Contact information:
Primary contacts for the grant:
Michael Brownstein
Fiscal Agent: Veterans for Peace--
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign
Merle Ratner and Michael Brownstein
Project Agent Orange Grant
Introduction:
In present day Viet Nam People continue to be affected by exposure to Agent Orange. U.S. forces contaminated many people and some of the land of Vietnam during the spraying of Agent Orange from 1961 until the early 1970s. The Vietnamese government is trying to help these people, but it cannot afford even forty years later to fully address the effects of the contamination on public health and the environment. Because of severe financial constraints, full support to cover all of their needs cannot be offered.
“People living there suffer terrible diseases because of the effect of Agent Orange,” according to Professor Nguyen Thi Hoa (Department of Botany, Hanoi University of Agriculture). “Given the right resources, we feel we can solve a lot of the problems in this area. A lot of the people, including several generations of children, suffer from extremely serious birth defects and other illnesses.
“Many of the children conceived from individuals who came in contact with this chemical have children with horrific problems. Whole families are made up of individuals who cannot support themselves. The Vietnamese government has to support them because the affects of dioxin in Agent Orange has affected their genetic make-up and has caused major birth defects and many of them are disfigured in body and mind. Even the third generation has problems—the affects on the genetic material has passed through three—perhaps four—generations. I say perhaps because the data we have collected only goes through three generations, not four.
“Given financial support, we want to research if children with these birth defects can become stronger due to a healthier diet and more financial resources. Though we understand their genes cannot be healed, we hope to be able to document that these children can become stronger, more cognitively developed and more capable of self-support if they are given needed resources at an earlier age.”
The project will be a joint effort between the Ha Noi University of Agriculture and VAVA (Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin) in Ha Noi with assistance from the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign and Project Agent Orange in the United States.
Objective:
If Agent Orange victims are given financial support raising their standard of living, the family will grow stronger and healthier. Even though the damage to the genetic structure of the victims cannot be fixed, this grant will explore the financial avenue: Can a higher standard of living create a healthier fourth and/or fifth generation? Can data and additional research be developed to prove that additional financial support does impact positively on Agent Orange victims and their family? Can it transform the next generation?
Research Model:
Money will be utilized to support six families in the Ha Noi District with very young children (children four years or younger). The research team will be made up of one professor and five students who will study the progress of selected families over a ten to sixteen month period. Families will receive 1600 American dollars to supplement their income. (The money will be spread out through the duration of the grant.) Agent Orange victims will be offered medical support and cognitive tests to measure the results of the research. (Each member of the family will be given a pretest and a post-test.) Comprehensive journals detailing dietary improvements will be kept by the researchers. Charts will also be kept on weight and growth. Improved living conditions will be described in detail through observation and annotated record keeping. Researchers will meet with the families at least twice a month or more for discussion, observation and other assistance as needed.
Budget:
Families of Agent Orange victims: (6 families) $1,600 per family = $9600
Administrative expenses: 200
(to cover food for the research team, transportation, etc.)
Miscellaneous expenses: 200
(other expenses incurred during the study)
Total: $10,000
Additional budgetary comments:
The Youth Union of Hanoi University of Agriculture leadership has promised to help with human resources and transportation throughout the Has Noi area when the project is funded.
The lion’s share of funds will go to the six families involved in the research project.
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Conclusion:
All research will be made public, funders will receive monthly reports from the research team in both Vietnamese and English, and all aspects of the research will be open to transparency (with safeguards to protect privacy of the individual family members in place). Furthermore, financial records of the grant will be available to the funding sources. Funders will also be invited on site to see the actual research and the results of their funding.
Sustainability:
The research will be analyzed over the period of the grant. Further monies will be collected to continue the research from one or more foundations.
Appendixes:
501C3 for the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign is on file.
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One question we hope to come to a conclusion on is how financial support for Agent Orange victims impact on their overall health--and the health of their children and grandchildren. We expressed this question with Richard D. Hartwell:
Rick,
We received a 5000 dollar grant to study the effects of Agent Orange on the fourth generation of Vietnamese. I just have a quick question for you to think about--and if you can--help us with: Do you feel the safety net the USA has for it's citizens to keep us fed and healthy helps to transform the mutated Agent Orange gene into a recessive one? In other words, can the theory the fittest survive be a method to rid our bodies of the mutated genes?
Thanks.
Michael
Rick's answer:
Michael:
Wow! Have you ever hit on something I have thought about for years!
I have one son who has stomach problems and has declined to have kids. I have another son who was released from the Army because of health problems who has two kids: one with minor health problems (who states early on that he does not want children either), the other with skin problems and delayed speech. All these live with us. I had a third son who committed suicide after his MS progressed severely. He had two kids, one with epilepsy. My daughter has a genetic disorder, Prader-Willi Syndrome, and is subsequently sterile. She lives with us also. Also recall that my first wife had two premature births as well.
Had we known these outcomes, we probably would have declined to have children at all.
My answer to the way you first phrase the question is, Yes! I do believe that our government's support would/does "encourage" the retention of the mutated recessive. As to the way you rephrase the question, I would change it to: in other words, can the theory the fittest survive be a method to rid our [gene pool] of the mutated gene? My answer to this is, Yes, but only up to a point. I believe the mutated recessive will remain in our gene pool and will periodically arise when least expected and when un- or inaccurately diagnosed, such as I believe is now occurring in our culture.
