Monday, November 28, 2005
VIETNAMESE AGENT ORANGE VICTIMS TOUR US SEEKING JUSTICE
Đặng Thị Hồng Nhựt (68) – a woman from Hồ Chí Minh City with multiple miscarriages between 1973 and 1980 after exposure to Agent Orange around May 1965.
Nguyễn Mười (22) – the son of a veteran of the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) from Huế who has spina bifida as a result of his 59 year old father’s exposure to Agent Orange in 1970. His mother had two miscarriages in 1974 and 1976. His visa was denied by the U.S. government.
Hồ Sỹ Hải (61) – an army truck driver from Thái Bình who suffers from chronic hepatitis, gastro-duodenal ulcer, enterolitis, unstable blood pressure, and enlargement of prostate as a result of his exposure in Atopo, and Quang Tri between 1965 and 1973.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Something you can enjoy this week
SOMETHING YOU CAN ENJOY
THIS WEEK…………
• DINNER WITH FRIENDS IN A RESTAURANT = $100.00
(OR FOOD FOR 300 FAMILIES FOR ONE DAY IN
VIETNAM)
• 100 MILE CAR TRIP = $6.59 FOR GAS (OR MEDICINE FOR
ONE SICK CHILD FOR SEVERAL DAYS IN VIETNAM)
• A NEW COMPUTER FOR A FEW YEARS, MAYBE = $2,000
(OR FOUR NEW HOMES FOR FAMILIES FOR SEVERAL
GENERATIONS IN VIETNAM)
• RENT MOVIES FOR THE WEEK = $45.00 (OR SCHOOL
FOR A CHILD FOR ONE YEAR IN VIETNAM)
• BUY NEW CLOTHES = $200.00 (OR PURCHASE MEDICINE
FOR A LEPER COLONY IN VIETNAM)
• STOCK UP ON COMPUTER GAMES = $300.00 (OR
PURCHASE NEEDED MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FOR A
CLINIC IN VIETNAM)
• PURCHASE A NEW CARPET TO SPRUCE UP THE ROOM =
$400.00 (OR FEED A NURSING HOME FOR THREE
MONTHS IN VIETNAM)
Thursday, November 03, 2005
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
Dear friends,
I set up this website with the only aim to raise international awareness of the terrible consequences of agent orange in Vietnam. Therefore, I will not work as a mediator to transfer your money. But some friends did ask me about how to help, so I will show you some methods of contribution:
1. The best method that I whole-heartedly recommend to you is to visit the families of the victims, talk with them and hug them if you can, and offer them your gift (can be money, wheelchairs, a buffalo, medicine, food, clothes, blankets, or books, stationery for the children...). You can feel their happiness right away, and you will be sure that your gift is helpful to them. Your gift may be modest in value, but it is very significant if you can come and talk with them, show them your love and compassion!
I have just found thousands of victims and their addresses here
http://danangquangnamfund.org/letters/index.ao.html
In Vietnamese, we say "your gift worths one , but your travelling worths a thousand" to appreciate the endeavor of the gift bearer.
2. Vietnam Association for Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange
11/41 Linh Lang, Cong Vi, Ba Đinh, Ha Noi
email: nhandaovietnam@fpt.vn
3. Fund for Victims of Agent Orange or Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange Association - Vietnamese RedCross
82 Nguyen Du - Ha Noi
4. I also find this NGO http://danangquangnamfund.org/home is very sincere and they are doing a good job in collecting all the letters from AO victims . They claim that :"100% of your donations go directly towards those most in need."
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Individuals help ease Agent Orange victims' pains
(This little boy is from House T5 at Mr Hung's Friendship village - He is dumb and deaf, mentally retarded. He is always locked in this special wheel chair because he can not sit by himself - He is one of the most illustrative example of how destructive agent orange can be to Vietnamese people)
Ha Noi, Mar. 23 (VNA)
...Many organisations and individuals have helped Agent Orange victims ease their spiritual and physical pains. They include Nguyen Khai Hung, Director of the Viet Nam Friendship Village in Van Canh commune of northern Ha Tay province. Although Hung can rest at the age of 69, he is deeply attached to Agent Orange victims: war veterans, young volunteers and their children. Based on a list of Agent Orange victims nationwide, Hung travelled far and wide to take children to the village. Since the establishment of the village in 1998, he has brought here more than 200 children from 34 provinces and cities from Quang Nam province northwards. He knows by heart every child's name, family background, and medical condition. The children, on their part, love him dearly. They loudly greet him from afar. A blind 8-year-old girl, hearing his voice, clung to him wanting to be hugged. She only let him go after a lot of sweet talk.
Ho`a (left) and Luong (right) are the two kids of the class one. Ho`a has a deformed face, and Luong has a big head due to his swelling brain. Their teacher said both of them can not advance to class two because of their intellectual deficiency. However, in terms of social contact, they are very sweet and friendly. They like shaking hand and holding your hand to show you around the village.
Not only director Hung but many others at the village are devoted to child victims of Agent Orange. They are teachers and nurses, who spend up to 20 hours a day caring for the children, feeding them and helping them learn and play. Most of them have retired, but still accept the hard work at the village out of the compassion for the innocent children.
Tran Thi Hong, who volunteered to work for the village since it was founded, said the village initially received eight kids with various mental and physical deformities. During the time, such nurses like Hong had to live with these kids and took dual jobs - looking after and teaching them. As a former teacher at the Xuan Phuong primary school at Ha Noi's outlying district of Tu Liem, Hong cannot hold back her tears while talking "I love those kids. They are suffering from illnesses." ...
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
SUCH A FAMILY!
(Photo from www.photo.nl Copyright Jan Banning)Tran Dinh Ca (boy, centre) is 6 years old. His mother: "Ca can't understand, speak, hear nor walk or stand. He can't eat by himself. He just lies in bed all the time. Ca has no feeling of pain, or cold and heat. He just shales his head and grinds his teeth all the time. He doesn't react to noise, and his hands and legs are always in slight convulsions."
To Vietnamese people, children is the most important treasure of parents. Most parents consider the growing and success of their children to be their life-long achievement. They rank each other by the health, intelligence, and good behaviours of their children, they envy with eachothers because of their children. The parents of the agent orange children therefore, have a low social status because many people still maintain backward thinking that only "unblessed" people give birth to the deformed children.
In this photo, the most miserable are the parents, who have to bear the pain of their children the most.
As you look around in the photo, you will find nothing of value, except for a wheelchair donated by a certain charity group. The house is unsafe with tiled roof, unpainted wall. All the family are on one bed. Taking care of the sicked children takes away all the money and the time for the parents to do business. Thus the family is desperately drowned in the quagmire of poverty.
CRAWLING CHILDREN
Huy and Hanh can not walk. All the time, they crawl around a small yard in front of their house. Hanh and Huy can understand a bit.
Here in this photo, Hanh and Huy are nervous of the visitors. They are crawling to hide from Ngoc, a representative of Vietnamese Red Cross and www.chatdocdacam.info
My friends,
I was shocked when I saw this photo. Yes, they were crawling on the ground and they looked ugly, but I am surprised that they are conscious. hey react like any typical Vietnamese child, timid and shy when strangers approach, and this made me remember the Humpedback of NotraDame!
Do we sometime mistreat a real human being because of their appearance?!
I love you kids!
