Viet Nam Friendship Village...Village, a living symbol of peace. Right: International delegates...

Viet Nam Friendship VillageNewsletter of the U.S. Committee for the Vietnam Friendship Village Project

Winter 2011

by Paul Wicker

Eight delegates traveled to Hanoi in 2010 to attend the International Meeting held on October 28 and 29: Carol Stewart (Canada), Raphael Vahé (France), Sigemitu Ahara and Nakahara Mami (Japan), Brigitte Müller and Rosemarie Höhn-Mizo (Germany), and David Rocovits and Paul Wicker (USA). Major General Do Cong Mui represented the Vietnamese Committee at the head table and other members of the Veterans Association of Vietnam and the Vietnam Friendship Village staff were also in attendance.

In touring the village and hear-ing Director Dang Vu Dung’s report, delegates were all impressed by the progress of the education and voca-tional training of the children, the care of the veterans, and the steps that have been taken to repair the effects of the 2009 flood.

Updates & ProposalsDirector Dung first reported on

the main activities of the Friendship Village from 2008 through 2010, and then presented proposals for the next two years.

The total funding goal for 2011

and 2012 is $703,640 with 49% coming from international sources.

Director Dung outlined major plans to construct three two-sto-ry residences plus a three-story building, add a second floor to the school, repair Building G2, resurface the roads, and install new fencing within the village.

During this construction, the number of veterans will be tempo-rarily reduced from 40 to 28 in 2011,

Delegates Gather for 13th International Meetingand then in 2012, the number of vet-erans will be increased to 60. This added capacity will help address the increased need for veterans services in Vietnam due to the advancing age of the veterans. The number of chil-dren will remain at 120 and the staff will be maintained at 60.

The village has established ties with local medical facilities to ac-cess advanced treatment for the children and to provide professional development opportunities for the staff. Besides the care provided to residents, the village now offers eco-nomical outpatient care for people in the local community.

In addition to the five special education classes currently offered, there is a plan to add a class for hearing-impaired children so they can learn to communicate by using sign language. Initially the village will rely on the services of a profes-sional who will provide instruction

continued on page 3…

L to R: Raphaël Vahé (France), Sigemitu Ahara (Japan), Rosemarie Höhn-Mizo (Germany), Major General Do Cong Mui (Vietnam), David Rocovits (USA), Carol Stewart (Canada).

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High-energy songs and skits performed by the children, as well as special guests, has become a tradition at the Friendship Village’s biennial international meetings. In

this number, kids wave flags representing all the countries represented at the meeting.

2 Viet Nam Friendship Village Project USA

USAVietnam Friendship Village Project USA• Becky Luening, President, Portland, Oregon• Don Blackburn, Bandon, Oregon• Bill Dean, Corvallis, Oregon• Liliane Floge, Derwood, Maryland• Judy Moss, Anchorage, Alaska• David Rocovits, Reno, Nevada• Dan Ryan, Olympia, Washington• Carl Stancil, Arcata, California• Paul Wicker, Manhattan Beach, CaliforniaP.O. Box 599, Arcata, CA 95518-0599Tel: 503-774-9197 (Becky Luening)Web: vietnamfriendship.orgEmail: [email protected]

CANADAVietnam Friendship Village Project Canada• Michelle Mason, President • Krista Riley• Tom Boivin • Jeff Schutts• Marina Percy • Carol Stewart906 Salsbury Dr., Vancouver, BC V5L 4A4Tel: 604-253-3544Web: friendshipvillage.caEmail: [email protected]

G E R MANYDorf der Freundschaft• Rosemarie Höhn-Mizo, President & International Committee President• Hanna Bladt • Rainer Hub• Birgit Grau • Brigitte Müller• Thomas Hoffman • Albrecht OttmarPfarrstraße 3, 74357 Bönnigheim-HofenTel/Fax: +49 7143 24891Web: dorfderfreundschaft.deEmail: [email protected]

FRANCEl’Association Républicaine des AnciensCombattants et Victimes de Guerre (ARAC)• Raphaël Vahé, Président National Délégué• Georges Doussin, Vice President2, place du Méridien, 94807 Villejuif cedexTel: +33 01-42-11-11-19 • Fax: +33 01-42-11-11-10Email: [email protected]

JAPANVietnam Friendship Village Nippon Committee• Ahara Sigemitu • Nakahara Mamic/o Nippon Vietnam Friendship Assn, Tokyo170-0005 Tokyo-to, Toshima-kuMinamiootsuka 2-17-10, JapanTel & Fax: +81 042-421-9157Email: [email protected]

VI ET NAMVietnam Friendship Village• Dang Vu Dung, Director• Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Foreign Visitor ManagerTel: +84 4 38374527 • Fax: +84 4 37650213Web: langhuunghi.vnEmail: [email protected]

VFVP Contacts

The mission of the Vietnam Friendship Village Project is to cultivate reconciliation and heal the wounds of the Vietnam War by uniting veterans and caring citizens through international cooperation in the building and support of the Vietnam Friendship Village, a living symbol of peace.