Long-winded answer, for which I apologize, but I hope this helps. By the way, I would like to become more involved.
Best -
Richard D. Hartwell
When hate is in the seeds, you can only harvest weeds. Ernst Jünger, The Glass Bees
In joined hands there is hope; in a clenched fist, none. Victor Hugo, Toilers of the Sea
An eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind. Mohandas Gandhi, The Mahatma
I hope everything is OK with everyone in our forum.Last week we visited three families from the list given to us by VAVA. All three fit our project's criteria. We also discussed with the family members the methods for how they want to be supported. Below is their situations in brief. A full report will be sent when we complete the supported solution for each family.
Family No 1 from Van Lam (Hung Yen province) has six members: an old couple of soldiers, their two sons, the wife of the youngest son and a little grand son. The soldier has four children, two daughters and teo sons. Both daughters are married and do not live with their parents. Both sons suffered mental illnesses due to effects of Agent Orange.You may surprised when you know that both of them got married. However, the wife of the elder son left the family because she could not stand that life and the wife of the youngest son is now the main labor support for the family. Honestly, I feel that she also has mental problems (unconfirmed). She gave birth to a little boy and now she is expecting another. After listening to the family and discussing ideas with them, we think that we can help them to raise rabbit and buy them a pump.
Family No 2 from Van Giang (Hung Yen province) also has six members: one old couple, their eldest son and his wife, and two grandsons who seriously suffer from the effects of agent orange. That's why all they want is money to take their grandsons to a hospital when needed. The main income of the family is from agricultural cultivation so we want to support them by buying seedling plants (orange and kumquat).
Family No 3 from Gia Lam - Hanoi consists of one soldier's eldest son, his wife and two children. They are very poor because the husband cannot go to work. All he can do is raise a cow so he wants us to buy him one more. Six month later, we may help them to buy fertilizer and seeds for his crop.
That's all information I have.
To forum members, if you have suggestions on methods of support, please lert us know.
Thank you very much. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Hoa.
From Professor Hoa:
I can estimate the amount of money spent for each family. (Sums are listed in Vietnamese currency. Converted into USA dollars, this sum is approximately 3500 dollars.)
Family 1: the initial investment will include:
A small pump: 7,000,000 VND
Rabbit cages: 1,000,000 VND/couple x 6 couples = 6,000,000
Breeding rabbit: 250,000/ one x 12 = 3,000,000
Total: 16,000,000
Family 2:
Seedling type 1 (which can be sold on this year's Tet holiday):
120,000/one x 100 = 12,000,000 VND
Seedling type 2 (which can be sold next year)
25,000/one x 400 = 10,000,000 VND
Total: 22,000,000 VND
Family 3:
1 cow: 15,000,000
cattle - feed: about 700,000 VND/month x 12 = 8,400,000 VND
Total: 23,400,000
The total initial investment for three families is 61,400,000 VND--approximately 3500 US dollars.
Because the business will be between the farmers who we are supporting with our project and farmers who own seedling plants and breeding animals, not a company, there's no receivables or contracts. Instead, we will make a deal authorized by the local government. I asked VAVA whether that kind of official document will be accepted as a legally financial document or not and they said it's OK.
OPPENHEIMER FAMILY FOUNDATION – HANOI AGRICULTURE UNIVERSITY’S YOUTH UNION
VOLUNTEER TEAM OF THE PROJECT AGENT ORANGE VIETNAM
FIRST REPORT
by Nguyen Thi Hoa, Professor, Ha Noi University of Agriculture
With the financial support of Oppenheimer Family Foundation, represented by Ted Oppenheimer and Michael Brownstein; the help from Veterans for Peace Organization; the personnel support from Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) as well as the Youth Union of Hanoi Agriculture University, the volunteer team of the Project Agent Orange Vietnam has been established in order to financially and technically assist three families of Agent Orange Victims by improving their living standards. This is the report on our first three months doing the task.
Three families as suggested by VAVA come from three different communes in Hanoi (the Capital) and Hung Yen (one province nearby) with different situations and requirements. Therefore, we chose distinctive solutions for each family depending firstly on their ability to work and then on what we considered best for their current situation based on our own observation and experiments. Our hypothesis is that the family of Agent Orange victims will become stronger, more viable, and self-sustainable with more financial support.
1. Materials and Methodology
a. Family 1:
Owner: Phan Viet Anh
Place of residence: Le Chi commune, Gia Lam Dist., Hanoi, Vietnam
Situation: Viet Anh is the eldest son of Mr. Phan Van Linh, a soldier who joined the fighting in Truong Son battlefield during 1971 – 1975. He suffered muscle atrophy on his arm and cannot do hard work. Fortunately, although he was not good at school, he can still think normally and work in some capacity to help his family.
His wife is now the main labor force in the family. They have two children. Both are studying in primary school, one in the 3rd year and the other in the first. There’s no report on Viet Anh’s daughters’ physical or mental weaknesses
The family possesses a temporary small field for rice planting and an ox. They want another ox to raise together with the current one to earn more money and to be able to use their time more effectively.
