we visit our Karen friends at the giant sprawling Mae La refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, we are asked for a device that will allow the men to use their upper limbs.

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.

Thai Burma Border Landmine Survivor Assistance Program Page Updated

We have updated our Thai-Burma border project page. Check it out here....

YouTube: Myanmar's Landmine Survivors at the Mae Tao Clinic

The military regime's ongoing repression in Burma (Myanmar) kills and maims hundreds of civilians each year through the use of landmines. Planted throughout ethnic territories, landmines are used to quell insurgent rebel armies, but more often kill civilians, especially children

CPI Aid in Thailand and Myanmar Reached Nearly 300 Landmine Survivors in 2007

With our partners, the Mae Tao Clinic, the Karen Handicap Welfare Association, KNPLF (Karenni) and the Shan Health Committee, we expect to provide services to more than 400 survivors at seven locations along the border in 2008. Groot Klimmendaal, Lobke’s employer, has been encouraging its other employees to volunteer in the area. Neeltje Rosmalen, a psychologist and cognitive trainer helped train medics and counselors in psychological treatment of new and existing accident survivors.

The Scent of Northern Thailand: A Volunteer's Experience on the Thai-Burma Border

By paying close attention to the patients’ behaviors and by being deliberate with my facial expressions and voice tones, I strived to offer patients some physical relief, encouragement, and a sense of being cared for.

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.

Running marathons for landmine surivors: Thanks Darcy!

Mr. Darcy Ike is positioned well within the group of amazing folks with whom I have been honored to cross paths. Mr. Ike runs marathons, 34 so far and has chosen to contribute to Clear Path with the completion of the past several and hopefully the next handful in the future.

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

AP: Villagers flee Myanmar’s deadly landmines

A Human Rights Watch report in December last year accused the military of planting mines around rice crops and routes to fields in an effort to hamper the annual harvest, effectively starving the people off their land.
It also said that Myanmar’s soldiers had used civilians as human mine sweepers, forcing them to walk in front of troops through landscapes possibly laced with the deadly ordnance.

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.

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.

Elephants "Learn" to Avoid Land Mines in War-Torn Angola

"Maybe they are able to smell the mines," Whyte said. "They move about with their trunks right on the ground, and it could be that they pick up the scent in this way.

"But they are also intelligent animals which move in groups. Maybe they learn to avoid places where they see other elephants get blown up."

Clear Path Burma Site: Landmine death toll rises in Karen state

Saw Eh Thamwe, the coordinator of the clinic’s mine victim department, said that the clinic had treated 16 people injured by landmines in June alone and that increased tensions between the Karen National Union and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army were to blame.

“This year has the highest number of land-mine cases due to intensified fighting. in previous years, there were as few as ten landmine cases a year but in the first six months of this year we had 30 cases,” Saw Eh Thamwe said.

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

Jody Riggs: Burma’s situation is real!

This is not history! That is what continues to ring in my head. My name is Jody Riggs and I am a student prosthetist from Canada. The atrocities that I am reading about and the repercussions that I am witnessing are current events, happening just over those hills and across the Moei or the Salween river in Burma.

In Another World, You Are An Illegal Refugee With Nothing To Your Name

The Mae Toa Clinic on the Thai-Burma border is founded and run by refugees. The prosthetics department manager is an astounding and committed man. He does not make money and will never be able to buy his family a truck, or a home, or a vacation. His workshop lacks government funding and only survives by donation and outside funds.

Duane Nelson on the Thai Burma Border

The war, if you want to call it that, is deep-rooted, its got history, and it involves entire people groups and nations. How can I change anything?

Two New Volunteers Reach the Thai Burma Border

Duane Nelson is volunteering at the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burma border. Here is the first, of what I am hoping will be many, of his blog posts from the border!

Dutch Rehab Hospital Signs Agreement To Support Landmine Survivors on the Thai-Burma Border

Under a two-year agreement, the Dutch hospital will provide $30,000 in funding and facilitate the involvement of its professional rehabilitation specialists as volunteers in eastern Thailand where CPI has an active program fabricating prosthetics, offering physical therapy and providing full-time care for landmine accident survivors from Burma.

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.

Video: Elephant Landmine Survivors on the Thai-Burma Border

Not all landmine survivors are human. Many elephants,including baby elephants, are injured by mines while working in the jungles on the tense Thai-Burma border.

Lobke's Story: It All Began Last Year

When I encountered many amputees (mostly landmine or UXO victims) in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, the picture couldn’t be much clearer. I wanted to work with landmine accident survivors. That was what I wanted to do. And that was exactly what I was going to do.

