Remediating the consequences of toxic chemicals in Quang Tri: A nonstop journey (III)

III. Joining hands for Agent Orange victims

Over the past years, Quang Tri province has synchronously implemented solutions to overcome the consequences of toxic chemicals sprayed by the US during the war in Vietnam, focusing on environmental remediation and treatment, living support, and health care to help victims of Agent Orange rise up and integrate into life. Despite achieving remarkable results, the life of the victims in the province still faces many difficulties and challenges.

Raising the less fortunate lives

Mr. Luong Van Kien in Quarter 7, Ward 1, Dong Ha city has 4 daughters, 2 of whom have birth defects due to the effect of toxic chemicals, namely: Luong Thi Quynh Nhu (born in 2009) and her sister Luong Thi Thuy Ngoc (born in 1994).

However, thanks to rehabilitation training, Nhu - who has heart disease and congenital intellectual disability, is now able to walk and take care of herself. Nhu is currently studying at the Provincial School for Children with Disabilities. Her teacher, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha commented: “From a child with severe intellectual disability, Nhu can now recognize and call her teacher, father, and mother by name. She also begins to understand when listening to people talking around. In particular, recently, she really enjoys helping the teachers with errands and playing with friends... That's a very positive sign of her integration into the community."

In Quang Tri province, there are currently 5 educational and rehabilitation centers for people with disabilities and victims of Agent Orange. Thanks to these centers, hundreds of children with disabilities, most of whom are victims of Agent Orange in Quang Tri province, have received basic rehabilitation interventions to take care of themselves, thereby helping their families remediate hardships, develop the economy, and improve their life.

Over the years, the Provincial Association for People with Disabilities, Victims of Agent Orange, and Protection of People with Disabilities and Protection of Children's Rights have raised over VND30 billion from organizations and individuals supporting AO victims. From the fund, the association donated more than 35,000 gifts, over 500 wheelchairs and shakers; supported orthopedic surgery, free medical examination and treatment; built more than 50 charity houses and provided breeds for Agent Orange family to develop economic production…

In addition to rehabilitation, a number of AO victims in the province are also provided with capital for cow raising. With an initial fund of nearly VND1.3 billion, the Association has provided 58 households in Trieu Phong and Hai Lang districts with interest-free loans to buy 58 breeding cows. The number of cows above has been reproduced, bringing the total herd to 151 heads. Later some families have sold their cows to cover for their living expenses, so the current number of cows is 73. Through the survey of phase 2, the Association used the capital recovered from those households to support 70 other Agent Orange families to buy breeding cows for hunger eradication and poverty reduction.

“Greening” the dead lands

In order to alleviate the negative impacts of toxic chemicals on the ecological environment, over the years, Quang Tri province has mobilized resources to overcome and treat the environment by "greening" the bare land, hills and mountains. .

According to Mr. Nguyen Truong Khoa, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, in the period of 2013 - 2019, Quang Tri province has implemented activities to restore the ecosystem and afforest on bare land, bare hills in general and the area contaminated by toxic chemicals in particular through the project of the Greater Mekong Subregion Biodiversity Conservation Corridor, phase 2 in Dakrong and Huong Hoa districts with a total afforestation area of nearly 1,400 ha. At the same time, the province implements the policy of land and forest allocation in order to mobilize resources from businesses, communities and people for planting and protecting forests, restoring ecology, gradually reducing the area of bare land, barren hills, especially areas contaminated with toxic chemicals.

In 1989, the area of forested land in Quang Tri was 98,626 ha, the coverage was 19.5%. Now this area has increased to over 250,000 ha, and the forest coverage reaches 50.1%. Currently, Quang Tri is one of the leading provinces in the country in afforestation and wood processing. The above figures are vivid evidence of the revival of the land of fire, including areas that were once sprayed with toxic chemicals.

There are still many concerns...

These days, Mr. Phan Tien Phong (born in 1979) in Nhan Bieu village, Trieu Thuong commune, Trieu Phong district, feels very excited when he knows that the legal case of Ms. Tran Thi To Nga (78 years old) against international chemical companies that produced Agent Orange sprayed in Vietnam was restarted on January 25, 2021 at the Evry Court of France.

7 years ago, Phong represented for thousands of AO victims in Quang Tri, wrote a letter, voicing his support for Nga’s legal case. Phong was infected with dioxin from his father who fought in the Quang Tri battlefield. He was born with atrophy of his left arm and leg. Thanks to great efforts and luck, he got married and gave birth to 3 healthy children. However, the Agent Orange pain is still present in his body. Phong shared that: “Compared to many other AO victims, I am luckier. But with these sequelae, I am very painful because of illness all year round and struggle to make a living”.

True to Phong's sharing, the AO victims, although affected in different degrees of severity, face many difficulties in life. Among the 9,016 AO victims in the province, currently over 5,000 people are enjoying regimes and policies with monthly allowances from 270,000 to 675,000 VND/person, depending on the disability rate. This level of support is relatively low compared to the current standard of living, while the victims are often sick and ill, so their lives are very miserable. Creating jobs for the victims is also a big challenge because most of them are not healthy enough, so it's hard for them to learn a skill.

It is also difficult to have enough funds for the rehabilitation centers in Quang Tri. For example, Cam Nghia rehabilitation center (Cam Lo district) was established on April 16, 2008. After 13 years of operation, the funds supported by benefactors are only enough until July 2021. After this time, if there is no further support, the center will no longer have budget to pay for operational fee.

According to Mr. Pham Van Manh, Vice President of the Association of People with Disabilities, AO victims, Protection of people with disabilities and Protection of children's rights of Cam Lo District, although being cared by the society, in reality, the families with AO victims in the area are still very miserable because of poor health and low living standards. Therefore, support to help them stabilize their lives and integrate into the community should be maintained regularly and continuously. To do this, the association cannot act unilaterally but needs the joint action of the whole society.