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STOCKTON: Area man spearheads limbs for Laos effort

By John Tredrea, Special Writer
   STOCKTON — With the help of the members of his church, Stockton Presbyterian Church, Kenneth Hayes has raised enough money to provide well over 100 prosthetic limbs for people in Laos, where the need for those limbs is great.
   Mr. Hayes is president of the Flemington-based firm Aqua Survey Inc., which has done underwater bomb detection work in Laos, which borders Vietnam in southeast Asia.
   ”I’ve been to Laos three times and am going back again in a few weeks,” he said Friday.
   While in Laos, where he has also worked for a gold-mining company, Mr. Hayes was shocked to learn of the great need for prosthetic limbs.
   ”During the Vietnam War, we flew 560,000 bombing missions into Laos,” he said. “All these years later, there are about 80 million unexploded bombs in the ground. There are two or three accidental detonations of those bombs, which can cause maiming or death, every day.”
   He noted that Laos is a very poor country, with the income of the average family being $460 a year.
   ”When you see people, some of them kids, dealing with a makeshift prosthetic limb made out of a stick of bamboo and an old T-shirt, you feel you have to do something to help,” he said.
   He learned that prosthetic limbs can be made in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, for $75.
   ”I bought some limbs for people myself while I was over there. It hit me that $75 is about what it costs for two people to go out to dinner in Lambertville,” he said.
   With the help of Kenneth Good, pastor of Stockton Presbyterian Church, Mr. Hayes enlisted the help of his congregation.
   ”Bomb Harvest,” a film about Laos being plagued with all those unexploded bombs, was shown at the church as part of a fundraising effort.
   The goal was to raise enough money to buy 100 prosthetic limbs. “We raised enough money for more than 100,” Mr. Hayes said.
   ”It’s been very rewarding. The real news is that, if anyone else would like to contribute by buying one of these prosthetics, they should send a check for $75 to Stockton Presbyterian and write ‘leg’ in the memo line of the check.
   ”This is an ongoing need. Many of those who need these prosthetics are children. They’ll need new prosthetics as they grow. I’m hoping we can provide as many of them as possible,” said Mr. Hayes.
   One of the key reasons, he said, that there are so many accidental detonations, is that the roads in Laos were bombed so heavily.
   ”It really straps the country’s infrastructure,” he said. “The bombs are up to 2,000 pounds and are very unpredictable. Some you can hit with a sledge hammer and they won’t go off. Others will detonate from a slight disturbance. During the heavy rains of the monsoon season, they shift around.”
   ”Everyone at our church is very proud of Ken Hayes and what he’s done. It’s an amazing story,” said Kenneth Good, pastor of Stockton Presbyterian.
   Mr. Hayes is quite self-effacing about his efforts to help people in Laos.
   ”Anyone else who was there and who saw what I saw would have done the same thing I did,” he said.