Solution: One more cow is a potential solution for the family because Viet Anh, although he is not as strong as a normal person, can still feed them. After 10 – 12 months, he can sell the mature cow to earn money and reinvest in another younger cow.
If it is possible, Viet Anh family can get money to buy additional cattle – feed, fertilizer and seed for his new crop.
b. Family 2
Owner: To Trung Kien
Place of residence: Lien Nghia commune, Van Giang Dist., Hung Yen, Vietnam
Situation: Kien is the eldest son of the soldier named To Quy Coi who sent his letter to VAVA asking for help. Mr. Coi fought in Loc Ninh battlefield, Bien Hoa in 1967 and was severely wounded in 1973 in Cai Be, My Tho. After the war, he was married and gave birth to two sons. The eldest son, Kien, suffers muscle atrophy and has a slight mental illness. For this reason, he has a low educational background. There is no evidence of Agent Orange effects on Mr. Coi’s younger son. However, it is not the end of the story. Both Coi’s sons, when coming of age, built their own families with third-generation children. Unfortunately, Kien’s children experience serious mental illness. This has caused the family a lot of pain. No one can tell about the children’s future. They may pass away whenever.
Kien and his wife are both farmers. They lease a piece of land to plant ornamental kumquat for Tet holiday (Vietnamese traditional holiday in New Year due to the Lunar calendar). In this way, they make their main income for the whole family. However, it is not enough for their sons because hospital costs are so high and they have not as of yet received government support for the third generation.
Solution:
Assist Kien in buying more seedling plants for his new crop.
c. Family 3
Owner: Nguyen Van Hai
Place of residence: Chi Dao commune, Van Lam Dist., Hung Yen, Vietnam
Situation: This family has six members: an old couple of soldier, their two sons, wife of the youngest son and a little grandson. The soldier named Hai fought in several battle fields in the Middle of Vietnam: Quang Tri, Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue from 1966 to 1971. When the war ended, Nguyen Van Hai came back home and was married. He and his wife have four children, two daughters and two sons. The daughters experience physical illness: poor vision, osteoporosis, and spine. However, both of them married and do not live off their parents now. Both sons suffer mental illness due to effects of Agent Orange. Despite their illness, they married. However, the wife of the elder son soon left the family because of her own reasons. The wife of the youngest son is now the main labour of the family. Personally, I feel that she also has mental problem although she gave birth to a little boy and now she is expecting another.
At the age of 60, Hai and his wife are still working as doorkeepers and cleaners in a primary school near their home to earn money for their children and grandchildren. This is the way the local government supports his family. However, they remain poor.
Solution: After listening to the family, we think that we can help them to raise rabbits and to buy a new water pump.
2. Results
a. Viet Anh family: They have a new cow.
b. Kien’s family
We gave Kien 500 seedling kumquat plants in which 100 can be sold in Tet holiday this year and 400 smaller plants can be prepared for the next year.
c. Uncle Hai’s family: They are now raising rabbits.
3. Budget:
a. For Viet Anh’s family:
- A cow: 15.000.000 VND
- Cattle- feed: 700.000 VND/month x 12 months = 8.400.000 VND
b. For Kien’s family:
- 100 kumquat plants – medium size: 120.000 VND/one x 100 = 12.000.000 đ
- 400 kumquat plants – small size: 25.000 VND/one x 400 = 10.000.000 đ
c. For Uncle Hai’s family
- A pump: 4.400.000 VND
- Rabbit Cages and Iron gates: 8.600.000 VND
- Rabbit: 4 (3 pregnant females and 1 male): 750.000/one x 4 = 3.000.000 đ
d. Support team’s members: 2.600.000 VND
Total money spent as of 05/06/2012: 64.000.000 VNĐ
Legally financial documents, such as contracts, receipt have been submitted to VAVA's office on 5th June, 2012
Money is kept by our team: 6.000.000 VND
The rest is in VAVA’s account.
4. Plan:
The team will visit every family monthly and technically support each family for their work. After 2 – 3 months, if it’s necessary to assist those families more, team’s member will send plan and report to Michael Browstein
Project Agent Orange Report Update from Admin Hau:
In the last days of July I went to the three Project Agent Orange families with Mr. Thanh and Ms. Giang to discuss the next plan of the project based on the actual support and the reasonable needs of the three families. (Ms. Giang is a livestock engineer at HUA—Ha Noi University of Agriculture—and a new member of the project.)
Our group decided to support the plan as follows (for the remaining 30 million VNĐ—one million VND is equivalent to approximately fifty USA dollars):
1. Anh's family - Gia Lam - Ha Noi: Additional support: 6.6 million VNĐ to buy cattle feed (total support amount is 30 million VNĐ/ 2 times).
2. Kien's family - Van Giang - Hung Yen: Additional support: 8 million VNĐ to buy fertilizer for crops (total support amount is 30 million VNĐ/ 2 times).
3. Hai's family - Van Lam - Hung Yen: Additional support: 15.4 million VNĐ (10 million to buy 4 rabbits and 5.4 million VNĐ to buy rabbit food) and the total support amount is 31.4 million VNĐ/ 2 times)
Sincerely.
