COPE: Learning the Hidden Story

A small, deeply moving visitor centre about unexploded ordnance in Laos and the people who rebuild lives with prosthetic limbs.

Area

Vientiane

Start from

Central Vientiane

Distance

about 2.5 km from the riverfront

Time needed

2–3 hours

Best season

Year-round; a good choice for a rainy afternoon

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

Tuk-tuk, bicycle or ride-hailing app

Tickets & rules

Free entry; donations welcome

Why go

Almost everyone who visits COPE comes out quieter than they went in. It is not a war museum; it is the visitor centre of an organisation that makes artificial limbs and supports rehabilitation, and its exhibition explains why so much of that work is still needed in Laos today.

The displays are simple and humane. A suspended cloud of old prosthetic legs, homemade from wood and scrap, hangs near the entrance. Short films tell the stories of farmers and children who found bomblets in their fields, and of technicians who learned to fit limbs. There are interactive panels, survivors’ testimonies and clear explanations of how clearance teams work.

I would not call it a pleasant visit, but it is an essential one. It changes how you see the paddies and hills outside every town, and it gives context to the warning signs you will see in the countryside.

The story

Between 1964 and 1973, during the wider conflict in Indochina, Laos was subjected to one of the heaviest aerial bombing campaigns in history. More than two million tonnes of ordnance fell on the country, and it is often described as the most heavily bombed nation per capita. A large share was cluster munitions, and a significant proportion of the small bomblets did not explode on impact.

Decades later, those bomblets still lie in fields, forests and riverbanks, especially in the east and centre of the country. Farmers hit them with hoes, children pick up the small round shapes as toys, and scrap collectors sometimes try to open them for metal. Accidents have become far less frequent than they once were, but they still happen every year.

COPE, short for Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise, was set up in the late 1990s to work with the national rehabilitation centre, and it helps people with mobility disabilities of every cause, not only from ordnance. Its visitor centre opened to explain that work and raise funds. Many of the staff and technicians have personal connections to the stories on display.

One of the most striking exhibits is a sculpture made from cluster bomb casings and one of the improvised legs that villagers built for themselves before help reached them. There is often a small shop selling locally made goods, and the donation box is one of the most direct ways a visitor can help.

Getting there

COPE is on Khouvieng Road, within the grounds of the national rehabilitation centre, roughly 2–3 km from the riverfront. A tuk-tuk takes about ten minutes; tell the driver COPE, which most know.

It is easy to combine with the Morning Market, which is on the way, or with That Luang afterwards.

A suggested plan

1. 13:30Take a tuk-tuk from the centre after lunch, when the heat makes outdoor sights hard work.
2. 14:00Walk through the exhibition at your own pace and read the survivors’ stories.
3. 14:45Watch one or two of the short documentary films shown in the screening room.
4. 15:30Visit the small shop, leave a donation, and sit in the garden for a moment before you go.
5. 16:30Return to the river for the evening market and sunset.

Where to stay

The riverside centre is the easiest base; COPE is a short ride away and fits neatly into an afternoon.

Good to know

• The centre is closed on some public holidays; check opening hours, which usually run from morning to late afternoon.
• Some of the films are graphic in places; the staff can advise if you visit with children.
• Buying something in the shop or leaving a donation directly supports rehabilitation services.
• Read the panels about clearance work: they explain the signs and markers you will see in rural Laos.