CHARITY CLUB WARM WITH LOVE JOIN HANDS TO SUPPORT FOR THE ORANGE VICTIMS IN VIETNAM

Although the war has receded, the legacy of that war still haunts millions of Vietnamese and the third and fourth generations born in peacetime every day. Starting on August 10^th, 1961, the US military sprayed Agent Orange / dioxin over the Southern battlefield for 10 years. During that decade, the biggest chemical war in human history in South Vietnam with huge consequences has destroyed and persisted until today.

Agent Orange is a herbicide and defoliant chemical used by the US military during the war in Vietnam. This chemical has been used by the US on a large scale in Vietnam, causing serious poisoning in many regions. According to statistics, during this chemical war, about 3 million hectares of forests and fields in Vietnam were exposed to about 80 million liters of herbicides and defoliants chemical (also known as extractive).

Agent Orange / dioxin can cause diverse and complex damage on all physiological organs of the body such as skin, liver, thyroid, diabetes, endocrine, and neural cancer. Especially for the impact in causing mutation of gene and chromosome causing birth defects, reproductive complications. Common diseases in descendants of Agent Orange victims are congenital anomalies, congenital malformations and schizophrenia… Agent Orange can be passed on for generations and in Vietnam the Agent Orange sequelae has been passed on to the 4^th generation.

Up to now, when the war is over, it still leaves consequences; in many places ecosystems and environments are damaged. Agent Orange has strong and long-term impacts on the environment, ecosystems and human health. Decades later, concerns about the health effects of these chemicals, including Agent Orange, the addiction of Agent Orange production, continued.

If there is a chance to visit families affected by the “pain of Agent Orange”, surely no one can hold back tears before the deformed children and those parents who are struggling every time with poverty to maintain a life, painful emotional and physical wounds. The majority of Agent Orange victims’ families are those in extremely difficult circumstances, the poorest of the poor. Almost all of them just have a simple desire for their children to be born as healthy as any other normal child. But that simple dream is too far away. Agent Orange is like an invisible rope binding many generations of Vietnamese people, victims of Agent Orange, with a dark future. They are living there, but their life is likened to a terrible earthly hell and that life is scarier than death.

In order to share the love for those who unfortunately are contaminated with Dioxin due to the impact of war, Charity Club Warm With Love has cooperated with Vietnam Agent Orange Magazine to implement the program “BUILD A HOME FOR THE VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE 2020” with preparation from the first half of 2020. The survey was done ultimately through the difficulties of the pandemic situation.  Until today, on August 10^th, 2020, Day for Victims of Agent Orange /Dioxin, The Charity Club is pleased to announce that it has initially completed the legal documents to prepare for the construction of houses for the two most disadvantaged households that has surveyed recently.

After the Charity Club Warm With Love took two surveys, actual situation survey of households on June 12^th-14^th, 2020 and technical survey on July 8^th-10^th, 2020 of Agent Orange victim families in Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Ha Tinh provinces, The Team Leaders has agreed and approved the housing construction documents for the following two families:

• Le Trung Thieu’s family (born in 1953) lives in Van Minh village, Tan Lam Huong commune, Thach Ha district, Ha Tinh province. He served in the military and was infected with Agent Orange. He is married and has 5 children, of which 3 children are mentally ill due to indirectly affected by Agent Orange and 2 children with intellectual disability. Currently one of his children has died. The child of his oldest son is intellectual disability too. Thus, all 3 generations are affected by Agent Orange.
• Nguyen Thi Nau’s family (born in 1944) lives in Bich Loc Trieu village, Trieu Long commune, Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri province. She is 77 years old, raising her daughter and her son, both mentally ill. Especially her son, who suffers from severe schizophrenia, often wanders and used to get lost in Saigon, so when she found and brought him back, she was forced to let him live in a dark locked room and all activities are in an area of ​​1-2 m² which is humid and unhygienic.

House construction cost for Mr. Le Trung Thieu is 101,470,000 VND, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Nau is 104,714,000 VND. Congratulations to the first two families of the program. These are two families with circumstances that meet the Club’s review criteria in 2020. The Charity Club is coordinating with the locality and the contractor to carry out the necessary procedures to implement the construction.

Agent Orange victims suffer many disadvantages both mentally and physically. They cannot have a normal life and their lives are very miserable. Hopefully, with these houses, it will alleviate the pain of Agent Orange and support them to have a stable house and a better life.

Charity Club Warm With Love calls for the generosity of sponsors and people who have kindness and want to contribute to sharing love for the unhappy lives and replicate these meaningful activities. All donations please turn to:

• Beneficiary: CLB Thien nguyen Am Tinh Yeu Thuong
• Account number: 059704078787878
• Bank: HDBank – East Saigon branch
• Content of transfer: “No 01 – Mr. Le Trung Thieu”; “No 02 – Ms. Nguyen Thi Nau”; or “supporting Agent Orange victims”

With the aim of spreading love, the Charity Club Warm With Love has implemented many successful community development projects. In which, the program “BUILD A HOME FOR THE VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE 2020” will be one of the typical projects contributing to motivate, encourage and help people to have more motivation to strive, overcome difficulties, and up in life.

During this time, the Club still cooperates with the Vietnam Agent Orange Magazine to investigate and survey the difficult circumstances of Agent Orange victims to continue implementing the program in the next time.

The Charity Club Warm With Love