Right: International delegates unveil the Don Flaxman memorial bench, sponsored by VFVP-USA board members. David Rocovits had the stone bench made in Hanoi, and then worked with Dang Vu Dung to find a place for it at the village. Don Flaxman was a well-loved member of the U.S. Commit-tee before he passed away in early 2009.

Don Flaxman Memorial Bench

Above: The unveiling ceremony was held on the first day of the meeting. L to R: Unidentified woman, Paul Wicker, Dang Vu Dung, Raphaël Vahé, David Rocovits, Rosi Höhn-Mizo, and Ahara Sigemitu.

Over the next few days, Friend-ship Village residents tried out the new bench. In one photo (above left), three kids pose with U.S. Committee members Paul Wicker (L) and David Rocovits (R).

THREE TOP PHOTOS BY DAVID ROCOVITS; PHOTO OF YOUNG WOMEN BELOW BY PAUL WICKER

Winter 2011 Newsletter 3

One of the most timeless and universal interests of all human beings is the study of stars and other celes-tial bodies. The inhabitants of our village share in this interest.

These days the heavens over Hanoi seem a bit closer because Friendship Village now has an astronomical telescope.

How did this happen you might ask? I must first disclose that for the past dozen years I have traveled around using the name, “The Galileo Guy.” I am pret-ty well known in fifth grade classrooms in Southern California where I appear dressed as the seventeenth century astronomer Galileo Galili who in 1609 intro-duced an elementary telescope to the world which has sparked interest in the mysterious night sky for centuries.

Last year I was at an event with representatives from Celestron, a local telescope company. As frequently happens, somebody from Celestron asked me where I had been traveling recently. Of course I mentioned that I had been to Vietnam and informed them about the Friendship Village and about the wonderful work that is done there.

I said that I would be going to the Friendship Village in October for our international business meeting and asked if Celestron would be willing to provide a tele-scope for me to take as a gift for the children. Celestron gladly agreed and subsequently provided one of their FirstScope models.

This quality Dobsonian-style telescope features a 76mm aperture, reflector optical tube and is an ideal entry-level astronomical telescope. It is very easy to use. The observer simply navigates the night sky by moving the tube in the direction of their desired object, making

the viewing experience a snap! Astronomy is a pastime that requires knowledge, so

I also took some books on the moon and the constel-lations. The telescope even comes with a special moon filter. I also provided a CD with a slide show about the solar system and planetarium software.

When the kids and other villagers saw the telescope they were all very anxious to try it out. Celestron adver-tises the FirstScope as a table-top design. Well kids will be kids and you can see in this picture that they adapted the telescope to their own circumstances.

I will have to tell Celestron that the FirstScope is the world’s first laptop telescope.

Heavens Over Hanoi by Paul Wicker

Sixteen-year-old Nguyen Thi Oanh looks through the telescope donated by U.S. Committee member Paul Wicker (right).

International Meeting Report…continued from page 1

for hearing-impaired children while training members of the staff in sign language.

In order to provide professional development for the teachers and enhance their skills, the Friendship Village is also planning to increase exchanges with other special edu-cation institutions, organizing visits to other schools and offering train-ing courses for teachers. The village can serve as a prototype for facilities with similar objectives throughout Vietnam.

flower making and computing skills. Depending on their abilities and

aspirations, children may be sent to vocational training centers, includ-ing the vocational training school of the Veterans Association of Vietnam, to study for jobs in many different fields, such as electrical, telephone, computer repair and hair styling.

The Vietnam Friendship Village administration has been asked to provide a list of small projects and their associated costs to assist the fundraising efforts of the national committees. We have our work cut out for us!

Beginning in 2011, every child will get a notebook in which to re-cord personal education plans from the time they enter the village until they return home. Furthermore, the staff plans to emphasize the role of drawing and painting in the classes because of its positive influence on the children’s creativity and men-tal development, which provides a foundation to enable them to attend mainstream schools in the future.

In addition to traditional school-ing, the village continues to maintain its four current vocational education in sewing and tailoring, embroidery,

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Annual reports from the Vietnam Friendship Village always mention hundreds of visitors, from all over the world, along with an accounting of donations made by those passing through, and on occasion we have received a list or a few business cards with American visitors’ names and addresses. But for the most part, unless we know someone person-ally who is traveling to Vietnam, we rarely hear from visitors themselves. That’s why it’s always gratifying when cards or calls some our way from people who have been there. It’s interesting to learn about differ-ent motivations for people’s travels and to hear about their experiences and impressions of the village.