Hau
Today we (Mr.Thành, Miss Giang, a student and me) spent the day visiting three families. In general everything is OK. The 500 trees of Kien’s family grows well. They are being shaped beautifully. The bull of Viet Anh’s family is healthy with good growth. The baby rabbits of Mr.Hai’s family have been separately raising from their parents. They grow well and fast.
However, today we met with an incident when we were checking the health of the herd of rabbits. The second son of Mr. Hai (Mr. Hai and his wife have 2 sons with sequelae of Agent Orange - abnormal nerve) threatened to "kill" us. We were very scared. At one point, to avoid his kick, Mr. Hai was wounded in the forehead, but fortunately not too seriously.
This is memorable for our volunteer group. We have more experience with our continued exposure to Agent Orange families. It's sad and sorry for them, but we encouraged the famlly to get him treatment so he does not endanger the family. But this is difficult to implement for Mr. Hai as the fruits of his labor are still developing and money remains an issue.
Hau
COST ESTIMATE FOR ONE HOUSEHOLD
(Copied and pasted from a Word document sent by Nguyen Thi Hau. Fifty USA sollars equals 1,000,000 Vietnamese dollars.)
Order Name of Equipment Unit Quantity Unit price
(In VND) Amount of money
(In VND)
I Expenses of water filter system
1 Pumping Water Machine (Korea, 250W) Block 1 2,700,000 2,700,000
2 PlasticWater pipe Ø27 Metre 30 12,000 360,000
3 PlasticWater pipe Ø21 Metre 30 8,000 240,000
4 Water filter Basin (Building + filter Materials ) Block 1 7,000,000 7,000,000
5 Filter system support (brick or steel) Block 1 9,000,000 9,000,000
6 Filtered Water tank (chrome steel) 1,5m3 Block 1 6,000,000 6,000,000
7 Water drinking filter machine (RO) Block 1 5,300,000 5,300,000
8 Cutoff Valve Block 6 70,000 420,000
9 Cable attachment Block 25 5,000 125,000
10 Electric wire Metre 30 10,000 300,000
11 Hired labor Daywork 15 300,000 4,500,000
Total I 35,945,000
II Other expenses
1 Cost for taking orange victim to Hospital 10,000,000
2 Working expenditures 15,000,000
3 Contingent expenses 6,000,000
Total II 31,000,000
Total I + II 66,945,000
Total for all households 200,835,000
From the lead Project Agent Orange Admin, Hau:
I just come from a volunteer trip to help the poor children in Cao Bang - a mountainous province of Viet Nam--for six days with my friends and students.
Our Project Orange is doing well:
"Quất" garden of Mr.Kien was harvested for the Tet holiday in Vietnam, 250,000 VND /tree (With a total of 500 trees).
Mr.Hai: Mother rabbits gave birth four times successfully. Mr.Hai sold twelve rabbits. Volunteer groups brought him to my university for technical training breeding rabbits as couple of times. (He had the assistance there instead of at his home due to fears about his 2nd son). Mr.Hai also has spent a month and a half in the "Vietnam Friendship Village" to improve his health. (Sir George Mizo, a U.S. veteran, is president of the "Vietnam Friendship Village." He founded this village to help children and the Viet Nam veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange).
Mr.Viet Anh sold twenty chickens. This supported our project with 80.000đ/kg. The meat cow also sold for 180,000 VND/kg (cow's weight is 300kg).
2012 was a triumphant year for the three families, although the proceeds are not that high, but the project's first complete year has brought joy, hope and renewal in their lives--and in the lives of others in their community. (Mr.Hai shared this with us.)
We will write a detailed report of the 1st Project Agent Orange year and send it as soon as possible.
Thank you so much,
Hau
An Update on Project Agent Orange
From Nguyen Thi hau, our Vietnamese Administrator:
Dear Project Agent Orange supporters and friends,
I'm doing well.
Kien's family harvested the entire “quat” garden. They are actively preparing the soil for the coming season in May.
Viet Anh's family: The commercial chicken sold out, the bulls continue to grow, and in about one week they will be for sale at reasonable prices.
Hai’s family: The rabbit have had good reproduction. The baby rabbits have healthy growth. In March, 2013, they sold ten baby rabbits. But a mother rabbit and a baby rabbit were killed by Mr.Tan (Hai’s second son) when he had a seizure (brought on by Agent Orange) on last Monday.
Ms.Giang and I contacted some mental hospitals in Hung Yen province and Ha Noi with the desire to send Mr.Tan for long term help, but failed. (A hospital in Hanoi received him, but then required Mr.Tan has a household registration in Ha Noi.)
If the funding for the project is sent in May, we will be able to continue to implement the project in a good manner. (We received a small grant from the professors of the Hanoi University of Agriculture and this has helped us a lot.)
No matter what, Project Agent Orange will be implemented in the best way by the Youth Union and Dr.Hai.
Thank you so much,
Hau.
Thank you so much,
Michael Brownstein
A report from Viet Nam on the progress of Project Agent Orange from Nguyen Thi Hau:
Dear Project Agent Orange,
The three families (Agent Orange communities)* have developed pretty good capital from the turnover from the raising of livestock. The stage one funds made this happen.
