Between January of 1965 and April of 1970, destruction rained down on Vietnam. Statistics mention about 45 million tons of the herbicide Agent Orange, used for leaf stripping. They contained about 300 kilograms of Tetrachlordibenzodioxine (for reference: the Seveso catastrophe contained about 1.5 kilograms of it).
Here is how Francis Van Hoi described it:
“A few hundred metres behind our house, there were dense rain forests. We often played there when we were children. One morning, the trees had all lost their leaves. We went further into the (former) forest than ever before, collected firewood and fish in waterholes that had been unknown to us. We were glad to find enough firewood and food for a change… “.
Today, more than one million handicapped children and adolescents suffer from the after-effects of the poison.
Francis Van Hoi has now arrived in Thai Binh, where the catholic bishop Peter Nguyen Van De resides. In his mission, 510 adolescent agent-orange victims are taken care of.
By now, the third generation of Vietnamese is affected by the consequences of agent-orange. While formerly the children were often born with a massive handicap, the disability now frequently manifests itself when they start school or enter puberty. Among the damage are all varieties of disfigurations, immune deficits and genetic mutations. Cancer is also one of the remote damages.
For the 510 children, the upcoming Christmas festival is the only opportunity to leave their village. 400 people help with the organising work on an honorary basis.
Bishop Peter Nguyen Van De provided a house for Francis Van Hoi. In it, he wants to build an educational centre focussing on two issues. Firstly, a sewing workshop for girls thrown out by their families and sexually abused in private enterprises because of their appearance. And secondly, a PC workshop for training in MS office, simple image processing and design and hardware repair. There is a demand in the proximity and the young people can often very well manage these kinds of jobs, regardless of their physical handicaps.
For all those who wish to help, here is the information on how you can make a contribution:
Empfänger: Salesianer Don Boscos
Konto-Nr: 22378015
Bankleitzahl: 37060193 (Pax – Bank)
Verwendungszweck: Agent-Orange-Kinder
The Don Bosco Mission Germany agreed to accept and forward directly all contributions for the projects of the mission in Vietnam. Please do not forget to mention the purpose of the donation; otherwise your contribution cannot be forwarded. If you add your complete address, a contribution receipt will be automatically sent to you.
MS
(Translated by EG)
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