Chidren of Vietnam Blog
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Tag >> Hope System of Care
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COV is so thankful for the enthusiastic support of the entire UNAVSA community!
http://www.publicasian.com/vsas-unite-to-help-children-affected-by-agent-orange/
VSAs unite to help children affected by Agent Orange
The university’s Vietnamese Student Association teamed up with other VSAs across the country to support Children of Vietnam’s Hope System of Care project, which helps victims with birth defects caused by Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.
Agent Orange and herbicide, used to kill forests and crops in the Vietnam War for strategic purposes, continue to affect not only those who were originally exposed but also children born today because some areas where Agent Orange was stored and used remain toxic “hot spots” in the environment.
The Hope System of Care seeks to assess the affected child’s needs and meet them with services such as handicapped accessible housing, vocational training, surgery and counseling, as well as integrating the child into society.
“The project will help provide medicine and housing to impoverished children, who are the future of Vietnam. If we offer them opportunities now, they will be able to lead and educate other children in the future, hopefully pulling the country out of poverty,” Melinda Nguyen, public relations officer of VSA, said.
The Vietnamese Red Cross estimates that 150,000 children have been born with birth defects due to their parent’s exposure to Agent Orange. Twenty-nine percent of the Vietnamese population lives under the international poverty line, and children have trouble getting proper education and medical care, an issue Children of Vietnam seeks to remedy.
Affected children can have birth defects such as missing or extra limbs, deafness and other impairments. Adults can have digestive ailments, skin diseases and cancer, and women exposed have high rates of stillbirths, premature births and spontaneous abortions.
Crysta Tran, the Asian American Student Union representative of VSA, said that VSA has a bake sale and a fundraiser at a local pho restaurant planned for the project fundraiser. Next semester, they will also host a banquet and the Family Night Show, a culture show, that will include presentations of the project and ways to donate.
“[In the past] we will get 60 to 70 people at the fundraisers,” Tran said, also noting that the banquet often has more participants.
The VSA’s involvement in the project is a part of the larger Collective Philanthropy Project (CCP) by the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA), a non-profit organization that has chosen similar projects every year since 2005. UNAVSA works with affiliated VSAs across the U.S. and Canada to collectively contribute to the project. The project was selected at a UNAVSA conference, after being voted for by regional VSA representatives.
My-Phuong Ly, director of the campaign for CPP, said the goal of the project is to raise awareness and “educate [people about] what the possibilities are, what Agent Orange is and how it is really affecting the children.”
“Because of these deformities, they’re not truly adapted into society,” she said. “They become ostracized, and their parents aren’t able to help them either [due to economic circumstances]. We want to reiterate that … we can give them hope for a future where they are not ostracized.”
To that end, Ly said the CPP has branched out further into social media, sharing links on Facebook on how to donate and learn more, as well as links to the Children of Vietnam website. Children of Vietnam also launched the Hold on to Hope campaign, which allows people to upload pictures of what gives them hope to increase awareness onto the campaign Facebook page.
Ly said UNAVSA is also working on producing a newsletter to take the campaign beyond Facebook and aims to create more personal connections by relying more heavily on phone calls and email.
“Hopefully [we’ll] start sending [the newsletter] through Twitter and global websites and charities focused on helping other people … because Facebook can only do so much in terms of awareness,” Ly said.
The campaign is only part of the relationship, however. After UNAVSA spends this year campaigning for the Hope System of Care, they will spend the following year looking into how the money they raised is spent. UNAVSA has auditors who work with the organization to track where the money is going and ensure that it is used to help children.
Ly said this is also part of UNAVSA’s efforts to become more transparent. The CPP website outlines a budget the project follows, as well as provides further information on choosing the projects, the execution of each one and follow ups after campaigning.
This past weekend the Union of North American Vietnamese Associations selected Children of Vietnam and the Hope System of Care as the beneficiary of their year-long fundraising by its chapters on college campuses all across the United States and Canada.
The selection was made after a presentation by a COV representative done at the UNAVSA annual conference in Denver. The 300 students in attendance at the conference selected Children of Vietnam as the year-long beneficiary.
This is a great opportunity for COV and will go a long way in supporting our HSC by building awareness and bring in funds. Thanks for your support!
Conference on: Agent Orange and Addressing the Legacy of War in Vietnam
Please join us on October 28-29th at UC Berkeley.
Friday, October 28th, 7PM-9PM
David Bower Center
2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA
Agent Orange: A Personal Requiem film screening and discussion with the filmmaker, Masako Sakata
Saturday, October 29th, 9AM-4PM
Clark Kerr Conference Center
2601 Warring St, Berkeley, CA
Keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive media on Agent Orange.
Registration: $30 for the public and $7 for students.
