The war has been over for decades and the wounds from the war are seemingly being healed. However, somewhere in picture of the new life in peace with bright colors, there are dark shades – acute sufferings of Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin victims. The community has made every effort to assist them in alleviating the AO pain.

Representatives of VAVA’s affiliates in Binh Dinh province and Quy Nhon city visit a family of AO/Dioxin victims.

The AO pain alleviation

Going along several narrow backstreet alleys at Nguyen Van Cu Ward, Quy Nhon City, we came to the house of the war veteran Bui Dinh Chuyen. The 66-year-old veteran must hang about his house all day to take care of his disabled son, an AO victim. The son looked like a baby although he was 34 years old.

“He always lays motionless in this same place. I assume all activities of his daily living. He eats about 2 spoons of rice per meal and is becoming weaker and weaker,” he said while adjusting the pillow under the son’s head.

His 7-member family is living in a 4th-level dilapidated house with old leaky metal roof. They have to suffer scorching heat in dry season, leakage and flood in rainy season. Several million-VND-worth house repair is beyond their means.

His family is just one of many AO victims who have been living under extreme hardship. The 1998’s statistics stated that Binh Dinh had 14,064 AO victims, of which 7,042 are of direct exposure (including 1,439 veterans) and 6,992 are of indirect exposure.  12,803 victims are still living now, including 847 people benefiting from the Government’s support.

In order to facilitate the assistance to the AO victims, Binh Dinh Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin was set up on August 3, 2006. Its main tasks are to help the AO victims and advocate for their rights, accept policies of the Party and Government and convey the policies to the victims and their families.

The association also has the function of mobilizing funds from benefactors to support the victims. In addition, it collects pictures and set up files about the victims, providing evidences for Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) in the lawsuits against US Agent Orange manufacturers, seeking compensation for the victims.

Together with the community, the association has made intensive effort to help the victims and their families. In 2009, the association organized 4 times of donations in the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday (the Year of Buffalo), in the Agent Orange day (August 10) and after two storms. The total donation was worth more than 90 million VND.

The provincial association shared parts of the house construction cost with the VAVA for many families of the victims who hadn’t had shelter. 4 houses in districts of Hoai An, Hoai Nhon and Tay were built with part of the fund from the provincial association. 1 family was financed to build their house.

It finished a list of 30 families under very wretched living, in which 7 families were in extreme need of repairing/rebuilding their dilapidated houses in late August last year. Chuyen’s family was also in the list.

Open the arms wide

The association has already established its affiliates in Quy Nhon and 4 districts of Phu My, Vinh Thanh, Tay Son and Phu Cat. 3 new affiliates are expected to be set up in districts of Hoai Nhon, Hoai An and Van Canh this year. “We try to expand the association at grass roots level. Yet, some local authorities haven’t paid much concern to the issue. The establishment at grass roots levels, thus, encounters many obstacles,” said Chairman of the provincial association Phung Ngoc Diep.

The provincial association often sends letters to businesses on occasions of the annual Agent Orange day or big holidays, calling for their donations to the AO victims. Yet, the donation amount is very small. In 2009, after 3 campaigns, the association mobilized just 7.3 million VND. The fund raising was better in the first 6 months of 2010 although only one enterprise of dozens promised to finance the victims’ house construction.

“Because the association was newly established, many benefactors don’t know about it. We will speed up the communication activities through various channels to raise public awareness of the victims’ distressed living in the near future,” said Diep.

The association also signed with Binh Dinh Veterans’ Association a co-action plan on helping the AO victims in need of preferential credit for their business operation, exchanging experience in bringing up, treating diseases, rehabilitating, providing vocational training and educational services for the victims, and selecting the veterans who experience health problems from being exposed to the toxic chemical and their children to enjoy treatment and rehabilitation services at the Village of Friendship.  

• Van Trang