SPICECarl Stancil, VFVP-USA board

member in Arcata, California where our P.O. box resides, faithfully picks up the mail and collects the checks we receive for the Friendship Village. Once in a while he will for-ward correspondence to me. One such note I received late last sum-mer from Ms. Se-Woong Koo, who wrote, “Thank you for accommodat-ing Dr. Rennie Moon and my visit. We learned much during our time at the Friendship Village site in Van Canh. That knowledge will greatly enhance the project we are under-taking here at SPICE.”

This note puzzled me, so I turned to my trusty search engine and soon found SPICE online. SPICE stands for Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education. I dis-covered that Ph.D. candidate Se-Woong Koo and Dr. Rennie Moon had visited the Friendship Village on a research trip in preparation for the development of a comprehensive curriculum unit titled “Legacies of the Vietnam War.” The curriculum

will be available to high schools in the U.S. and independent schools abroad. The educators also visited other organizations in Vietnam working with Agent Orange victims, as well as non-profits working with landmine survivors, museums and contemporary art spaces, interna-tional schools, foreign companies operating within Vietnam’s special industrial zones, and Viet Kieu*–owned shops and businesses. The interviews they conducted will be used to compile updated informa-tion, materials, resources and ideas for student activities to take into consideration while developing the six-lesson unit, which will specifical-ly address the U.S. History Standard 2C, “The student understands the foreign and domestic consequences of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.”

Friendship Tours WorldIn early October 2010, I received

a call from Alethea Paradis, Founder, Director and Program Leader of Friendship Tours World, formerly called Friendship Tours Vietnam. She was calling to request a recip-rocal link to her educational orga-nization on our website. To quote Alethea, Friendship Tours World is “a small educational tour and com-munity service program for students to travel and learn with their own

teachers in countries of our former enemies. Students can earn college credit…, but the life-long education always comes from the volunteer work. Indeed, we named our pro-gram after the Friendship Village, as our work there was the most inspi-rational part of our journey through Vietnam.”

Alethea went on to explain, “In 2004, as I was teaching the Vietnam War seminar, my class was reflect-ing on our military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, musing if [only] we had ‘learned the lessons of Vietnam…’ Inspired by this inqui-ry—timed to launch at the 30-year anniversary of the ‘Fall of Saigon’—I founded this program with the mis-sion of experiential learning for kids through community service in formerly war-torn Vietnam. We have now expanded to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar—all of which have experienced war on their soil. Still, Vietnam is our most popular tour.” Friendship Tours World donates 1% of each of these students’ trip cost to the Village. Their website has linked to ours for several years, and we now have a link to theirs, which can be found under Links Vietnam Travel.

Friendship Village Serves as Resource for EducatorsTeaching about Consequences of War by Becky Luening

*Literally translated “Vietnamese sojourner,” Viet Kieu is a term used by people in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to refer to ethnic Vietnamese living outside of the country.

Happy New Year!On the occasion of the Tet holiday

(Vietnamese Lunar New Year, which begins on February 3 this year), our friends at the Vietnam Friendship

Village wish everyone very good health, happiness & prosperity. In the Vietnamese Zodiac, 2011 is the Year of the Cat.

GRAPHIC BY CHINESE PAPER-CUTTING ARTIST WANG ZI GAN


Touching Lives…continued from page 12

Agent Orange. After a wonderful lunch we were blessed to spend the afternoon with the veterans.

“I think many of the thera-pists were a bit perplexed at first because we had been so intensely focused on children, but the veter-ans quickly won them over and by the end tears were shed and many deep insights were gained. Many of the women said it was the first time they realized what a powerful role they could play in healing the effects of the Vietnam war.”

Rachel elaborated: “I was working in a smaller

room with a second set of veter-ans, but one experience that had everyone reeling was when a cou-ple of the therapists began to sing Beatles songs as they were mas-saging the vets which brought the vets to tears which in turn brought the singing therapists to tears. Everyone was on cloud nine after leaving Friendship Village!”

