Tears of Joy, Tears of Sadness

The founder of Common Cause, John Gardner, would not mind my paraphrasing his words as follows:

“The things that unite us as a people are more important than the things that divide us. No particular interest group can prosper for long in the nation is disintegrating. Every group must have an overriding interest in the well-being of the whole society. It follows that our agenda must be an agenda for all THE WORLD — for the poor, the comfortable and those in between, for old and young, for black and white, for city dwellers and farmers, for men and women, AND ESPECIALLY THE CHILDREN!”
Tuesday was a full day here in Vietnam…

We packed our bags, grabbed a quick breakfast and were off to visit THE CLUB HOUSE, an active and impressive place of welcome for a huge number of differently-abled young adults. We were met and briefed by Vo Thi Hoang Yen, the Director, and her staff. As we entered there was a cluster of young adults with hearing impairments have a conversation in sign language. There was a table filled with differently-abled youth making art objects. But most important, within seconds the only disabled folks in the room were the folks in our delegation.

With the sound of children singing across the street at a day care center or school, Vo Thi Hoang Yen, spent the better part of an hour sharing her story. Contracting polio as a child and living in a very small rural village, she struggled her entire life to be seen as a person of skills and not a person of disability. Through her dogged dedication and her will to break free, she pushed forward with a smile and a spirit that was infectious. She has earned two or three master degrees, built organizations form the ground up to help all types of differently-abled people. She’s been honored internationally and locally for her organizational talents. She teaches and trains social workers, cuts through governmental obstacles and gives hope to thousands of people throughout Ho Chi Minh City and beyond.

The Center does these and many other things:

* They hold talent shows for talented differently-abled people, both professionals and non-professionals.
* They have art groups that make incredible art.
* They hold supports groups for students with common challenges.
* They are advocates and organizers for helping folks out of the “shadows of life.”

I once heard the late Senator Hubert Humphrey say: “The moral test of government is how treat those in the dawn of life, the children, and those in the twilight of life the elderly and all of those in the shadows of life, the poor the sick and the disabled.” Vo Thi Hoang Yen and her creative staff, funded in part by a grant from the Ford Foundation, embodied Humphrey’s challenge, even as they work outside of government.

By the way, Vo Thi Hoang Yen and a colleague with a beautiful voice sang for us and demonstrated their enormous talent. And yes, those who know me, would not be surprised to know that I let the entire CLUB HOUSE in singing Spirit of a Living God in voice and hand motions. I told Charles Bailey after the visit that he must stop making our entire Interfaith Delegation cry. We are running out of both kinds of tears: TEARS OF JOY for the incredibly gifted people we are meeting and TEARS OF SADNESS for the worlds inability to know the full extend and horror of war.

Leaving the CLUB HOUSE, on the way to the airport, we stopped for a quick lunch and to buy some “throw away shoes” for the next step on our journey. We flew then to Da Nang and spent time touring the Agent Orange “hot spot” right there at the airport. This was the major hub for the military’s use and storage of the dioxin, which devastated so much of the land and water of Vietnam. The “throw away shoes” were a helpful reminder to everyone in the delegation of the danger that Agent Orange still can inflict 35 years after the Vietnam war.
By far the most affected areas are around the Da Nang airport in central Vietnam and the Bien Hoa and Phu Cat airports in the south. The majority of spraying flights were launched from these airfields. Unused stocks of herbicides were collected at Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Tuy Hoa after 1971. Damaged barrels were disposed of in local landfills, while the remaining herbicide was re-barreled for shipping to the South Pacific. It was destroyed there by incineration in 1977.

The groundwater contamination and the sediment are still highly toxic, within eye site of thousands of homes. The cleanup has been delayed by the U.S. Government that is willing to help with a modest effort to repair the environmental damage, but is unwilling to take responsibility for the effects of its “chemical warfare” on the people of Vietnam.
After touring the Da Nang Airport “hot spot”, the delegation visited the Da Nang Association of Victims of Agent Orange (DAVA) to once again be loved by the children. Singing and dancing by the children helped to wipe away the anger and frustration of why to intelligent governments are unable or unwilling to clean up the environmental damage and provide healing to the human casualties.

We ended the day with a dinner, joined by a number of local government and non-government persons working on that “healing” thing. We left the day very tired, but extremely moved once again by the voices and faces of the children. Who was it that said: “we will be led by the children?” Peace…