Mr. Viet Anh’s family: They have used some of the money from the sale of a cow to buy a new cow and the interest earned is enough money to buy cow food. I have not had the opportunity to visit them, but my students say the cow is healthy and has a beautiful appearance.
Mr. Kien’s family: In mid-May, they will grow a new “quat” crop, but not a lot of seedlings as in stage 1 (when they had your support). They are now actively working to prepare the soil for the new plants.
Mr. Hai’s family: The mother rabbit we provided before Viet Nam Tet holiday has five baby rabbits. He also sold some baby rabbits and used this money to buy food for all of the rabbits. However, the rabbits are still threatened by the son of Mr. Hai--the son with an Agent Orange syndrome that makes him lose control. He has threatened to kill the rabbits for food. We need funding to get him psychological help.
The filter system that we intend to build has not been performed due to lack of funding.**
Currently, we (my students, memebers of the community here in Viet Nam, and others) and our three Agent Orange families are trying to maintain a production model with the livestock and plants, but it has been very hard to expand because of the amount of interest earned from farming is not much. We hope with further funding--stage 2 funding--that we can create sustainable income.
All of us working on this project are always very grateful for Project Agent Orange's attention and continued support.
Best regard
Hau
* From Michael Brownstein: Continued support for these three families expands throughout the community because others in the community who also are Agent Orange victims themselves or have family members with Agent Orange issues receive employment and assistance from the project and the studies we are actively perusing involves a number of Vietnamese university students, university professors and others from the greater community (all volunteers) who are utilizing hands-on approaches to solve real life problems. Because of this, every dollar donated to this cause triples in value.
**From Michael Brownstein: Because of Project Agent Orange. We were able to discover one of the hidden causes that continues to harm Agent Orange victims in Viet Nam (but not here in the USA) is issues with the water supply. We have been able to show that unsanitary water creates worse issues with Agent Orange victims. The Engineering School of the Ha Noi University of Agriculture assigned all of its students to create filtration tools to clean the water. Additional funding will allow these student developed systems to be developed, tested and utilized.
Dear Rick, Michael and our friends,
Thank you very much for helping the Orange Vietnam victims. I only regret that I did not have much time to pay more attention to the project (after I got married and began the preparations procedures for admission in August 2013).
We (the group of teachers and students) also had a lot of ideas to support the Agent Orange victims; however, the monetary support was difficult to collect in Viet Nam. A donor from my country—usually a company or corporation—would receive long-term benefits from the sponsorship. We often financed clothes, books, milk for the children and the elderly of the Agent Orange families.
Dr. Hai (the head of the Youth Union) is very interested in the project. He often updates information and reports to the Ha Noi Youth Union so the project can receive wider attention.
The three families Project Agent Orange supported, Mr. Hai's family is very poor, but he is a very affectionate man with a good heart and he always shows his deep gratitude to the donors and volunteers. During the Viet Nam Tet holiday, he cycled up to 20km to our university to give us 5kg of peanut that his wife planted to give as gifts to the teachers and students. Of course, we do not need anything from him and his family, but this really touched us and made us even more determined to make Project Agent Orange a great success.
Best regard
Nygen Thi Hau, Vietnamese Admin.
Ha Noi University of Agriculture
Dear Project Agent Orange supporters,
I have just returned Hanoi from Ha Giang, a mountainous province of Vietnam, so I could not answer your email earlier.
I talked to Dr. Hai and we would like to thank you for the help. With a 450 USD donation we are going to assist three families. We will use the support for renovations in the filter tank of Mr. Kien's family and Mr. Anh's family. Mr. Hai's family has no water filter tank and it’s too costly to build a filter, so we will continue to wait for the next support.
This week, I am going to visit all of the participants in our project with Miss Giang and two students. We will inform them of the plan.
Thank you much.
Nguyen Thi hau,
Viet Nam Admin
Here is the latest update from Nguyen Thi Hau, our project administrator in Viet Nam:
Dear Project Agent Orange members and supporters,
We discussed with the families about the supported money (500 USD), they agreed to use this money to repair the water filter tank of Mr. Kien's family. Due to raw material costs that is quite large, so it cannot be to modify tanks for two families.
Currently, the garden of Mr. Kien has done well and they are prepared to buy new "quat" trees for planting. The 2nd son of his (2 sons of Mr. Kien were affected by Agent Orange) are seriously ill--the boy is being treated in the hospital.
Mr. Hai's family: They are still well maintained with their rabbit breeding. The 2nd son's mental health has improved because he takes medication regularly.
Mr. Viet's family: He has bought two calves with 36 million VND (the cow - which supported by the project - has been sold for 29.5 million VND). Although he did not make that much money from selling the cows, they are happy and continue to give many thanks to the Project Agent Orange.
When the amount of 500 USD arrives in Vietnam, we will use it for the plan above.
Thank you so much!
Hau
Footnote 1: one million VND--Vietnamese money) = about fifty USA dollars
Footnote 2: because of our involvement (the members of Project Agent Orange in Viet Nam), Mr. Hai's second son is much healthier.
From Nguyen Thi Hau, Admin., Viet Nam
Dear Project Agent Orange forum members,
Today I've finished with the VAVA procedures to receive 10 million VNĐ (=500$)
Next week, we are going to spend the money to buy 2 RO Water Purifier for Mr. Viet Anh's family and Mr. Kien's family as the predetermined plan.