I was really touched by Rachel’s message and decided to share her story with the VFVP-USA com-munity because I found it to be such a great example of the rec-onciliation that is made possible by the existence of this place that we support with our work here in the USA. I emailed Rachel to ask a few follow-up questions, and soon received a reply from her, as well as a message from another par-ticipant on the journey, Jacquelyn Pannullo, who wrote:

“For me, being at Friendship Village was the most profound heal-ing experience during the entire trip. I have been working with chil-dren in less than ideal situations for over 10 years and my passion lies with helping them find the strength in themselves and to move beyond their current situations. However,


<vietnamfriendship.org>

This summer our small, all-volun-teer U.S. Committee achieved some-thing we’d been working toward for years—a revamped website design. After several false starts and much frustration, the new site was built utilizing Wordpress, an open-source content management system de-signed for blogging. Starting with a simple template, tech consul-tant Erim Foster tweaked the color scheme, added multi-level menus, a sophisticated photo gallery and sidebar links, and then fine-tuned the site to our satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Ulrich, the German Committee’s webmaster, designed a new international portal containing links to all six national committees’ websites or information pages.

We encourage supporters to visit our new site, explore all the pages and sub-pages, and send us feed-back. It’s a work in progress—more photos will soon be uploaded and we will be striving to increase the frequency of blog entries as a way to provide up-to-the-minute news related to the Friendship Village.

Coming Soon: Email UpdatesVFVP-USA recently subscribed to

a professional email tool enabling regular updates to be sent to many supporters at once. Our plan is to send no more than one message per month. The sidebar of our web-site contains a sign-up form for the list. We will combine these with the email addresses we have already collected for our initial message, scheduled to be sent soon after this print newsletter goes out. Our goal is to eventually send more newslet-ters via email than postal mail; mon-ey saved on on printing and postage will in turn will be passed on to the Vietnam Friendship Village.

Check Out Our New Website!

Those Beautiful CardsAnyone who has made a donation to the

Friendship Village recently will have received one of our new, full-color thank you cards, which feature eight different photos taken by board members Bill Dean and David Rocovits. These beautiful cards were printed by CORE Communications, an innovative printing company based in Corvallis, Oregon. Board member Bill Dean introduced us to CORE. In addition to doing great work, they offer us a significant nonprofit discount, helping to reduce our printing costs. We are now exploring the possibility of developing a set of eight blank cards featuring scenery of Vietnam as a premium for our donors. Stay tuned for details…

On November 12, 2010 the Austrian Embassy helped celebrate the 1,000-

year anniversary of Thang Long (the city of Hanoi) by staging a Viennese Charity Ball with a live orchestra, benefitting the Viet-nam Friendship Village! Read more on our website…


Physical Therapy

David Rocovits shows Ms. Ha and Director Dung some

of our past newsletters.

Mealtime

New desks in the computer classroom

Refurbished net house, funded by U.S. donations

Physical Therapy


Flower Making

Japanese Committee members Ahara Sigemitu and Nakahara Mami (looking at camera) join VFV entertainers on stage

Advanced Embroidery

Sewing / Tailoring

David Rocovits poses with a group of Vietnamese veterans

School

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DEDICATIONS received since our last newsletter

Donor Dedication

Janet Ashford In honor of Chet BoddyNancy Anne Bailey In memory of Colonel Robert N. BaileyJames & Jane Baraz In memory of Don FlaxmanBill Motto VFW Post 5888 In memory of Chris Matthews and Bob HallRichard Blanchfield In celebration of hope! In appreciatioin of healing and peaceLisa Brown & Kevin Johnson In appreciation of the Village’s workYvonne Byron In memory of Walt ByronDebbie Cahoon In memory of Chris Matthews, VFW Post 5888, Santa CruzJames Conway & Sylvia Nieto In memory of Chris MatthewsConstance Corson In memory of Ned, Bill, MarineLydia Darby In celebration of Suel Jones and Michael Cull and

the healing work they have doneGene & Paul de Benedictis In appreciation of all Vietnam veteransRay Doherty In memory of all Vietnamese victims of the warAustin W. Eastridge, Jr. In memory of Sing NygJan Eldred & Peter Szutu In memory of Jeff “Paco” HuchLiliane Floge & Stephen Crawford In memory of Franklin P. Floge, Vietnam veteranLiliane Floge In memory of Don FlaxmanTom Gale In celebration of George Mizo and John SchuchardtEsther Faber In memory of Rueven Mordecai Ben MoshehKitty Graham In memory of Chris MatthewsJohanna Hawley In memory of all that USA destroyedNorman & Sallie Hogg In memory of Ruth Mary Hogg HurstSophia Holloway In honor/appreciation/celebration of all the dedicated

