​Over the past years, Dong Nai province has carried out a lot of practical activities together with AO victims, given regular and unexpected assistance, developed and diversified forms of support for AO victims and families to help them to overcome difficulties, and rise and do business to integrate into the community.

Paying a visit to an AO victim’s family

In the first 9 months of 2019, levels of the  provincial Association of Agent Orange Victims have mobilized more than VND6.9 billion, exceeding by 27% compared with 2019; spent over VND8.3 billion taking measures to assist and care for AO victims like helping with production capital, seeds and breeders; granting scholarships, offering vocational training AO victims and their children; and so on. According to the Chairman of the Association of Agent Orange Victims in Dao Nguyen province, 5 houses worth over VND280 million have been newly built since early and were handed over to AO victims’ families. The funding for building these compassion houses is mostly come from social sources, businesses, and sponsors and partly from the State budget. From now to late this year, the number of new houses that will be given to AO victims will continue to increase. In recent years, calling for organizations and individuals to join hands in building houses for the province’s AO victims has received both interest and support. Particularly, a lot of companies, businesses and sponsors are ready to contribute tens of million dongs, or even hundreds of million dongs to help levels of AO Victim’s Association in the province build houses for AO victims. This is a great motivation, showing the community’s interest in the province’s individuals and families, who are infected with AO.

The activities associated with AO victims are not only involved in offering direct housing assistance, scholarships, medical examination and treatment and so on but many other activities like helping each other in economic aspects, creating jobs for victims and their families. Besides building a new house, helping to prevent AO victims’ families returning to their previous living conditions to live in old and leaking houses or shanties has been paid a special attention to.

Houses are handed over to AO victims

For example, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoan in Phu Son commune, Tan Phu district is known as a person with difficult living conditions when both Hoan and his son are exposed to AO. In addition to their monthly stipend, Hoan and his son are offered a solid house built by the government. In 2019, levels of the Association of Agent Orange Victims mobilized funds to have his house fixed. In addition to Hoan, there are 7 families of AO victims in Phu Son commune used to be helped to build their great unity and compassion houses but their houses have degraded or become damaged after years’ use and they continue to receive an allowance worth VND123 for repairing their houses.

As planned, in the first 9 months of 2019 the provincial Association of Agent Orange Victims made monthly allowances worth over VND540 million to 334 AO victims, regular allowances to 36 individuals with difficult living, and unexpected allowances worth over VND43 million and gave medical examination and treatment to AO victims and their families.

Levels of Association of Agent Orange Victims have paid attention to AO victims and their children. Not long ago, the provincial Association of Agent Orange Victims granted 100 “Give you strength to return to school” scholarships for the students who are AO victims and AO victims’ children in 7 districts. Specifically, Dinh Quan district has 25 scholarships, Tan Phu district 9, Xuan Loc district 23, Cam My district 12, Long Thanh district 9, Nhon Trach district 8, and Trang Bom district 14. Each scholarship worth VND1.5 million is offered by Phong Thai Group. Every year, scholarship activities will be carried out by the Association of Agent Orange Victims of the province and districts, communes and townships at the beginning of the school year and the semester, thereby encouraging AO victims’ children to rise, study well and integrate with their schoolmates and classmates.

The propaganda activities concerning the consequences left by the war as well as the province’s AO victims are carried out regularly. Through these organizations, levels of Agent Orange have held 200 propaganda sessions on many contents such as the Central Executive Committee’s Directive no. 43-CT/TW dated May 14, 2015 on strengthening the Party’s leadership over the settlement of the consequences caused by toxic chemicals the US used in Vietnam war for AO victims; the State and the province’s guidelines and policies to help AO victims, thereby calling for and setting an example of the good hearts for AO victims in Dong Nai province.

Duy Minh (Thanh Hai)