Laos and the legacy of war

A misty morning in Khammouane province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Beating out the rice grains in Xieng Khouang province. Everyone helps during the harvest. Most people in Laos are subsistence farmers. If the harvest fails, they go hungry Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Three million tons of ordnance was dropped on Laos over a nine-year period. Craters such as these in Xieng Khouang province scar the landscape in many areas Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Boys walk past a fence built out of cluster bomb units in Xieng Khouang province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Fences and stilts made from cluster bomb units in Xieng Khouang province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

An oil lamp made from a BLU3b cluster bomblet that was defused by a villager in Xieng Khouang province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Boats fashioned from US fighter-bomber drop tanks Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Part of an aircraft wing in a temple in Phanop village. 'We keep it here to remind the children of what happened,' the monk said. 'This belongs to the village and if one day we badly need money we might sell it for the scrap value' Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Children of Boun Doup school, in Saravane province, are warned of the dangers of unexploded ordinance in a classroom supported by cluster bomb casings. MAG is clearing ordnance from the ground nearby so that a larger school can be built Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Children draw deadly bomblets from cluster bombs that still litter their playgrounds 30 years after the war ended Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Clearing land for a school garden so that children can grow food for their families. The MAG team cleared the area around the school and found 14 unexploded bombs Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

A villager in Nong Boua shows unexploded bomblets to MAG community liaison staff. A report with a map and GPS coordinates will be given to one of the technical teams Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

MAG staff inspect a SAM2 surface-to-air missile. Two villagers died here a month previously. They were trying to cut off pieces of the missile to sell, and it is believed some of the highly toxic fuel leaked when they cut a hose Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

A 900kg (2,000lb) bomb in Phanop village, Khammouane province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

A 225kg (500lb) bomb is moved to a pick-up truck by the MAG team in Khammouane province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Villagers watch as a bomb is dragged across a river Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

A 225kg (500lb) bomb is rolled into a UXO (unexploded ordnance) store in Khammouane province. It is one of nine large bombs found by villagers that will be destroyed in a controlled demolition Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

After a number of deadly accidents, the smelters plant in Posavan, Xieng Khouang province, became more cautious about processing UXO. This is one of many piles of bombs outside the plant. Most of the items are unfused and without explosives but many, including a number of white phosphorus rounds, are very dangerous. The plant's owners have asked MAG to check the area Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Villagers hold their ears for an expected explosion in Khammouane province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Anti-aircraft rounds and mortar bombs are destroyed in a controlled demolition in Xieng Khouang province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

The spot where a bomb was destroyed Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Scrap collectors wait by the roadside for buyers, in Khammouane province Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Talay, from Najat village, waits for the scrap dealer's truck to take him home. In the past year there have been seven deaths from his village alone. Collecting scrap is a dangerous occupation Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

The body of 17-year-old Ten, who was blown up along with two friends when they tried to take a fuse off a bomb Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG

Chai, 18, and her 12 year-old brother Song look for scrap metal in Khammouane province. They go to the mountains for up to a week at a time, living on rice they bring with them and bamboo shoots and roots they find in the forest. They spend the day searching and digging and bring their finds to the roadside. 'We can make money for our family doing this and there is no other way for us to make money,' says Chai Photograph: Sean Sutton/MAG