Friendship Village volunteers and workersEarl Huch In memory of Paco HuchFlorence Jones In memory of George MizoTara Kaiserman In celebration of Judith Moss Bartee’s 61st BirthdayBarry Koch In memory of Kalgin KochCarol Konyha In memory of Christine KonyhaMargaret Koster In celebration of all who work for peaceHuan Le In memory of Mr. Le Sau & Mrs. Ton-Nu Thi DienJim Lewin In memory of Sandy AlexanderSteve Little In memory of Daniel Rodriguez, U.S. ArmyBecky Luening & Brian Willson In memory of George MizoGeorge & Susan McAnanama In memory of Rosemary McAnanama In honor of Amy FlemingElaine McGillicuddy In memory of Francis A. McGillicuddyJudith Moss & William Bartee In honor of those who fought – Vietnamese & American alikeEdward Nef In honor of U.S. veterans

Vietnam: The Secret Agent an Excellent Resourceby Becky Luening

In early November I received a call from Jacki Ochs, director of the 1983 film, Vietnam: The Secret Agent, which documents the health effects of Agent Orange on American vet-erans and their impending lawsuit, which was settled out of court in 1984, just after the film’s release. This powerful hour-long documen-tary includes excellent background information on chemical warfare, solid scientific data about the toxic herbicides sprayed in Vietnam, his-toric war footage, and tragic per-sonal stories of veterans and their families.

Vietnam: The Secret Agent is nar-rated by Max Gail and features mu-sic by Country Joe McDonald. It re-ceived the Special Jury Prize from the Sundance Film Festival among many other honors. At the time of its release, the Boston Globe de-scribed it as “the year’s most ter-rifying horror movie” and the Los Angeles Herald called it “one of the most incisive and damning docu-mentaries ever made about corpo-rate abuse in this country.”

Jacki called to tell me that a new, “authored” version of the film would soon be re-released on DVD with extra features and a resource list that will include the Vietnam Friendship Village. She was look-ing for a few good photographs to use for this purpose, which I gladly provided. I immediately ordered a copy of the DVD for my personal library. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn or ed-ucate others about the history of Agent Orange and the dangers of dioxin contamination in Vietnam and elsewhere. To purchase a DVD for home use, visit the film website: www.vietnamthesecretagent.com.

Thank You Rocovits Family & FriendsDavid Rocovits has maintained a deep and abiding interest in the Vietnam

Friendship Village since he was first introduced in 2001 by his brother Dan, a long-time resident of Hanoi. Over the years, David and his wife Amy have raised a signifi-cant amount of support for the project in Reno, Nevada, where they live. When David and Dan’s mother passed away in 2009, the family di-rected memorial donations to VFVP. And when David returned to the village in 2010, he took his daughter Ilin and son David II along with him (see photo). We are grateful for the Rocovits family’s ongoing, heartfelt contributions. PH

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Christine Nguyen In memory of Tonthat LePaul & Mary Nichols In appreciation of all the good work the Vietnam Friendship

Village doesThomas O’Malley & Beverly Arsem In honor of Greg StarkebaumLissa Onderdonk & Paul Shannon In memory of Howard ZinnGeorge Ow, Jr. In memory of Chris MatthewsElizabeth Peterson In memory of Christine ScottMargaret Peterson In memory/honor of Capt. James W. Peterson (Vietnam 5/22/71)Rita Powell In honor of Alexis & Kathryn CountrymanJanet M. Powers In honor of Liliane FlogeCoral Reiff In appreciation of Steven L. PattonCal Robertson In memory/honor/appreciation/celebration of all concernedBill Roller In memory of Jack Shankwiler, two-time volunteer as physician in

Laos and VietnamJudi Rose In honor of Sunny & Erika RosePeter Rubin Nguyen Thi Minh KhaiDan Ryan In honor/memory of my mom, Mildred A. RyanAndy Sehic & Mark Dubrow In celebration of Becky Luening’s 52nd birthdayJayne Senecal In celebration of Phil AaronsonM. Shekinah & Clive Shephard In memory of Don FlaxmanAmira Bramson Spendlove In memory/honor of George MizoWilliam R. Spendlove In memory/honor of George MizoWilliam R. Spendlove In honor of all the great workers of VFVP – Thank you all!Robert & Becky Spitzer In memory of George MizoPaula L. Steffen In memory of Ralph W. BedellAnn Sugrue In memory of Jim & Abbie SugrueJohn Taylor In honor of all American and Vietnamese soldiersLarry Timmons In memory of Casey LondoShala Todd In memory/honor/appreciation/celebration of all who are lost,

who suffer from Agent OrangeShala Todd In honor of my father, William BarteeRick Tracy In memory of Mary Jo TracyDave Tschoepe In memory of George MizoTran Tuyet In memory of Christopher N.H. JenkinsBich Vu In celebration of children and people in the Friendship VillageMarlene Warneke In memory of CWO Ronald J. FultonCharles Waugh In celebration of the Rhodes FamilyNiki Wells In honor of Jim MulherinJohn & Barbara Wodynski In memory of HM3 John Edward LaningDaniel Young In memory of Paul Blue, Veterans For Peace Chapter 11Donor name lost In memory of Gilbert Ketzler Jr.Donor name lost In memory of John Christian StampDonor name lost In appreciation of all the soldiers on both sides who fought