BBC Series: Saving Lives on the Burmese border

A building at the back of the clinic houses a (Clear Path International funded) workshop for Maw Keh and his team, who construct prosthetic limbs for the many landmine victims in the region - a legacy of the long conflict between government and rebel soldiers.

BBC Series: Life on the Burma-Thai border

There are three main camps around Mae Sot - Mae La, Noe Po and Umpium. Together, they are home to about 97,500 people. Many camp residents - particularly the recent arrivals - are just grateful for a safe place to stay and food to eat.

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.

Thai Burma Border: Recreational Therapy At Care Villa

I had heard them singing before. I had heard them talking before. I had heard them praying before. But I had never heard them laughing. The guys of the Care Villa; a special group of mostly young men, severely handicapped due to landmine accidents.

Thai Burma Border: The Circle of Inspiration

The idea was there: we cannot give these guys back their hands, their eyes, their lives the way it used to be. But we can encourage them to bring back a little joy, a bit of fun, some challenges and to make one day a bit different than the other.

Thai - Burma Border: At 21 Years Old, Another Life Shattered

Sometimes you can hear the shootings, explosions, panic, but today it is very quiet....Then we receive a phone call. One of the girls that we dropped yesterday for the mine risk education mission has stepped on a landmine. I remember her face; she was sitting next to me in the truck.

Lobke is Home Again on the Myanmar Border

A quick coffee, breakfast and once more I questioned myself how life can be so good here for me, while the people I share the streets with face problems we can hardly imagine

Clear Path's Burmese Refugee Program Rep Visits CPI Vietnam

The clear presentation of Dong Ha’s CPI-staff drags me into their projects and for a moment I forget that I’m part of the same organization. I am amazed by the difference they make in peoples lives; it deserves great respect.

Radio Show Highlights Plight of Burmese Refugees

The show is called "Kawthoolei," an audio odyssey into the troubled border region between Thailand and Burma. It's part of the "Outer Voices" project documenting the critical work of women in six places around the world.

ICBL: Burma / Myanmar Peace talks should include landmine issue

"An acknowledgment of the urgency of this issue within any cessation of hostilities would build confidence and would show a real commitment toward a lasting peace,"

Dr. Cynthia of Mae Tao Refugee Clinic on Myanmar Border Nominated for World's Children Prize

CYNTHIA MAUNG, Burma, who has fought for the health and education of hundreds of thousands of refugee children for 20 years, both under the military dictatorship in Burma and in refugee camps in Thailand.

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.

Burma: Landmines Kill, Maim and Starve Civilians

"In order to separate ethnic armed groups from their civilian population, the Burmese army lays landmines and other explosive devices in order to maim and kill civilians," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This is a concerted policy aimed at denying people their livelihoods and food or forcing them to risk losing limbs or lives."

Free Burma Rangers Report Landmine Use by Myanmar Army

"In this area over 5000 people have been displaced, most are in hiding and suffer from shortage of food and medicine. The Burma Army continues it patrols and laying of landmines."

Rutland Herald: Small Vermont organization having big international impact

James Lawrence, director of partnership programs for the State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, said government officials have begun to seek out partners in the private sector who can assist people whose lives have been altered by land mines. "Clear Path has good local support, low overhead, they provide direct support to the people who need it. That's just the kind of things we look for," he said.

Manchester Journal: Judy Collins to Benefit Clear Path International

The concert will benefit Clear Path International, an organization born out of wanting to make the world a better place. They reach their philanthropic help, loving arms and compassionate energy all the way to Vietnam, Cambodia, the Thai-Burma border and most recently to Afghanistan serving the victims, survivors and the families of landmine and unexploded bomb accidents.

Little Hope for Burmese Refugees in Thailand

Aid agencies maintain that Burmese troops have destroyed nearly 3,000 villages in the last ten years. They say an unmanageable health crisis is now developing in the refugee camps in Thailand that line the frontier.
"In displaced areas, one in five children will die before their fifth birthday," says Nobel peace laureate Dr. Cynthia Maung, who runs a medical camp on the turbulent Thai-Burma border.

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.

Thailand - Myanmar Border: Every dead end street has a side street leading somewhere

Lobke blogs from the Care Villa on the Thailand - Myanmar border: Clear Path doesn’t turn its back on (what seems to be) a dead end street. We cannot fix eyes, hands or legs. We cannot turn back time or solve the issues in Burma. But we can look for possibilities, a side street, a change of direction; just small things that can make a big difference.

