The fields, forests, and even schoolyards of this part of Laos are riddled with live bombs, a deadly legacy of a war that ended more than 30 years ago. During the Vietnam War, the United States dropped tons of tennis-ball-sized cluster bombs, called "bombies," on Laos. Millions of these bombs failed to explode, and remain a terrible threat to this day.

Betty Kasdorf, who grew up on a farm outside Niverville, Manitoba, appreciates the importance of land to these Laotian villagers. What could be more devastating for a farmer than to see his children go hungry? But as the representative for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) program in Laos, she also knows that too many people, often children, are hurt or killed in situations like this. Just recently, after spiking a stake into the ground to tether his water buffalo, a boy hit a bombie and lost a limb.

"Even after villages are cleared of bombs," says Betty, "they continue to surface." "When farmers dig or bring water from the mountainside, there is always the potential of unexploded bombs." The Bounthavi family has already found dozens of bombies in their rice paddy. But if they want to eat, they must farm.

Betty is here to show B.C. filmmaker Jack Silberman about the MCC's rural programs, which since 1975 have supported efforts to clear the land of bombies and to educate children about their danger. "Children here, like children all over the world, are attracted to small objects, things they can play with. And a lot of the bombies are just the right size to use as a small ball. So just picking one up, tossing it around...it puts them in danger."

As she leads the film crew to the village school, it becomes clear that bombie education is just as important as anything else these children learn. Charts identify a constellation of deadly antipersonnel weapons. Crayon-coloured posters warn of hidden dangers in the ground. The film crew would later tape a demolition team clearing ordnance from a schoolyard where over 300 bombies had already been found. A teacher leads the class in the "bombie song" which has been introduced into schools throughout the country in local dialects. Villagers gladly tell and even sing their stories to the camera, hopeful that their message will be heard around the world. They want to help the film do its job: to warn everyone of the devastation of cluster bombs. The villagers know that, when their land is cleared, and the village is safe, the children will be able to play, as children should.