in the Vietnam War

Make Agent Orange History: The Power of Collaborationby Becky Luening

When I spoke with Jacki Ochs (see article on facing page), she sug-gested that the Vietnam Friendship Village Project USA look into joining a new web-based project launched in 2010 called Make Agent Orange History. This is a collaborative effort to raise awareness of the long-term effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam, highlight solutions to the problem, and connect individuals, founda-tions and non-governmental orga-nizations with opportunities to get involved. Make Agent Orange History is a project of Active Voice, an asso-ciation of “communications strate-gists who harness the power of film, television and multimedia to spark social change,” and has received support from the Ford Foundation.

One of the project’s strategies is to frame the long-term effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam as a humanitarian concern. The open-ing animated video on the project home page does just that. The web-site lists “Champions,” individuals who are championing this persistent issue; “Resources” for learning more about it; and “Partners,” humanitar-ian organizations such as Vietnam Friendship Village Project USA that are actively involved and offer ways for people to plug in. As a partner, VFVP-USA will also help spread the word through its own networks.

One small first step individuals can take is to sign an online pledge to support a Plan of Action. There is also an event-planning kit available for those who wish to take action in support of Vietnamese families by hosting an event. VFVP-USA will provide extra support to hosts of events benefitting the Friendship Village. For more info, please visit makeagentorangehistory.org.

Remembering a Special Donorby Judith Moss, VFVP-USA Board Member, Anchorage, Alaska

Mr. Lawrence Clark, a very dear friend of mine, passed away last year at the wonderful age of 94. He was independent, lived by himself until the day he died. He was a true pioneer in spirit and in deed. After Mr. Clark’s release from the military at the end of World War II, like many veterans he wished to live in a world without war, and subsequently took a stand against the Korean Conflict and for diplomacy. As he became closer to his roots of farm-ing and orcharding he saw a way for world harmony, and thus was deeply disgusted with our involvement in Vietnam, which he saw as an unneces-sary and shallow attempt to rekindle the righteousness of World War II. We spoke to him of the Friendship Village and he thought it was a just cause to be helping people. Being a man of little means he was honored to be able to donate $10, inspired by the brochures and videos we shared with him.


Detail: VFVP-USA Fund Transfers to VFV• FY 2008–2009 • FY 2009–2010

11/12/08 $ 18,000* 12/17/09 $ 10,0002/10/09 20,000 2/25/10 14,000 4/13/10 4,000** 7/13/10 12,000

*$10,000 of this amount was earmarked for the wastewater treatment system.**Earmarked for greenhouse/irrigation project.

VFVP-USA Financial Summary for Fiscal Year 2008-09

Oct. 1, 2008 – Sept. 30, 2009

TOTAL ASSETS beginning of year $ 13,466.58

INCOMEIndividual Donations & Grants $ 40,640.01Interest from Savings 16.98 Total Income $ 40,656.99

EXPENSESBank Fees $ 37.00Printing 2,095.00Postage 1,405.35Mailing Service 317.00Nonprofit Reg. & Incorp. Fees 45.00Telephone (Board Conf. Calls) 878.31Website Development 1,131.40 Total Expenses $ 5,909.06

VFVP FUND TRANSFERS To VN Friendship Village $ 38,000.00

TOTAL ASSETS end of yearSavings Balance as of 9/30/09 $ 7,745.72Checking Balance as of 9/30/09 2,468.79 Total Assets $ 10,214.51

VFVP-USA Financial Summary for Fiscal Year 2009-10

Oct. 1, 2009 – Sept. 30, 2010

TOTAL ASSETS beginning of year $ 10,214.51

INCOMEIndividual Donations & Grants $ 37,568.98Interest from Savings 5.91 Total Income $ 37,574.89

EXPENSESBank Fees $ 75.00Printing 452.00Postage 448.47Mailing Service 327.78Telephone (Board Conf. Calls) 755.00Friendship Village Souvenirs 100.00Website Development 375.00 Total Expenses $ 2,533.25

VFVP FUND TRANSFERS To VN Friendship Village $ 40,000.00

TOTAL ASSETS end of yearSavings Balance as of 9/30/10 $ 3,297.39Checking Balance as of 9/30/10 1,958.76 Total Assets $ 5,256.15

“The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most

vital and artistic of human actions.”—Thich NhaT haNh

Touching Lives…continued from page 5

the moment when we were singing ‘I want to hold your hand,’ I turned to look at the man being massaged to my right and the sight of the tears in his eyes moved me to a place of hope and love, that we can heal old wounds and create a world where there doesn’t have to be war. What we were doing was the opposite of war and for me that is the most important, to not destroy others or ourselves. That was the pinnacle of my experience there.”