The conference will kick-off with a documentary film screening on Friday evening (Oct 28th), followed by a day-long conference on Saturday (Oct 29th). Participants will have the opportunity to hear from a wide range of speakers about the continuing impact of Agent Orange and engage in a collective conversation about how we can all help to make Agent Orange history!
This event is open to the public. Space is limited, so please register soon! For more conference details and to register, please go to: http://makeagentorangehistory.org/conference/
 Special thank you to our sponsors: Rotary Club of San Francisco, Rotary Club of Berkeley and Rotary Club of Oakland
from:
http://makeagentorangehistory.org/agent-orange-champions/
Agent Orange Champions
There are people around the world who have devoted their time and energy to understanding the legacy of Agent Orange and coming up with solutions to address this problem. These champions come from all different backgrounds and levels of expertise, but all are true humanitarians that are helping make Agent Orange history.
Dannia Southerland works with a disabled boy in Da Nang who is part of the Hope System of Care.
When Dr. Dannia Southerland first heard from Children of Vietnam, she had no idea what was in store for her. Given her post doctoral research in health and clinical services at Duke University, she had been contacted by the organization to advise on case management for children with disabilities in Vietnam.
Intrigued by what she learned from Children of Vietnam regarding the dire circumstances for Vietnam’s most vulnerable victims of Agent Orange – children with disabilities – Southerland signed on to help design the organization’s Hope System of Care, a “wrap-around” system that integrates social services, rehabilitation, education and other supports to help meet the needs of disabled children in Vietnam. Southerland laughs as she reflects on her first meeting with a board member from Children of Vietnam: “I went for coffee in Chapel Hill,” Southerland says, “and wound up in Vietnam 30 days later.”
Shortly after arriving in Vietnam, Southerland realized the challenges of implementing a comprehensive and decidedly western model in a country where social services infrastructure is not yet fully developed.
“Without a social services infrastructure, there is no way to develop sustainable services,” Southerland says, “You can pour a lot of money into orthopedic surgeries and maybe impact the incidence of club foot…but to have real lasting impact, to provide services to help these children improve their life chances, that’s what we’ve been focused on.”
Southerland consulted local health professionals and case workers in Da Nang – the pilot city for program – who evaluated Hope System of Care and offered suggestions on which services would work and which would not be practical. She then got to work developing partnerships with the city of Da Nang and the Vietnamese government.
Today, the Hope System of Care serves children in two districts in Da Nang, and every child who has ever enrolled in the program continues to receive support. Southerland remains a committed advocate for sustainable social services throughout Vietnam and hopes to expand the program in the near future.
“The legacy of Agent Orange is the legacy of a bad time,” Southerland says, “but an opportunity for people to come together and build bridges across cultures and continents… It’s an exciting ideal, making Agent Orange history.”
Click here to learn about other AO Champions and the Make Agent Organge History Campaign!
A photograph of a 9-year-old Children of Vietnam client was awarded the UNICEF photo of the year for 2010, giving international attention to the work of COV.
UNICEF presents this awards to photos and photo-reportages that document, in an outstanding manner, the personalities and living-circumstances of children around the world.
The picture was taken by renowned journalist Ed Kashi who photographed a few Children of Vietnam clients during his work this summer with the Vietnam Reporting Project.
The photo shows 9-year-old Ly from the Vietnamese city of Da Nang. Her face is marked by the toxic legacy of a war that ended 35 years ago. Many Vietnamese have suffered genetic damage from exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange.
Da Nang, a former American base of operations, alone is home to 16,000 children who are disabled due to the chemical warfare that took place.The Vietnam Red Cross estimates that 150,000 Vietnamese children are disabled due to their parents’ exposure to dioxin.
In addition to her facial deformity Ly has a concave throat and weak heart, all linked back to the effects of dioxin. Ly’s grandfather was a soldier during the Vietnam War, and her mother and aunt also have facial deformities.
Children of Vietnam supports Ly, her family and others by providing wrap-around services such as education or vocational scholarships, surgeries when required, assistive aids such as wheelchairs and prosthetics, medicine, therapy, housing with indoor accessible bathrooms, and support for the parents to earn a living. Children of Vietnam partners with the Danang Hai Chau and Ngu Hang Son People’s Committee and local health, education and social services experts in the area.
With Veterans day last week the effects and implications of war are probably still fresh in many people's minds. During the Vietnam War, the use of dioxin caused lasting damage on both sides.
