Ms Vanh is 42 years old, divorced and lives in Kham District with two of her four children. Another son lives in Vientiane with his wife. Vanh has had an intellectual impairment since birth and her son who lives with her has a similar impairment.
In 2008, Vanh and her children were digging a channel near their house when a UXO exploded. One son died as a result and Vanh and her other children sustained shrapnel wounds.
When QLA met Vanh, she and her children were living in a bamboo house with a grass roof that was quite far out from their village and in a state of major disrepair.