I am so grateful to Rachel and Jacquelyn for sharing their stories. Reading Rachel’s original message added sparkle to my New Year, reminding me of the unique role the Friendship Village plays in healing the wounds of that old war. I was also glad to find out that Liddle Kidz plans to return to Vietnam at the end of this year to continue the work of sharing nurturing touch. Lastly, in the process of connecting with these great folks, I ser-endipitously discovered that Jacquelyn lives in Portland and is interested in joining our VFV support network!

NOTE: VFVP-USA is an all-volunteer effort, as are all the national

committees that support the Vietnam Friendship Village in Van Canh, Hanoi, Vietnam. VFVP-USA board members make substantial contributions of their time and/or money, and occasionally organize fundraisers for the Friendship Village in our locales. We are always looking for ways to cut down on ex-penses so that a greater percentage of the donations we receive can benefit the village.

WE CURRENTLY HAVE A VACANCY ON OUR BOARD. If you have skills to volunteer and would like to join our team, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are especially interested in people with fund-raising skills, or experience with social networking. (See page 2 for contact information.)


Vietnam Friendship Village Project USA DonorsThank you for your support!

Below is a list of all who made donations between July 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2010. VFVP-USA is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit.NOTE: Please help us keep our database accurate by emailing Paul Wicker at [email protected] with any corrections to your name or address.

Philip & Marsha AaronsonJared AaronsonLarry AbbottDennis August Almeida &

Suzanne St. AmourRuth & Phillip Adler RuderHerbert AlbertEugene AlbinEugene AlexanderJim Anderson & Mary MorrisBeverly Arsem &

Thomas O’MalleyJanet AshfordRegina AyarsNancy BaileyDavid BallardJ. BarazDorothy BarenholtzSusan BarniakCarol BarteeJim BeckenhauptCynthia BeckerValerie BeltB. BensonSara & Ed BergDonald BlackburnRichard BlanchfieldAgnes BledsoeH. BossHugh BradyAmira BramsonPeter BraunJill Brethauer & David SamuelWalter & Martha BrethauerJohn & Patty Brissendon,

Sorensen’s ResortLisa Brown & Kevin Johnson,

Solutions Eva BrunnerDavid BuckYvonne & Walter ByronDebbie CahoonJohn CalkinsFrank CannonRev. F. Andrew CarharttDale & Mei Jen CastletonJohn-Paul CatuscoYin Mei ChenScott & Karen ChenSu-Fen ChenConny ChuanJames CoffeyThomas & Noël CongdonDavid ConleyJohn & Lenore CooneyConstance CorsonStephen Crawford &

Liliane FlogeRobert & Lois Crowley

Lydia DarbyChaitanya DavePaul de BenedictisBetty DeutschMimi DoRay Doherty,

Vermont Campaign to Ban Landmines

Rose DonovanThomas DooleyLaura DunnAustin Wesley EastridgeMarcia EckmanHelen EidemillerJan Eldred & Peter SzutuClaire EnglanderEsther FaberDiego FaziMarjorie FeldmanThomas FergusonJane FessendenRobert FischerLeonard & Janice ForemanElizabeth FrostThomas FugereThomas Gale Jr.Gregory GarciaNate GoldshlagCarolyn GoldwasserKitty GrahamNita GreeneBernard GreeningGail Gremse & David RoseJohn Gretzinger,

Cars Plus Auto GroupAlfred GriffithJacquelyn GriffithGreg & Cathy GrigsbyPhillip HallPatrice HansonRichard HastieRebecka Hawkins,

Closet CapersJohanna HawleyTodd HaytonJohn HensonJim HoffmeyerSallie & Norman HoggSophia HollowayLiang & Shu HsuEarl Huch & Lois EldredFred HummelRuth HunterYorick Hurd IIBruce HymanCraig IharaChih-Hui JanT. JeffersonJames Jeffery III

Robert JensenSandy JohnsonFranklin & Florence JonesJanice JordanPete JusselTara KaisermanBarry KochCarol KonyhaMargaret KosterJeffery KraterNoreen LarindeCarolyn LaskowskiDavid LautenDung LeHuan LeBette LeeArnie Leff, M.D.Andy LeimerJim, Jade & Jasper Lewin Stephen LittleMary LopezRoni LoveRobert Lovitt, South Sound

