A road trip, and lesson, to remember

For my Thanksgiving weekend, my roommate invited me to go on a road trip to the province of Thai Binh with her and some of her friends from Kung Fu class. I did want to spend some time with Canadian friends to celebrate the holiday, but I decided that I might as well take advantage of the opportunity! It was certainly an eventful trip, and despite the flat tires, unreasonable hotel owners, and disappointing “beach” we ended up at, it really was a great experience. There was incredible scenery along the way and I got to make a few new friends, but there was one person I met on this trip who made it very special.

During one of our pit stops, we were sipping tra da (iced tea) on a street corner when a young boy around 9 years old and his father sat down next to us. The boy came up to us and started grabbing our arms, waving at us with the biggest smile on his face. We said hello to him and smiled back enthusiastically, but he did not speak back to us. He also had a physical deformity where his head was very small for his body. Without us even asking, his father soon began explaining his son’s behavior, and told us that he is a 3^rd-generation victim of agent orange (The herbicide that was sprayed to during the Vietnam war to destroy forest cover, contaminate water supplies as well as destroy the crops of the Northern Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops). He said his son only has 2 more years left to live, but is still very happy and friendly. As could be expected, I felt a lot of sympathy for the both of them and wished I could help somehow! As they left the street corner and we continued our journey, that little boy stayed on my mind. I decided that the best way I could help them was to educate myself more on the effects of Agent Orange, and to share what I learned.

According to this article, over 1 million Vietnamese have been impacted by Agent Orange, including 150,000 children who suffer from birth defects such as physical deformities, tumors, blindness, deftness, metal disabilities, and even cancer.  What’s more, according to The History Channel, Vietnamese victims of the herbicide’s effects have yet to see any form of justice. The class-action lawsuit made by a group of victims in 2004 was dismissed by the American court.

After reading the articles I mentioned above, it seems to me that that the lives of Agent Orange sufferers are defined by their physical/mental abnormalities. So how can I, as a development worker, improve their lives and help them reach their full potential? Even if Agent Orange victims do somehow receive compensation from the companies who produced the herbicide, would that really make their lives better? Or would skills training, and helping victims adapt to the challenges they face, have more impact? The answer to me (as a development agent) seems clear, but by no means can I claim that I understand what the victims of Agent Orange want and need. These questions are ones that I would like to start discussing with my co-workers, seeing as SRD does work with people who have disabilities. My time at SRD is meant to help me better understand how to approach complicated development issues like Agent Orange, and discussion is certainly a great place to start!