We really appreciate your help with the project!
Thank you so much,
Hau
From Nguyen Thi Hau, one of our Vietnamese admins in an email exchange:
Dear Forum Members,
Here is my latest report:
Today I finished with the VAVA procedures to receive the 10 million VNĐ ($500)
However, VAVA required us to write a bill red (10% tax) for the support of families (fertilizers, feed, crops and livestock) although we have been certified by the local authorities upon the delivery of crops, livestock, fertilizers, and feed to farmers. We tried to use the most effective amount of money, but we were required to pay for the red bill forcing us to use our own money to do this.
I only mention this so you know; we do not mean to complain.
In the future, if the money can be transferred to a personal Vietnamese account and/or an account with the Hanoi University of Agriculture, it will save us more money that can be utilized for the project.
Next week, we are going to spend the money and buy 2 RO Water Purifiers for Mr. Viet Anh's family and Mr. Kien's family as stated in our predetermined plan.
We really appreciate your help with the project!
Thank you so much,
Hau
Dear Forum Members,
Currently we have not bought the red tax to submit to VAVA. We will use the money contributed by individual Vietnamese members for this. So, don't worry. I just hope next time we will not have to buy the red bill for our charity, Project Agent Orange.
Thanks for your attention
Hau
Dear Hau,
Please thank your group for their contribution to Project Agent Orange. Pleases let them know we truly appreciate their financial assistance.
Thank you for all you do.
Michael
Dear Michael,
In Viet Nam, we are celebrating a National Day holiday in 3 days. So next Tuesday I'm going to the Financial Accounting Department of Hanoi University of Agriculture to obtain the address of the account currency and I will send it back to you.
You can post these emails on our forum. I'd accept seeing them with pleasure!
Hau
This is the report from our Viet Nam admins. It came across my desk as a power point. I did a bit of editing. The link seems to be broken, but it works some of the time so I am going to keep it up. Here is the link again: (link deleted)
Thanks.
Michael Brownstein
Project Support for Agent Orange Victims
Ha Noi University of Agriculture, Ho Chi Minh Communist Union
Plan
10 million Vietnamese Dong was spent on this project. Fifty USA dollars equals one million Vietnamese Dong. Here's how the money was sent:
Family visits and surveys—Duong Thanh Haun and Nguyen Thi Chau Giang
Meeting and a discussion of solutions—Nguyen Thanh Hai
Visiting families, giving water filters, installation and testing—Duong Thanh Huan and student volunteers
Results
Installed 2 water filters for two of the three family/communities—Kien’s and Viet Anh’s family.
The reason a water purifier was not installed for Hai’s family/community is because there is no water treatment system with this family and funds are needed to construct one.
General Situation
Economic conditions of the three families/communities are better.
Viet Anh’s family now has two cows.
Unfortunately, the effects of Agent Orange remained unchanged in all families/communities.
Here is the latest report on our Project Agent Orange communities. I must warn you ahead of time: the news is not good. Our original proposal sought 10,000 dollars with a plan that assisted Agent Orange families and/or communities to become self-sustainable and be able to pay for better healthcare. We did not raise that amount and then we spent additional funds on making sure the individuals within our project had clean water (after we discovered the effects of arsenic on individuals with Agent Orange caused disorders). We feel an additional 5,000 dollars will be able to complete the project at least within the confines of the original proposal.
Below is the direct thread to our original funded grant:
This is the latest report from Viet Nam from our admin Nguyen Thi Hau:
Dear Project Agent Orange Supporters,
I'm on maternity leave so I cannot visit directly the households of our project.
I call them to receive updates and other infomation.
Mr. Kien's family and Mr. Viet Anh's family remained very stable in farming and animal husbandry. But the sons' health of Mr.Kien are increasingly weak and his second son died three months ago.
The second son of Mr.Hai had a serious mental attack and he demolished houses, beating relatives, and he killed six rabbits. Currently five rabbits remain healthy. So, Mr.Hai put him into a mental institution for over five months and Mr. Hai had to pay a big fee for hospital. I fear that the son of Mr. Hai will not be in the hospital longer because of financial burdens. There has been a lot of bad news for them, but now they are trying to overcome the shock.
We encouraged their spirit, but currently we do not have solutions to support their alternative livestock.
I'm so sorry because for a long time not sending information to you.
Thank you for your help!
Hau
Great news!
Our donation of one thousand dollars to Project Agent Orange is now in Viet Nam and ready to use. We should have our last Agent Orange family/community with clean running water soon:
Dear Project Agent Orange:
Thank you for your donation of $1,000 to the water project for Hanoi University. Please find attached of VAVA's Receipt and Golden Heart Certificate. We hope that you continue to support our victims.
Best regards,
Tran Thi Que Luong
VAVA
The Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA)
Address: 35 Ho Me Tri Road, Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +844-62 65 26 65; Fax: +844- 62 65 26 43
From one of our Vietnamese admins:
A Report for Project Agent Orange:
Dear Project Agent Orange,
I just returned from my husband home with my son. Unfortunately, it is a mountainous area, no Internet. Because I am back home I can read all the emails you sent. I'm so sorry.