Buddhist Peace Fellowship Becky Luening &

S. Brian WillsonTony LyangThomas MacchiaGrace & Jim MalleyRaymond ManningJessica MarieMark MaxwellSusan & George McAnanamaMarguerite McBrideTim McCormickElaine & Francis

McGillicuddyRandolph McMurtryDarren McPhilimyJeffry MerrickGreg MillerVirginia & Bill MillerMai MineRichard MooreDeanna MooreRichard MoranSteve MorseJudith Moss & William BarteeGary MukaiJim MulherinTheresa MulkeyJoseph MurrayMeili MurrayThomas NawrockiDeborah NearhoofEdward NefAndrew NeherThi NguyenVan Anh Nguyen

Van Thu NguyenCandy NguyenChristine NguyenHana NguyenXuan Hoa NguyenThi NguyenPaul NicholsSylvia Nieto & James ConwayRyan OlsonGeorge OrmsbyCharles OsburnGeorge Ow Jr. &

Gail Michaelis-OwSusan & Paul PaprockiPeak Stucco & StoneGwen Perry-CrawfordMargaret PetersonJohn & Nikki PetersonElizabeth PetersonC. PeytonToan PhanRita Kirk PowellJanet PowersLee PowersPhilip PoythressCarol PridgeonFrancis QuinnJ. Coral ReiffChris ReynoldsKevin RichmondD. G. RidenourCal RobertsonRobert RobeyLiza RobinsonDavid & Amy RocovitsEsther RocovitsDagny RodriguezBill RollerJudi RoseWolfgang RosenbergPeter RosenwaldPeter RubinDan RyanPamela SchafferElaine & Dan SchwartzSteve SeawellJayne Senecal,

Earth Care Farm Pamela ShackelfordPaul ShannonM. Shekinah &

A. Clive ShephardKaren ShepherdRuth SheridanJo SlaightKen & Tina SlosbergMelinda SmallAnn & Doug SmithMichael Smith

Nikolai Nicky SmithSandi SmithJames SnodgrassBruce SollenbergerJeff SpalinWilliam SpendloveAmira SpendloveBob & Becky SpitzerStanley StahlM. P. L. SteffenDennis StreedAnn SugrueW. Gary SuttleAdam Swidler &

Gigliola XhemaliPeter Szydlowski &

Milena WongJohn & Susan TaylorWillow TeegardenMr. & Mrs. Amy ThaiJune & Bill ThompsonLarry TimmonsShala ToddRichard TracyMinh Tuan TranSan TranThai Trong, Luther CollegeDave TschoepeTran Khanh TuyetHurd TwomblyAlyssa UrishCecelia & Christopher VanceVFW Bill Motto Post 5888Minhhue VoBich VuK. Van WaggonerCharles WaldropCatherine WallingJason WangMarion WardMarlene WarnekeCharles WaughJosef WeberGeorge WeberJeff WellsNiki WellsJohn WengerJudith WhittakerPaul WickerKathryn WillardJonathan WittwerJohn WodynskiStephen WolffJean & David WooCarol WoodyardDaniel YoungH.P. Zieler

Vietnam Friendship Village Project–USA, Inc.P.O. Box 599, Arcata, CA 95518-0599

Return Service Requested

Greetings from the Vietnam Friendship Village!

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On January 2, I received an inspiring email mes-sage from VFVP-USA board member Dan Ryan. It was a forward of a message written by Rachel M. Beals, a massage therapist from Washington state. Rachel had just returned from a journey to Vietnam with 17 other healing professionals (massage, occupational, acupunc-ture, and yoga) sponsored by the Liddle Kidz Foundation, a group that organizes groups of healthcare profession-als to give their time, care and compassion to the chil-dren of the world through hands-on global outreach programs. The main focus for the group’s December 2010 Vietnam journey was to bring nurturing touch to orphans throughout the country.

Rachel had participated in a healing journey the pre-vious year, 2009, with an organization called Soldier’s Heart, and the two trips followed a similar route and utilized the same Vietnamese tour guide, Song, who has a deep dedication to working with American groups to support the healing of Vietnam. In Rachel’s words, “Song did an amazing job at helping us feel welcome and at ease in some difficult environments.”

“It will take some more time for me to fully articulate what it was like to be with the children we met,” Rachel

wrote, “but at the end of the trip it all came full circle with a visit to Friendship Village.

“We started the morning with an infant massage class for the staff and then spent one-on-one time with some of the children and young adults affected by


The Beauty of Reconciliation: Touching Lives by Becky Luening

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Viet Nam Friendship Village...Village, a living symbol of peace. Right: International delegates...

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