A Slideshow from the Thailand - Myanmar Border

A slideshow of recent images from Clear Path funded clinics along the Thailand - Myanmar border.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL ADDRESSES BURMA: The Never-Ending Myanmar Nightmare

For well over a decade, the military junta in Myanmar has been trying to bring the Karen ethnic minority under its thumb. This year, the offensive has intensified -- magnifying the ongoing refugee disaster in Southeast Asia. The UN, finally, has decided to pay more attention.

And Then There's The Coup...

CPI volunteer Lobke Dijkstra writes about the changes for foreigners in Thailand and how they will affect how volunteers can work along the Thailand - Myanmar border... a place that relies on volunteers to serve refugees escaping Myanmar.

'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.

Anti-weapons Group Says Myanmar Most Active Government in World in Using Land Mines

Myanmar's military regime makes more extensive use of land mines than any other government in the world, a group that lobbies against the weapons said Wednesday. In a global survey published annually, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines said that only three governments in the world use land mines: Nepal, Russia and Myanmar.... at least 231 people were killed or injured by land mines in Myanmar in 2005, it said.

Mae Sot Refugee Clinic: It's a bit of a strange day today

It's a bit of a strange day today. The helicopters which use to fly over only once or twice a day, circle around now every ten minutes. There must be something going on at the border. At the clinic it's hectic as well. It only takes a second or two before I know what causes the restless atmosphere

'Where to Begin?': Stretching and Learning at the Mae Sot Refugee Clinic on the Border of Thailand and Myanmar

“Where to begin?” That was the main question I struggled with, when I first started to volunteer at The Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot. There was no such thing as physical therapy, let alone some form of rehabilitation treatment. In fact, no one really seemed to have ever heard of it.

Thailand: Care Villa at the Mae La Refugee Camp

Of all the projects we visit and the people we see, my personal highlight of our yearly trip to Southeast Asia is the Care Villa at the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand. Here at this sprawling "city" of huts...

My Own Two Hands: Clear Path Volunteer Writes from the Mae Sot Refugee Clinic on Thailand - Myanmar Border

...It reflects my idea about the work of CPI. People who know that the world can only be improved by using your own two hands. I see, with my own eyes, that we can make a difference. That I can make a difference. By using my own two hands.

Clear Path Advisor on the Thai-Burma Border

Clear Path Advisor, Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, is visiting one of the Clear Path funded clinics on the Thai-Burma border. He has sent in this report. After enduring a near-record number of consecutive days of rain in Seattle, we were...

CPI Raises Substantial Funding in 4th Quarter

Good news in our most recent press release: During the fourth quarter of 2005, Clear Path International raised more than $275,000 for landmine accident survivors in Southeast Asia through major grants, special events and grassroots contributions, the organization said this week. In October, Clear Path’s fifth anniversary benefit dinner at the Columbia Tower Club in Seattle, attended by many of its island supporters, raised nearly $30,000. This included a $5,000 underwriting grant from the Seattle-based law firm Marler Clark, LLC. In December, the humanitarian mine action group received word from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis of $180,000 in grants for Clear Path’s survivor assistance projects in Vietnam and Cambodia during the next two years. The largest two-year grant from McKnight, for $105,000, will support a joint project of CPI and Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development in Phnom Penh to build a rice mill in Battambang Province, western Cambodia. The proposed rice mill and adjoining facility in Battambang will accommodate the training of landmine accident survivors and their families in hands-on agricultural and technical vocational skills. The total budget for the mill, whose production is expected to make the training program self-sustaining within three years, is $327,000. The other two-year McKnight grant for $75,000 will support Clear Path International’s survivor assistance program in central Vietnam, where the organization provides medical and socioeconomic assistance to hundreds of families in three districts north and south of the former Demilitarized Zone that once split the country in two. From the Mark D. Johnson Charitable Trust in California, Clear Path received a $50,000 gift, with $30,000 for survivor assistance in all three program countries �“ Vietnam, Cambodia and the Thai-Burma border area �“ and $20,000 for a media project to raise awareness of the landmine problem in Southeast Asia. In addition, Clear Path received a $5,000 grant for its survivor assistance and mine action work from the Olive Higgins Prouty Foundation and $4,000 from John and Hazel Griffith of San Jose. The remainder of the $275,000 came from individual donations. Since it was founded on Bainbridge Island in 2000, Clear Path has provided assistance to more than 2,300 landmine accident survivors and their families in Southeast Asia, and sent 60 containers with $4 million worth of medical equipment and supplies to dozens of hospitals in 20 countries affected by the presence of landmines.

Journal of Mine Action Article on Clear Path

An article written by CPI Co-founder Imbert Matthee is appearing in this month's online version of the Journal of Mine Action. Survivor Assistance Profile: Clear Path International Rebuilding Shattered Lives in Southeast Asia You can read the article here. Imbert,...