Mr. Hải is busy with campaign volunteers in rural areas this summer, so he can not immediately deploy the project plan for Project Agent Orange. We have received the generous donation and he will inform you in detail of the implementation plan of the project.
I can not access the Internet on a regular basis, but I still regularly call to find out about the Agent Orange families.
Mr. Hai's family has been given support for nearly all of the costs for his son in the mental institution. The money is coming from the Vietnamese government. They can keep him for a long time in the hospital so he will no longer be a danger to himself and others. He is receiving therapy and medicine. Although Mr. Hai and his wife miss their son very much, it is the best solution for his family. The health of his nephews (children of mentally ill son 2nd) is pretty good, not much expression of sequelae from Agent Orange, a three year old baby and a one year old baby. However, they are not as agile as other normal children.
Mr. Kien's family, after the death of one of their children, continues to grow "quất" for sale in Tet of Vietnam; however, he has not received a grant from any source. The health of the 2nd son of Mr. Kien is not good. He can die at any time. This is bad news for them.
Perhaps Mr. Viet Anh's family is the most stable. They still work very hard. A cow and chickens are cared for by Mr. Viet Anh with revolving funds—some of which comes because of Project Agent Orange. His wife works in the fields to pay the rent. Their lives are fairly stable. Their children learn well.
Now that I have returned to Hanoi, I'll try to track projects and updates to you although I can not directly communicate with each family and community because I'm currently busy taking care of my son. He's very active and occupies almost the whole time in my day.
I am very sorry for the disruption contact.
Hau
Here is the report from Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, one of our Vietnamese admins. This report was translated from the original Vietnamese using Google translate. (We are waiting for a better translation.) Also: we could not get the photos to show. I'll keep trying.
HO CHI MINH CITY UNION Youth. HANOI
BCH INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE VIETNAM
***
Hanoi, March 6, 2015
REPORT
(V / v Perform Orange Project)
Dear Orange Project Board, Association of Victims of Agent Orange / dioxin in Vietnam (VAVA);
In the period from January to March 02/2015 07/2014 volunteer group of Youth Vietnam Academy of Agriculture has implemented the survey, design and construction monitoring targets of beaten water filtration system for a family Agent Orange victims with information as follows:
1. Family Name: Mr. Nguyen Van Hai
2. Address: Village Nghia Lo - Welfare Steering - Van Lam District - Hung Yen Province.
3. The current family situation: Due to the impact of the consequences of war, today individuals Nguyen Van Hai and the descendants of him were affected by Agent Orange. It has been of great influence to the intellectual life and daily activities of the family. In particular, he was a son of the right treatment at the Psychiatric Hospital in Hanoi due to abnormal nerve. Family circumstances and economic difficult.
4. Supported: Water filtration system for living including water tanks, water filter tank, water pump, RO water purifier and the accompanying equipment, etc ...
5. Agencies and organizations supporting the project:
Orange + Project Board - Association of Victims of Agent Orange / dioxin in Vietnam: provide funding implementation (1000 USD);
+ Volunteer Group of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Academy of Agricultural Vietnam: Survey, design and supervision of construction of the Project.
6. The effectiveness of the project: The project that families have always wanted to improve their daily life and improve health. This gift is practical significance both physically and mentally for the family (with letter of appreciation from family is certified by the local government attached).
7. Some images based project implementation:
Figure 1. Overview of the filter tank and water tank.
(1 tank water filter; 2. Water tank after filtering)
Figure 2. A representative group of volunteers donated RO water filters for families.
Figure 3. Youth Leadership Academy and representatives of local government buildings to visit.
Figure 4. Letter of thanks from the family
Above is the overview report of Project Orange by volunteer groups of Youth Vietnam Academy of Agricultural done. We respectfully request that the next time Orange Project Board, Association of Victims of Agent Orange / dioxin in Vietnam (VAVA) to continue to support funding to help the families of the victims Orange There are disadvantaged to improve and enhance the quality of life.
Pages in thanks!
CONFIRMATION OF THE UNION INSTITUTE BCH
Secretary
Finally! I figured out how to post the photos:
Overview of the filter tank and water tank .
A representative group of volunteers donated RO water filters for families .
water volunteersYouth Leadership Academy and representatives of local government visit .
« Last Edit: March 20, 2015, 10:07:42 AM by mhbrownstein »
From one of our Vietnamese Admins, Nguyen Thi Hoa
Hi there, Project Agent Orange,
Please see below Mr Hai's letter of appreciation. I did not translate it word for word, but took his idea only.
Cheers,
Hoa
Dear Agent Orange Project, Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange, and the Youth Union of Vietnam National University of Agriculture
My name is Nguyen Van Hai, from Nghia Lo, Chi Dao, Van Lam (district), Hung Yen (Province). I was a soldier coming back from Vietnam war then realised that not only myself but my children were all suffering from the agent orange.
There has been a lot of difficulty going on in my life but I feel relief thanks to you all support. I was dreaming about the new filter system for very long time but without your help, I could never have that dream come true, so thank you very much for such a tremendous gift for us. The new filter system (including water tank, filter bed, RO water fiter, etc…), I believe, will help improving the quality of life for the whole family from now on.
