In a clean, spacious and well-aired room, two young boys are learning to walk again using their new prosthetic legs. The Hpa-an Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Centre in Kayin (or Karen) state is the only clinic of its kind in Myanmar. Financed almost entirely by the International Committee of the Red Cross (without any help from the state), the centre has fitted some 7,000 prosthetic limbs since its opening in 2003. Around two-thirds of those have gone to the victims of landmines. South-eastern Myanmar is one of the most mine-ridden regions in the world. Geneva Call, a Swiss NGO, reckons that over 5m Burmese people live in areas contaminated by landmines, most of which are concentrated on the long border with Thailand (see map on next page).
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