The Guest House

One of our Interfaith delegates, Paulette Peterson, Clinical Psychologist, U.S. Veterans Administration, summed up our experiences so far here in Vietnam by reading the following poem by Rumi, entitled: THE GUEST HOUSE:

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
Empty of its furniture,
Still treat each guest honorably.
He (or she) may be clearing you out of some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing,
And invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond.

Paulette Peterson’s sharing of the poem by Rumi and Sister Maureen Fiedler, who is a Sister of Loretto and the host of the public radio talk show Interfaith Voices, articulated for me the sense of the entire mission. Here is the picture Maureen painted with her words:

THE STORY OF LY:
“Members of our interfaith delegation to Vietnam visited families in the urban area around DaNang yesterday, and the small group of which I was a part (Bob Edgar of Common Cause, Jim Winkler of the Methodist Board of Church and Society and myself) met Ly and her family at home. Ly is about eight years old, and her parents showed us proudly the certificate she had just received for excellent work in school.

Yet Ly – like her parents – is thin in the extreme; she could easily have been a “poster child” for poverty and malnourishment. Her mental ability is something of a miracle because she has an enlarged skull and large eyes that are very wide set. Her chest cavity is collapsed in ways that make it difficult for her to breathe. She is scheduled to go to the hospital in two days to get an assessment for possible surgery that would enlarge her chest cavity and improve her breathing. Her parents are clearly concerned.

Ly is almost certainly a child deformed by war, a young girl whose whole life is forever shaped by the legacy of Agent Orange and dioxin sprayed by the US military for more than 10 years during the Vietnam conflict. There is no scientific way to say this definitely in individual cases, but the correlations between high instances of birth defects and the areas sprayed by the defoliant Agent Orange are overwhelming.

Ly is currently visited at home by people from a group of non-profits who assess needs and often train parents and grandparents to provide physical therapy at home for their physically challenged offspring. Such services are wonderful, but limited by funding.

Ly and the children we have met in disability centers in both Ho Chi Minh City and DaNang, cry out against war with their very bodies, as their twisted limbs reach out for hugs and love. It is as if they are asking, “Why am I like this?” “Will my life have meaning?”

Their lives do have meaning. Their /physical/ challenges tell us in deeply human terms that we are /morally/ challenged by the reality and the legacy of modern warfare. Thank you, Ly.” — (Used by permission of Sister Maureen Fiedler)

What a visit to Ly’s version of the GUEST HOUSE!

Today we transition from the delegations very emotional tour of Vietnam to conversations with government officials in Hanoi and opportunities for our delegation to begin the process of summarizing our observations. Whatever final document we come up with, I am confident that it will include our very strong support of the U.S. — Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin report addressing the legacy of Agent Orange here in Vietnam, which will officially released in the coming month or two. It will also include some of the comments we plan to make today the Vice Chair of the National Assembly, the highest government official that we will have an opportunity to speak with. Here are some of the things we plan to suggest:

The Agent Orange issue was for many decades too sensitive for the two governments to discuss, but this has now changed. After 35 years, the issue is ready for constructive action by both the United States and Vietnam.

The Plan to address the Agent Orange issue now exists and is ready for adoption by both countries. It has been prepared by the US- Vietnam Dialogue Group and has the full support of both the Vietnamese and the American members, who are eminent citizens in the mainstreams of the US and Vietnam.

The Plan is a reasonable starting point for the two governments to begin discussions. The American policy process must work step by step, not all at once, and the Plan is the place to begin.

If the Vietnamese Government is able to officially endorse the Plan, there are many Americans who will join them. If it does not happen NOW, this unique opportunity will pass quickly and the Agent Orange issue will be replaced by other pressing issues on the American policy agenda.

We recognize and agree that for any American action on Agent Orange to get the respect of the Vietnamese people it needs to focus both on the environmental cleanup and on the needs of people impacted by dioxin.

The US government may strongly resist any agreement which could be considered an open-ended commitment. Thus, American support might best come in the form of cooperation in building services and support mechanisms for impacted individuals and their families, especially to assist the “differently abled” children.

Again, NOW is the moment to act. The Dialogue Group can present the Plan but the Government of Vietnam needs to vigorously follow up or else this moment of opportunity may well disappear.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., often reminded us of the “URGENCY OF NOW!” The time ins NOW to “end the war in Vietnam.”

I will keep you posted on our progress…