Today, Children of Vietnam is working with a vairty of different groups to counter the birth defects and deformities caused by this dangerous chemical in the cental part of Vietnam. The Hope System of Care is a program that integrates and coordinates services to children with agent orange related disabilities from impoverished families (typically living on less than $20 a month). The goal of the program is to help these children develop to their highest potential with the help of a Care Management Team, case managers and community social workers. A care plan is written for each child that includes one or a combination of the following: education or vocation scholarships, surgeries (orthopedic, heart, eye, etc.), assistive aides (wheelchairs, prosthetics, hearing aides, glasses), medicine, therapy, housing with indoor accessible bathroom facilities, and/or support for the parent to earn a living.
America is at its best when it responds to humanitarian concerns and works to promote hope among people in need. We have an opportunity to do this in Vietnam and close wounds frm the past. For more information on Agent Orange please check out http://makeagentorangehistory.org
 Recently, COV's Country Director Ms. Huong was asked to speak in front of the entire Danang's People's Committee to discuss what COV is doing on behalf of people with disabilities. Below is the speech she presented. We are so thankful for the hardwork of the entire COV staff and we appreciate opportunties like this to spread awareness about the awesome work COV is doing!
Children of Vietnam (COV) is an American non-profit organization based in Winston – Salem, North Carolina and in Danang City, Vietnam. In the past years with specific activities, Children of Vietnam was really contributing to the effective realization of the dreams of beneficiaries who are children with disabilities, poor children, has especially difficult circumstances through programs such as: Sponsoring Education, Building Homes, Health Care, comprehensive support program oriented business for poor single women.
Children of Vietnam Organization has contributed to improve the living circumstances of a part of disadvantaged children, less fortunate, bring the warm pleasure, the sharing and hope both materially and spiritually.
Currently in Danang area, there are more than 5,000 victims of Agent Orange, including nearly 1,400 children, most of them are deformed malformation, paralysis, mental retardation, spirit life is not good anymore. Especially many families have from 2 to 3 victims, the living circumstance is very difficult. Therefore they always expect the attention and assistance from community.
COV thinks that th e development of infrastructure an d soci al services in Vietnam providing a safety net for these families is critical employment. Our organization are moving our focus from direct support towards a sustainable development program which is called “ Hope System of Care” Project. This project has been being done in 2 districts of Hai Chau and Ngu Hanh Son for 200 beneficiaries and their families with a total budget of $474,900 within 2 years.
We contract with consultants specializing in social services from Duke University in North Carolina, USA for technical advice as well as training related to case management and assessment methodology. The training services will be supplemented with external contracts as necessary and priority selection of local experts and local whenever possible (such as Open University in Ho Chi Minh City, Medicine University in Hue).
The critic al issue of Hope System of Care for Children with Disabilities is to establish and promote the sustainabi lity of integrated service strategies to improve the quality of care and life for children with disabilities and solve complex problems as well as the necessary needs from many areas and from service providers. The goal of this integrated service strategy is to develop and implement the foundation in order to manage the full package of care and services for beneficiaries.
Care plan builds on strengths, specific needs of children with disabilities and their families by group of experts, consultants from VAVA, Health Care, Education, DOLISA, Women Union. It is called Care Management Team (CMT), this group consider the need package of children with disabilities and their families who are this project’s beneficiaries.
After having consideration for the need package, each member of the Management Team will continue to give their professional advice and determine how to select appropriate services. Because needs of each beneficiary are not same, the consultants making decision for intervention and support could be different.
Intervention plan may include surgery and rehabilitation, nutrition, providing wheelchairs and medical equipment, supporting special scholarship and community scholarship, vocational training, livelihood – microfinance, housing and emergency support.
These help beneficiaries develop their own inherent potential, give them the opportunity to overcome difficulties itself to integrate into community.Thus in the past year, our “Hope System of Care for Children with Disabilities” has been voted one of the best ten models of care for disabled people in Vietnam and will be expanded in the future.
COV actively collaborate with governmental and non-governmental organizations, agencies whose has the common purpose. Through this collaboration, we can maximize together, raise up our findings more and more and will further increase the impact of organization. We also have programs associated with International Non-governmental Organizations such as: Ford
Foundation, Facing the World, W.C.Swanson Family, Family Foundation.
COV has been making humanitarian activities in Danang and other provinces in Central Region nearly 13 years and has won numerous awards for humanitarian works from, Vietnam Red Cross Association, People’s Committee of provinces in Central Region. Furthermore, Vietnam Friendship Organizations Union awarded campaign medal for Peace Friendship between Peoples in 2009.
We sincerely thank the close coordination between our Organization with Agent Orange Victims Association of city. Thanks community responsibility from Hai Chau district and Ngu Hanh Son district in the activity named “ Sharing Hands because of Agent Orange Pain” at local. This attention is a great motivation for us in the effort to strive for the development of the community and the young generation.
Best wishes to all disabled children should receive help from the community to gradually build a better future. Last but not least, wish yours health and wish the meeting successful. We sincerely appreciate.
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