Let By-Gones be By- Gones

Let By-Gones be By-Gones
A Vietnam perspective
E.E. Valentine
Hue, Vietnam, February 25, 2009

“Let by-gones be by-gones.” An official with the Veteran Association of Vietnam (VAVN) stated bluntly during our meeting with him in Hanoi. Earlier the same morning our group of 11 Americans was honored with a private meeting with the former Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S., Nguyen Tam Chien, and he told us that Vietnam believes in shaking hands with their enemy after the battles. All the Vietnamese we have met during this humanitarian adventure have repeated this sentiment. From the Foreign Affairs officer, to the young men and women leaders of the NGO’s, the Vietnamese perspective when it comes to the Americans is; we have moved on. The War is history and we welcome your American innovations, investment, tourists and friendship.

While the war is never far from our minds as we travel the spine of this beautiful country, it is not the topic of interest to the Vietnamese. In fact, a young college woman, who stopped us to practice her English while we were walking along the Perfume River this evening, said she had not heard of the American/Vietnamese War. (Somehow we think either she didn’t understand, or she was demonstrating extreme politeness.) The youthful exuberant energy is evident throughout Vietnam and it isn’t surprising when you realize that over 50% of the population is under the age of 25!

Our last official meeting in Hanoi took me to the breaking point as we encountered 3 generations of victims of Agent Orange at Friendship Village, a vocational school and health facility for children and veterans who exhibit physical and developmental disabilities due to Agent Orange. The children surrounded us with cheerful greetings in English, “Hello”, Hello!” The children proudly displayed their crafts and of course we couldn’t resist buying a few.

Yesterday and today we have toured NGO’s in Quang Tri Province. This area of central Vietnam had some of the heaviest fighting of the war. At Project Renew, (their mission is:”Restoring the Environment and Neutralizing of the Effects of the War.”) We visited 2 families who have received micro-loans to buy a water buffalo and cows or pigs to restore the family farm after the father was killed or seriously injured by explosions of UXO (unexploded ordinances) left buried in the fields. These families make an average of $40.00 a month or less. Many of them earn a living by selling scrap metal they discover in the fields. Using homemade metal detectors the men go directly into the areas the farmers know have buried unexplored mortars. It might seem foolhardy to us, but the families who have no water buffalo or other livestock to plow the fields have few options. One family was so excited because their water buffalo had a baby this year, so now they can rent out the buffalo to other farmers and make more.

It was shocking to me to learn that 92% of the land over the 1000 square miles of this province in central Vietnam still has unexploded war ordinances and land mines. This morning we met a young woman who works now for Clear Path International who lost her leg 5 years ago when she stepped on a mine in her family’s rice patty. Through assistance from Clear Path, she has not only received more education, and assistance with rehabilitation, she has also become a runner and won gold medals at national competitions. Clear Path’s brochure says it all: “When Wars End.landmines and bombs remain.”

Our road trip today took us into the mountain area close to the former DMZ, the line that separated North and South Vietnam. This area is breathtakingly beautiful, with lush green hillsides, coffee crops, rivers, streams and quiet country lanes that lead to the Montagnard people with their colorful homes on stilts. I think all of us were relieved to get out of the congested city traffic and breath the mountain air and clear our heads. A real treat was visiting a new community center and preschool built by Global Community Services Foundation. We sat in a circle on straw mats with the elders of this ethnic people and heard them talk about why the community center is important in preserving their culture. The leader said they had trouble keeping the young people interested in their customs and if they had a TV or cassette recorder for movies and music, their youth might come to the center. The first obstacle was that they needed about $60.00 to bring in electric meters. On the spot, one woman in our group took out her wallet and gave the village leader enough for the electricity and the T.V.

The real highlight of our tour so far has been meeting the impressive young leaders in Vietnamese government and NGO’s. They are well educated, eager to learn, innovate and demonstrate incredible ambition and determination to succeed. I really enjoyed talking about American Literature with one young man who guided us today and shared lunch with us in Khe Shanh. He told me he is trying to translate several children’s books and get more books for children in small villages where they don’t have libraries or bookstores. I asked him if he had heard of Amazon, of course, he replied, but I don’t have a bank account for that.

Tonight we enjoyed a luxurious dinner in the courtyard of the Saigon Morin Hotel on the Perfume River in Hue. This old French Colonial Hotel takes us into a different world than the one we experienced just a few hours earlier. It is almost easy to forget the war happened here and that thousands of Vietnamese are still living with the consequences every day when they risk stepping into their fields.

Tomorrow we’ll step back in time as we visit the ancient citadel here in Hue.