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Agent Orange - Partner with Orangehelpers
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In March of 2014, The D.O.V.E. Fund Board of Trustees approved funding to US-based NGO
Orangehelpers to assist in the building of two homes in Phu Yen Province. The
Orangehelpers tax-exempt charity was founded by Bob Schuessler and his wife
Phan Thi Truyen after they learned of the plight of Agent Orange afflicted
families during Orange Walk, a 1,000 mile walk from Saigon to Hanoi in 2008.
Their goal is simple - improve the living conditions and welfare of these
struggling families. While the need is evident throughout the country,
their efforts are focused in Phu Yen province.
These modest homes will be built for Vietnamese families who are suffering
from the devastating effects of Agent Orange. Many people afflicted with
dioxin poisoning have no resources to receive adequate medical care and often
cannot work due to their disabilities. Much of the meager family income is
spent on the constant repairs of the simple shelters many Agent Orange victims
call home. Most of these dwellings have dirt floors and leaky roofs with inadequate
support structure that is susceptible to damage during the tropical storms.
During the Vietnam War, over 19 million gallons of the deadly herbicide Agent
Orange was sprayed over the dense jungles and forests of rural Vietnam. Agent
Orange contains dioxin which is one of the most dangerous chemicals known to man.
Even trace amounts are highly carcinogenic and can cause mutation of human DNA.
Even worse, dioxin does not easily degrade and remains toxic for decades,
poisoning livestock, ground water and farmland. Since the initial spraying
in 1961, millions of Vietnamese have died and at least three generations
have suffered birth defects, cancers, liver damage, and a host of physical
and mental disabilities. Over 500,000 U.S. soldiers exposed to Agent Orange
during their service in Vietnam have also died and many are now suffering
from related diseases caused by the dioxin.
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Orangehelper staff inspecting the Ngo Van Tuy family home
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Ngo Van Tuy is a husband and father of two sons. Because Agent Orange has
deprived him the full use of his legs, he supports his family by traveling
to Saigon to sell lottery tickets on the street. He usually is able to
send about $60 a month to his wife in Phu Yen province. He is away from
his family most of the time and returns home every six weeks.
The Orangehelpers volunteer staff found the family living in desperate conditions
in a small, two-room house with a flimsy roof greatly affected by a nearby flooded
rice paddy. Orangehelpers agreed to fund the rebuilding of his house and to develop
a micro-finance plan that will allow him to stay at home with his family and
earn income by raising and selling chickens and livestock. In all cases
Orangehelpers assures the families own the land on which these homes are
built - either they own the land outright or the local community deeds
it to them. This greatly eases the burden on the families to become
self-sustaining.
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Ngo Van Tuy with his family outside their family home
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<Make a Donation for "Agent Orange" projects
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