Vietnam
"My family used to be very afraid that I would not able to get a job and plan for our future. Now everything has changed in a positive way. A peer support worker came to visit me and encouraged me and my wife to develop our own business. Now we are raising 10 pigs! Our family business is developing very well."
In July 1954, one hundred years of French rule in Vietnam came to an end. A struggle for power ensued between Communist forces in North Vietnam and the non-Communist regime in the South. War broke out in 1959. Eager to end the instability in Vietnam and prevent a burgeoning of Communist power, the United States become involved in the conflict in 1963 and waged full-scale war against North Vietnam from 1965 until 1975, when the U.S. withdrew in defeat. The Vietnamese government estimates military casualties at 1.1 million dead and 600,000 wounded. Civilian deaths were estimated at two million in the North and South.
Much of the war was fought in and around rural villages, exacting a tremendous toll on civilians. In order to gain an advantage in the dense jungles of Vietnam, the U.S. military used chemical herbicides to defoliate large tracts of forest and farmland. Agent Orange was among the worst of these, as it contained dioxin, associated with a wide variety of cancers and birth defects. As of 2006, the Vietnamese government estimates that there are over 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam. Landmines were also used heavily in the Vietnam War, and un-cleared minefields remain in Vietnam and neighboring Laos and Cambodia, where they continue to claim the lives and limbs of civilians.
Survivor Corps began operating programs in 2003 in Vietnam's Quang Binh Province, one of the most heavily landmine affected areas of the country. Since 2003, Survivor Corps has expanded to reach survivors in 44 communes in the Bo Trach District of Quang Binh Province and Dong Hoi city, and will soon expand our services to Quang Trach and Quang Ninh Districts. Survivor Corps operates the only program providing access to quality health care, peer support, economic opportunities and education for survivors and amputees in Quang Binh Province. Survivor Corps also helps local healthcare facilities with medical equipment, supplies and training to promote long term, good quality care for survivors. We bring survivors together to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities, and a ban on cluster munitions, which have a similar impact on civilian populations to that of landmines.
Partners:
LSN-Vietnam
LSN-Vietnam provides peer support, economic opportunities and advocacy training to landmine victims and amputees. In cooperation with the Health Department in Quang Binh Province, Survivor Corps and LSN-Vietnam are working to establish the first rehabilitation center for survivors in Quang Binh Province. To promote social integration and empowerment of survivors, Survivor Corps and LSN-Vietnam have established 18 self-help groups for people with disabilities. These self-help groups will form the foundation the first ever Provincial Association of People with Disabilities. The Association will help people with disabilities to advocate for their rights, and increase survivor participation in drafting new laws and improving existing laws related to disability. Survivor Corps and LSN-Vietnam facilitated the participation of Vietnamese survivors in the Campaign to Ban Cluster Munitions, urging the Vietnamese government to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions and assist survivors of the weapon.
Contact Information:
Zhanna Son
Program Officer
Survivor Corps
2100 M St. NW Suite 302
Washington DC 20037
Ph: 202.250.3948
F: 202.464.0011
zson@survivorcorps.org
