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 SOCIETY
Sunday , Dec 17, 2006, Posted at: 18:52(GMT+7)
Congratulations on the
Happiness
of Most Renowned AO Victim
By Ng.Tr – Translated by Thuy Hang
Nguyen Duc and Thanh Tuyen (Center) at the wedding,
December 16 2006. at Yasaka Bao Tran Restaurant in Tax Mall Ho
Chi Minh City.
“A special wedding!” exclaimed hundreds of visitors at the wedding
of Nguyen Duc and Thanh Tuyen, for the groom is the one half of
a conjoined twin successfully separated by Vietnamese doctors
in Viet Duc Hospital 18 years ago.
Nguyen Duc is much luckier than his twin bother, Nguyen Viet,
who is leading a vegetable existence in Tu Du Hospital. Surviving
from the most famous operation in Viet Nam, Duc has overcome many
difficulties in life to rejoin the community as a normal person.
At the age of 25, he was employed by Hoa Binh Village in Tu Du
Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. As a victim of Agent Orange himself,
Duc took part in many charity activities for the disabled in general
and AO victims in particular.
He met Nguyen Thanh Tuyen at a friend’s wedding in April 2004,
and her admiration for his will soon turned into love. Two years
later they decided to get married.
The conjoined twin Viet-Duc in Tu Du Hospital in 1988.
The wedding was really good news to many. Some 500 visitors came
to share the joy with the couple; among them are doctors from
Viet Duc Hospital, the AO Victims Associations of Viet Nam and
Ho Chi Minh City, local and foreign press agencies.
Many gifts and wishes from benefactors were given to the couple.
And Duc had this to say: “Let us drink a toast to our parents,
relatives and individuals who saved my life and who always cared,
and to local and foreign organizations that supported us. We will
give what we get to other AO victims”.
And from the bottom of their hearts, visitors all wished Nguyen
Duc and Thanh Tuyen happiness forever.
VAORRC PARTICIPATION
IN THE WEDDING
SOCIETY
Monday , Dec 18, 2006, Posted at: 18:06(GMT+7)
By staff writers – Translated by Minh Tuong
US
to Help VN Overcome Dioxin Legacy
The US Congress will spend money on helping Viet Nam overcome
long-lasting toxic effects of defoliants called Agent Orange,
sprayed by the US army during the Viet Nam War, said an envoy
from the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations.
Speaking at a press conference in Ha Noi on Sunday, special envoy
Tim Rieser said money would be disbursed in 2007 to clean “hot
spots” and support Agent Orange victims.
At the press conference, some American veterans said it was easier
for the US’s Viet Nam veterans with exposure to Agent Orange to
get compensations than Vietnamese people. However, this would
be done for Vietnamese victims after all, they said.
Widespread
support for victims
Agent Orange victim Tran Thi My Quyen speaks
at Sunday's gathering in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: SGGP)
Also on Sunday, more than 200 people, both foreign and Vietnamese,
attended a gathering named “Friends all over the world are standing
by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange” in Ho Chi Minh City.
A special participant was Len Aldis, secretary of the Britain-Vietnam
Friendship Society, who in March 2004 launched a website to support
Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange at www.petitiononline.com/AOVN/petition.html.
The website, whose title is ‘Justice for Victims of Agent Orange’,
calls for support for the victims. By the Sunday afternoon, over
696,000 signatures had seen on the website.
Mr. Aldis, 76, who has spent many years raising funds and calling
for support for the victims, said his contributions were so small
compared with suffering by more than four million Agent Orange
victims in Viet Nam.
Among foreigners who have made substantial contributions to the
victims are Japanese professor Bunro Fujimoto, who created the
Negaukai Society in Japan to assist the victims, and Japanese
photographer Goro Nakamura.
With cameras, Mr. Nakamura has traveled across Viet Nam over
the past 30 years to take pictures of the war and its aftermath.
He has taken more than 35,000 photos and held many exhibitions
in his nation, Republic of Korea, the US and other countries to
show what Agent Orange has caused in Viet Nam.
Picture by Ngo Thanh Ha.
At the Sunday gathering in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese professor
Ngo Thanh Nhan, collaborator of an assistance campaign for AO
victims, said the campaign’s symbol was an orange knot calling
for justice for AO victims not only in Viet Nam but also in the
US, RoK, New Zealand and Australia.
Mr. Nhan added as part of the campaign, press conferences would
be held in 10-20 big cities in the US soon, ahead of the next
hearing of a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange
against American chemical companies that produced the highly toxic
defoliants. The next hearing is set for April 2007 in New York.
Three blind victims
of Agent Orange from Thien Phuoc Orphanage, Vong Co artists.
(Picture by Ngo Thanh Ha).
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