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What was the idea that brought PeaceTrees Vietnam to work in Quang Tri Province? The idea for PeaceTrees Vietnam arose from a desire to turn sorrow into service. In 1969 an American, Daniel Cheney, was killed when his helicopter was shot down in one of the southern provinces. His sister, Jerilyn Brusseau, was heartbroken that she had lost her beloved younger brother. Instead of turning her loss into anger and hatred, she vowed that one day when the war was over she would work to build bridges of peace and friendship between the American and Vietnamese peoples. She wanted to do all that she could do to help heal the emotional and environmental wounds of the war. That day finally arrived 26 years later. In July of 1995, President Bill Clinton announced that diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States would be normalized. Jerilyn Brusseau and her husband, Danaan Parry, realized that the time for PeaceTrees had come and the organization was formed. They knew it was time to move quickly to reach out to the Vietnamese people, in a grass roots way, to express caring and to promote healing from the losses of the war. In the fall of 1995, a small group of friends gathered around a Sunday breakfast table to share their vision for building peace and friendship with the people of Vietnam. As Jerilyn recalls, “We wanted to take the spirit of ‘citizen diplomacy’ fostered by 18 previous international PeaceTrees programs in other countries to a deeper level, by working with the Vietnamese people in removing landmines and planting trees.” A few hours after their breakfast meeting, Danaan flew to Washington DC, hoping to attend a reception at the Mission of Vietnam. Although he arrived at the door without an invitation, he was greeted warmly by the Vietnamese Chief of Mission, Le Van Bang, who offered support and encouragement for their idea. Events began to move quickly. In early January 1996, Danaan and Jerilyn traveled to Vietnam and met with representatives of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and the Quang Tri Province Department of Foreign Affairs to discuss plans to sponsor clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from 6.5 hectares of contaminated land near Dong Ha. They also agreed that 40 volunteers from the United States and other nations would gather to plant trees on the newly cleared land. By September 1996, three former U.S. military demining experts had traveled to Quang Tri Province to donate their time and expertise to the clearance effort. This work made PeaceTrees the first international non-governmental organization since the end of the War to be given permission by the Vietnamese Government to sponsor humanitarian demining work. Prior to this, all demining work had been done by the Vietnamese people. In November 1996, 43 international volunteers prepared to leave for Quang Tri to join 43 Vietnamese volunteers in planting the demined area with 2,000 trees. Just days before their scheduled departure, Danaan Parry suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack. Jerilyn and the rest of the PeaceTrees team were deeply shocked and saddened, but believed so strongly in their mission that they knew that they must go forward. Gathering from locations around the globe, the volunteers met days later in Quang Tri Province to begin planting trees alongside their Vietnamese counterparts. Over 2000 trees later, Friendship Forest Park had been created in Dong Ha and countless friendships had been born. Jerilyn is not the only member of the Cheney family dedicated to building bridges of peace and friendship between the American and Vietnamese peoples. Rae Cheney, Gold Star Mother of Jerilyn and Daniel Cheney, is one of countless Americans who have chosen to turn sorrow into service. Rae has spent the past 14 years as a volunteer with PeaceTrees Vietnam, in appreciation of the Vietnamese mothers who lost their sons and daughters in wartime. At 89 years of age, she is a continual advocate for building strong relations between the people of Vietnam and the United States. How has the work of PeaceTrees expanded through the years? Over the past fifteen years PeaceTrees Vietnam has maintained its vision while broadening the scope of its work. It presently sponsors three explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams in Quang Tri Province. Two of these teams devote their time to responding to calls from citizens who have found landmines or UXO. PeaceTrees also has fielded a new EOD site clearance team that is currently clearing landmines and UXO from 42 hectares of farmland. After the land is cleared early in 2010, fifty-six families will have a safe place to live and farm. PeaceTrees’ three EOD teams are funded through grants from the U.S. Department of State, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. PeaceTrees is a strong believer that mine action involves much more than clearing contaminated land of unexploded landmines, bombs weighing hundreds of pounds, mortar shells, cluster bombs, and hand grenades. Mine action includes providing mine risk education, helping survivors of explosive accidents and their families, and engaging in community and economic development. PeaceTrees has gradually expanded into all of these areas. In 1998 PeaceTrees completed construction of the Danaan Parry Landmines Education Center in the heart of Friendship Forest Park. This was the first center of its kind in Vietnam. Using this center, PeaceTrees launched a Mine Awareness Education Program, which has taught many thousands of children how to recognize and avoid dangerous explosives. This work continues to this day. In 2000 PeaceTrees began providing medical and economic assistance to UXO victims and their families. In 2001, this economic support was expanded to include a micro-credit program. PeaceTrees’ survivor assistance program now includes emergency medical treatment, nutritional support, household economic support, transportation costs, and educational scholarships for children. Its most ambitious project to date began in 2002 with the construction of Friendship Village, a community of 100 family homes, a library, kindergarten and community meeting hall in Dong Ha. Built on 8 hectares of a former U.S. combat base, Friendship Village offers its residents bright, comfortable homes, a strong sense of community, clean running water, and a safe place to live and play. In 2003, PeaceTrees cleared UXO from the sites for five libraries and completed construction of three of those libraries. In 2004, it completed construction of the fifth library and also provided funds for a group of 70 handicapped athletes to attend the National Paragames in Ho Chi Minh City. In the years that followed, PeaceTrees continued and expanded all if its programs, including offering citizen diplomacy trips for Americans and others wishing to learn more about Vietnam and wanting to plant trees. In 2008, PeaceTrees in partnership with the Quang Tri Department of Foreign Affairs started two mobile mine risk education programs serving the ethnic minorities in the Huong Hoa and Dakrong Districts of Quang Tri Province. These programs are also funded through grants from the U.S. Department of State, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. PeaceTrees Vietnam had accomplished much by the end of 2009. Its EOD teams had located, removed, and destroyed over 47,383 pieces of UXO. It has cleared over 121 hectares of contaminated land. It has provided mine risk education to over 66,500 children and adults. It has provided survivor assistance to more than 700 survivors and family members. