Sadly yesterday was my last day at LSN-V.  I really can’t believe it since it feels like I just got here.  Over the past ten weeks I have been privileged to work with the dedicated and creative staff here in Dong Hoi.  Special thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcome and at home: to my trusty translators and partners in crime Kim Hoa and Giang, to Chi Hong and Chi Dung for their guidance, to all the Outreach Workers who made time in their busy schedules to tour around Quang Binh and introduce me to survivors, and to Anh Luong for keeping us all safe on the chaotic highways of Vietnam.  LSN-V is a well-oiled machine and I hope that I was able to contribute to their mission during my short stint here.  I am also thankful for everyone who made this experience possible with their support, encouragement and feedback–it would not have been possible without you all.

For those of you who have enjoyed my posts I hope that you’ll check out LSN-V’s brand spankin’ new Tumblr blog: (http://lsnv.tumblr.com/).  They will be posting more survivor stories and videos on there, so please continue to keep abreast of all the amazing work these folks are doing day in and day out.

To leave off I’d like to introduce you to another survivor.  All the survivors I have met over the past few months have left an imprint on me that I won’t try to sum up.  I have been humbled many times over by their generosity and optimism.  To them I am indebted.

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Mr. Quang

Mr. Quang

Despite the intense midday heat and our very late arrival, Mr. Vo Minh Quang was a fountain of energy when we finally showed up at his home in Nam Trac commune.  Luckily for me, his is a contagious energy.  I had been doing interviews since the early hours of the morning and didn’t know if I was up for another one but Quang’s enthusiasm and good mood quickly transformed mine.  I soon realized that this trait explains a lot about his character.

Mr. Quang has been active in his community for over twenty years.  After the war ended and Quang finished secondary school he got a job with the local authority as a guard.  At that time he was also appointed Secretary of the Commune Cooperative (later becoming the Secretary of the Commune Youth Union).  Mass organizations like the Cooperative and the Youth Union operate in every commune.  They make up Vietnam’s civil society and are run on a voluntary basis.  Quang has been involved with them at one level or another since the war and believes community service has been essential to his spiritual recovery.

Quang’s father died when he was a young boy and even though he was just a child, Quang was left with the responsibility of helping his family.  Near the end of the war, as Quang was on his way to collect wood from the forest a bomb exploded in his path.  He recalls that the sky was dark and filled with clouds that day, a detail he remembers because he never saw the plane that dropped the bomb and by the time he heard its engines above, it was too late.  He lost his left leg and spent 6 months in the hospital.  He was 10 years old at the time.

But Quang is quick to emphasize the support he received from his family and the community.  They gave him notebooks so he could continue with school and offered spiritual advice.  He says that because he was very young when he was injured that he labored at improving himself and recovering.  As a result, Quang has become a sort of super-survivor: one that has much to teach but simply leads by example.

Quang tends to his garden.

Quang tends to his garden.

Twelve years ago Quang was elected Village Head–no small accomplishment given the stature of the position and the all too common stigma against persons with disabilities in Vietnam.  Quang remained in that position for 10 years, plugging away at improving his community without ever getting compensated for his work.**  This kind of commitment to service is not only admirable, it’s rare.

Given Quang’s obvious belief in the importance of civil society, he was disappointed that there was no mass organization for persons with disabilities in Vietnam.  Needless to say when LSN-V opened up in 2003, Quang was elated and got involved immediately.  Since then he has seen the positive effects on survivors be they spiritual, physical or financial.  Quang himself has benefited, receiving a cow through LSN-V’s Direct Assistance program.  Financially, things have been hard for Quang’s family and the cow has been a great help in increasing his income.

But despite any challenges he has faced, Quang’s character is defined by service to others, by the perspective that: Not everyone has been as lucky as me, I need to give something back.

And that pretty much says it all.

So Long

So Long

**On a side note, it was not Quang who mentioned that he was not paid for his work.  I naively asked Giang (my coworker and translator) if that job paid well and she explained to me that these positions are strictly voluntary.

LSN-V’s Outreach Workers are the lifeblood of the organization.  Without them the unique model of social empowerment and peer support would not be possible.  I have been impressed by everyone I have worked with here, but I have been most inspired by the Outreach Workers’ commitment to survivorship.  Though they come by it naturally-they are all survivors themselves-their dedication and energy is invaluable to creating sustainable social change.  Deciding who to profile was tough, but I decided to interview Mr. Thuan.  I made this decision in part because I have spent most of my time in the field with him, but mostly because when he tells jokes he waits with eager anticipation while they are translated and then laughs again once I’ve heard the punch line in English.  It’s pretty great.

I have written quite a bit about how inclusive and sustainable employment is an important element of recovery.  It is undoubtedly the most discussed topic amongst the survivors I have met, but Economic Opportunity is only one portion of LSN-V’s work.  LSN-V’s two other programs focus on Health Services and Social Empowerment.  Health care and rehabilitation services are imperative part of recovery, and it is often an ongoing process that requires attention repeatedly over a lifetime.  A few weeks ago I met with Mr. Ho Nooc, a survivor and self-help group leader who discussed some of the health needs, both physical and psychological, he and other survivors face in Vietnam.

Mr. Ho Nooc

Mr. Ho Nooc

Shortly after we arrived at his home just outside of Dong Hoi proper, Mr. Nooc pulled out his x-rays to show us where the pins had been inserted into his leg after he broke it almost two years ago.  It was immediately apparent that the screws were not put in properly, they were angled and unevenly spaced.  The failure of the first operation left Ho Nooc unable to work and with little mobility.  He has since had another surgery to remove the pins and set the leg properly–a procedure made possible in part by a Direct Assistance Grant from LSN-V.  He shows us the “after” x-ray and it bears little resemblance to the first, the leg has almost no  signs of the injury.  Hopefully, if Ho Nooc continues to heal he will be able to return to work soon.  Though this recent bout of health troubles are telling of the recurrent issues survivors face, Ho Nooc’s story of recovery began much earlier.

During the Tet Holiday in 1973, when Ho Nooc was 17, a bomb exploded on the street in front of him.  The physical injuries were substantial: he lost his right hand and sustained other wounds, but in the aftermath of the accident it was the psychological trauma that proved to be a greater challenge for him to overcome.  For years, Ho Nooc felt severely depressed; he thought he had lost everything, that the future held nothing for him.  It took him many years to reverse this downward spiral; but by his account, about seven years after the accident he resolved to “live like a human, not to have a meaningless life.”  Though he does not really know what prompted his transformation, with this new-found resolve Ho Nooc traveled up shore to work at a fishery.  Once gainfully employed, his confidence grew; he met his (now) wife and began to think about marriage, something he previously thought was not in the cards for him.  Ho Nooc finally saw his potential.  And with a healthy mind and positive outlook Ho Nooc began to live as a survivor.

Recovery, however, is not always a perfectly upward trajectory.  When Ho Nooc broke his leg he was discouraged, especially because he was not able to work and lost his independence, circumstances that were reminiscent of 35 years earlier when he was first injured.  But Ho Nooc’s relationship with the other survivors he works with and mentors as the head of the Self-help Group motivated him to stay positive.

When asked about his position as the Self-help Group leader, Ho Nooc’s enthusiasm is palpable.  He talks energetically about feeling truly challenged and rewarded by his work, about how he has expanded his knowledge through trainings and improved his business skills as a result of the networking he has had to do.  When asked what advice he gives to survivors who are struggling, Ho Nooc looks a little dumbfounded that I don’t already know the answer.  He says he simply encourages them to continue to attend group meetings and to participate in the big events, especially on April 18 (Vietnamese National Day for Persons with Disabilities) and December 3 (International Day for Persons with Disabilities) because once they are a part of the community, survivors do not face their challenges alone.  So even if a survivor has financial difficulties or physical problems, say they break a leg, the group helps that individual to find a solution.  Peer support really is that simple…or genius, depending on how you look at it.

Ho Nooc talks about the road to recovery.

Ho Nooc talks about the road to recovery.

Last Friday I went to visit Mr. Dung’s vocational training center for persons with disabilities in Dong Son commune.  With the support of LSN-V, Dung began offering training in incense making, silk-screening and candle making for his fellow survivors this past April.  His is a great story of leadership and initiative-I put together the video below in an effort to help him share it.

To see pictures of the Training Center click on the link to Flickr.

And a special thanks to my coworker Meg for letting me steal her computer for hours at a time to edit my videos

All of the survivors I have met with since being in Vietnam have touched on the need for sustainable and inclusive employment.  One of the primary programmatic elements of LSN-V and Survivor Corps’ work is Economic Opportunity for survivors.  Over the past few weeks I met with some of the business groups operating in Quang Binh province.  The video below explains more about the awesome work these groups are doing and the substantial impact they are having on the lives of survivors and their communities as a whole.

*Note to Viewers: When I uploaded the video to YouTube the quality and readability diminished.  I am working on solving this problem and will either repost or provide a link to a higher-quality version as soon as possible.  Thanks for your patience.

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending the afternoon at the home of Mr. Le Tu Phong in Xuan Trach Commune.  Xuan Trach (pronounced Sun Trac) is a remote commune less than 20 miles from the Lao border and is distinctly more rural than the other communes I have visited with LSN-V.  The last 25 minutes of our drive were through red-mud roads that took us up into the foothills on Vietnam’s western edge–quite a striking landscape.

Mr. Phong in his home

Mr. Phong is a LSN-V survivor and the leader of the commune’s self-help group.  Self-help groups and peer support are an integral part of LSN-V and Survivor Corps’ mission.  They provide a sustainable model for survivor self-empowerment and can even provide economic opportunity when the group works together.  They are distinctly grassroots and are run, from day one, by survivors themselves.

When we arrive at the Phong compound it is filled with grandkids, puppies, chickens and fruit trees.  It is a peaceful place and as we sit down to talk to Mr. Phong, his wife and grandkids gather around us to listen.

For his robust stature, Mr. Phong is surprisingly soft-spoken, but his message is strong.  Although the interview is about his survivor story, he hones in on the self-help group and the improvements to the lives of other survivors since its formation.  As the conversation progresses, it is easy to see why he is a natural leader.

Le Tu Phong spent fourteen years in the army before retiring in 1988 to return to his wife and children in Xuan Trach.  Back in the lush countryside he began farming and raising animals like most other families in the area.  Just a year after returning, Le Tu hit a bomb with his hoe while working in the rice paddy.  He lost his right arm below the elbow.  But Le Tu doesn’t speak about his injury much–he says it took him a while to recover, but that with the support from his family and the community, he eventually healed.  What he is more interested in talking about is the economic and spiritual improvements that are generated by the self-help club and LSN-V’s arrival in Xuan Trach.

These improvements are tangible, both for his family and the larger community.  Since his involvement with LSN-V, Le Tu has participated in a number of trainings–on animal husbandry, horticulture and on how to manage and fund a self-help club.  He has also benefited from LSN-V’s direct assistance program receiving a pig and a grinding machine that he uses to make animal feed.  The training and assistance have already had an impact.  Le Tu used to lose 1-2 cows every year to disease.  Since the training he has not lost any, and he knows how to treat them if they get sick.  This is a big improvement since livestock provides a good portion of his income.  Moreover, he now grows a number of fruit trees.  This improvement we got to reap the benefits of when Mr. Phong sent his grandson to retrieve some pomelos for us to try.

Climbing the tree to retrieve pomelos.

As for the improvements at the commune level, Mr. Phong is happy about the changes he has seen.  The first and perhaps most significant, is the spiritual improvement for survivors.  From Le Tu’s perspective, one of the biggest challenges survivors face is overcoming their feelings of inferiority.  As a result of working together, building relationships between survivors and between the survivors and the community, those feelings begin to fade.  This increases their integration into the community and enables survivors to empower themselves.  Now there are survivors who work as policemen and staff for the village administration.  Tangible improvements.

No less important are the economic benefits of survivors coming together.  Recently, the self-help group has been brainstorming a way to fund its operation.  Xuan Trach is a poor commune and many families there face difficulties getting out of poverty.  Misperceptions about the capabilities of survivors have occasionally made their situations even more dire.  Thus the self-help group decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Four survivors from the self-help group are pooling their money to get the capital they need to receive a small bank loan to buy a large grinding machine-similar to Mr. Phong’s only about 10 times bigger.  Another five to six survivors plan to open animal husbandry farms; others still will grow the rice, corn and the cassava for the animal feed.  Animals need to eat, grain needs to be processed, and someone has to produce that grain.  And there you have it, a sustainable and inclusive business model from production chain to consumption, supply and demand.  By building this interlacing web of jobs, the group will not only increase the income of the individual members but they will also use some of the profits to keep the self-help club up and running.

This is ingenuity.  And possibly the best afternoon I’ve had in Vietnam thus far.

On the road to Xuan Trach

The Phong Compound

In goes the grain

Out comes the animal feed

The pigs need food!

Mrs. Phong

The grandkids

Last week I was asked to represent LSN-V and present a summary of the Workshop on Victim Assistance at a Disability Working Group (DWG) meeting in Hanoi.  Although somewhat reluctant to get back on the train to Hanoi only four days after returning from my previous trip, I agreed.  Thus, on Thursday I spent another grueling night on the train, arriving in Hanoi before dawn the following morning.

Later that afternoon I informed the members of the DWG-mostly representatives from INGOs and community organizations-on LSN-V’s objectives at the Workshop, the outcome of the event and the steps forward.  The DWG is an important advocacy tool for LSN-V, as well as for the promotion of disability rights in general.  The group provides a forum for establishing best practices, increasing efficiency and raising a unified voice.  And there was substantial interest in the workshop from the other members.  LSN-V acts as a link between disability rights, disarmament issues and sustainable development and the organization is often in a unique place in the advocacy community, helping to build bridges between issues and link a number of stakeholders.

Luckily, despite of my high level of exhaustion, the presentation went well.  In lieu of posting my exciting PowerPoint here I have put together the video below.  Please take a look!

Phan Van Tu making fishhooks

Phan Van Tu at work making fishhooks

When the bombs stopped falling on Vietnam some thirty plus years ago, Phan Van Tu wasn’t even a twinkle in his parents’ eyes.  In 1986, when Vietnam initiated its historic Doi Moi transition, Tu still had not been born.  Phan Van Tu was born in what Vietnamese people call “the peace time”–post-war, post-extreme poverty, post-conflict–in October 1989.  Perhaps only coincidental, it is hard not to find the timing significant.  The fall of 1989 was a time of transition throughout the world, no less in Vietnam than elsewhere; a time when there was hope for increased cooperation and peace.

Tu was born to poor farmers in the Bo Trach district of Quang Binh Province.  Living conditions were difficult for his family so as he got older, Tu helped his parents out by collecting shellfish after school.  Then one afternoon when he was thirteen, Tu picked up a bombie* while catching shrimp.  By his account, one minute he was in the water and the next he woke up in a hospital, having lost his left arm below the elbow and the lower half of his left leg.  Tu also had severe injuries to his intestine that required extensive surgery and a two month stay in the hospital.  As his body healed, Tu was able to return home, yet his recollection of that time is not entirely celebratory: “I did not go out of my house because I was so anxious about what people thought about my limb loss. I was scared of their stares and glances, their words and even their sympathy.”  All this in 2003; in peacetime?

Tu

Tu

Now, at 20, Tu seems both exactly his age and much older. He’s a kid with a punkish haircut who wears a jean jacket and an easy smirk, but he’s also a wizened adult, having chosen survivorship over victimhood.  Despite the obstacles, Tu finished secondary school after his accident.  And in 2005 he was connected with a survivors’ business group that produces fishhooks through LSN-V.  He has been working there ever since, happy to have a useful job and help out his family.  But his ambitions do not stop there.  In the future Tu hopes to open up a small grocery store so he can earn more money and gain greater independence.

Tu has high hopes for the rest of us as well: “Everyday, the explosion of bombies can be heard somewhere, followed by painful cries. [They] rob people of all ages of their lives and leave survivors with serious injuries and disabilities.  It is especially painful for the youth today.  I hope that in the future countries will support each other instead of making war in order to rid the world of bombies and create peace.”

Tu’s hopes echo the promises of the era in which he was born–and with young people like him around they seem all the more attainable.

*Vietnamese term for bomblets from cluster munitions

Making Fishhooks

Making Fishhooks

Tu with LSN-V's Outreach Worker Nghia

Tu with LSN-V's Outreach Worker Nghia

My first month at LSN-V has been primarily focused on assisting with the preparations for the National Workshop on Victim Assistance and International Cooperation taking place this coming Tuesday in Hanoi.  LSN-V is one of the hosts of the event and I am excited to be able to participate–though I’m a little nervous that I’ve been selected to help facilitate the discussion group made up of Vietnamese government officials.  I will have to be on my best (and most diplomatic) behavior.

This Workshop is the first of its kind in Vietnam and there will be a large contingent of survivors participating, mostly through LSN-V’s involvement.  As the name of the Workshop implies, there are a number of issues to be addressed; I will attempt to unpack them in the most coherent–and least boring–way possible.  Here we go.

Victim assistance essentially bundles up a variety of issues including disability rights, development rights, non-discrimination, public health and more.  The task of the Workshop is to shed some light on how three international conventions-the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)-provide a framework for a rights-based approach to victim assistance, and why this would be good model for Vietnam.

Well, you might ask, how is a rights-based approach different and/or better from the current approach?  The difference of a rights-based approach is that it shifts victim assistance away from a charity-based model to one of social empowerment and inclusion.  Why is that better?  There are a number of opinions on this matter, but from my perspective, the biggest difference is that a charity-based model is unsustainable.  Charity, despite the best of intentions, often creates dependence.  And dependence, in turn, often exacerbates marginalization and poverty.  Although there are certainly some situations in which a charity-model is most appropriate, such as when the goal is immediate relief, for long-term development it can actually be counterproductive.

A rights-based approach is one that survivors themselves help build.  And from the limited time I’ve been able to spend with the survivors here in Vietnam it is clear that they are already doing just that.  However, without a corresponding shift in policy their efforts will continue to be the exception as opposed to the rule.  So that is the goal of the workshop: push for a change in policy to better reflect the changes already happening on the ground.  Very bottom-up indeed!

By far the biggest concern I have heard from survivors is a lack of employment opportunities.  As Vietnam’s economy continues to grow the gap between survivors and the rest of society is getting wider.  I look forward to watching the survivors raise their voices at the workshop and hopefully get a step closer to closing the gap.

The banner we created for the Workshop that includes survivors hopes and challenges

The banner we created for the Workshop that includes survivors hopes and challenges

Ngoc Chau

Ngoc Chau

Understandably, Ngoc Chau was angry and frustrated by his loss-especially as a former soldier who was well aware of the danger of UXO.  But perhaps even more than the pain of the injury was the pain of the financial strain his accident put his family.  With no health insurance they had to pay for his treatment on their own, and as a result, the upkeep on his fishing business became more difficult.

Over time and with the aid of his family, neighbors and the peer-support group LSN-V connected him with, Ngoc Chau was able to heal physically and spiritually.  With a renewed outlook on life, he sought to remedy his family’s financial needs.  Through the Economic Opportunities program at LSN-V, Ngoc Chau received a new fishing net-an integral part of his business.  With the new net, his income increased and improved the family’s situation.

Ngoc Chau paddles back from his fishing net

Ngoc Chau paddles back from his fishing net

As he speaks about his experience, Ngoc Chau shares some of the wisdom he has gained over the years: although persons with disabilities face a distinct set of challenges they also posses a unique strength to overcome.  It is society that truly suffers when it fails to recognize a survivor’s capabilities.

Ngoc Chau shares his survivor story

Ngoc Chau shares his survivor story