I would like to say thank you to you all again for your great support. Wish you all healthy, happy, and lucky in life.
Sincerely yours,
Nguyen Van Hai
(The letter is certified by local authority)
From one of our Vietnamese Admins, Nguyen Thi Hoa
Here comes the report.
Hoa
Hanoi, 6th March, 2015
Periodical report for the Agent Orange Project
To: The Agent Orange Project and Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA)
From 07/2014 to 02/2015, volunteers from Youth Union of Vietnam National University of Agriculture had designed and supervised the construction of a filter system for one agent orange victim family with below details:
1. Name: Nguyen Van Hai
2. Address: Nghia Lo, Chi Dao, Van Lam dist., Hung Yen province
3. Family circumstances: Hai was a soldier in Vietnam war who has himself, his sons and daughter all suffer from Agent Orange. Agent Orange has had a strong impact on their physical and mental health. Specifically, one of Hai’s sons is now under treatment in Ha Noi Psychiatric Hospital. The family has a lot of difficulties in life.
4. Construction: Household filter system, including tank, filter bed, pump, RO water filters, and accessories.
5. Supporting organizations:
a. Financial support: The Agent Orange Project ($1000)
b. Technical support: Youth Union of Vietnam National University of Agriculture
6. Significant impact: The work helped enhancing the quality of life and also represents a physical and intellectual support for the whole family.
We really appreciate the great support from the Agent Orange Project and wish all the best will come to you and your families.
On behalf of the volunteer team of VNUA Youth Union
Team leader
Nguyen Thanh Hai
Dear Forum Members,
How are you?
Thank you for good information, and thank you very much for compliment about my report!
I contacted with Dr. Nghia (Secretary of the Youth Union Hanoi medical university), he will help us with our project.
He can send a doctor to examine for families with minimum price. (may be free but we must rent transport for doctor) After that may be we buy some medicine for member of family.
But I think with this donation we can also give them some more animals (chickens, rabbits...) and plants depending on the families. Two families are good farmers, but one family (which have a person with neurological patients) we must pay more attention.
Thanks again for the good information
nguyen thanh Hai
Good News! The 2,500 dollar donation is now in Viet Nam.
Here it is:
Dear Project Agent Orange,
We received a donation from Richard Hartwell of $2,500.00 on April 6, 2015.
Paypal charged $72.80… I have a question for you, which you may
have talked to Merle in the past, about the recipient(s) in Vietnam,
what the donation is for to report back to our Campaign's core
national meeting this weekend.
I am ready to tele transfer the donation next week.
Thanks,
Nhan
Co-coordinator
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign
This is the email I sent to VAVA in Ha Noi, Viet Nam:
Dear Nhan Ngo,
Thank you for notifying us that the 2500 dollar (USA) money is now in Viet Nam. The money is to be used to pay a doctor for one or more years to do health check-ups and physicals on the members of our three sponsored families.
"The three Agent Orange families will receive medical support."
"If a new doctor collects only about $1200 per year (2012 figures), I believe the Forum should underwrite the cost of a doctor (and perhaps a community nurse as well) contingent on an agreement that they accept no "gifts" (as periodically verified by our University contacts)."
This is how we wish to spend the 2500 dollars with the individuals in the Ha Noi University of Agriculture.
These are our Viet Nam admin contacts:
nthaicnsh, Nguyen Thi Hoa, nhu trang pham, Sao Mai, kim anh trinh, Quyen Vu, Ha Trang Nguyen, nguyenhau
Thank you.
Michael Brownstein
Project Agent Orange
I had thought the money was in Viet Nam a few weeks back, but I guess I was wrong. Now it is.
We are in the process of letting VAVA know who our contracts are at the university so we can begin providing healthcare for our families/communities.
Dear Project Agent Orange members,
As you can see below, VAVA has received your donation for your project (minus the bank and paypal costs).
Please contact Mr. Nguyen Minh Y about the details of how the money should be used for the Agent Orange victims you intend it for and who the contact is in Vietnam.
Thanks!
Merle
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 11:27:20 +0700
Subject: Re donations from Mr. Michael Browstein
Dear Merle and Minh Y,
Pleased to inform you that VAVA received the donation of $2,349.20 from Project Agent Orange to support the AO victims through the project of Hanoi University of Argriculture.
Best regards,
International Relations Department
VAVA
Project Agent Orange Accomplishments: 2015
We funded a doctor to help our Vietnamese families/communities.
We were able to show connections between GMOs and disease, obesity, and others.
We crossed the four million and five million mark with page views and a few times reached two hundred thousand page views in a single month.
We released information on the dioxin toxins in tampons.
We documented how Monsanto’s herbicides cause cancer before WHO came to the same conclusion.
All of our Agent Orange families in Viet Nam now have clean water.
“..the USA government's refusal to admit ant culpability beyond minimal soil containment at designated "hotspots" within Vietnam.”—Rdhartwell
We gave detailed and important information on the nurses of the American War (the Viet Nam War) and how the war impacted them.
We were able to prove again and again the dangers of glyphosate, the main ingredient in RoundUp’s toxic poison.
We published viable and original research on the negative effects Monsanto’s herbicides have on the monarch butterfly.
We were able to document the negative effects of arsenic in individuals with Agent Orange—again.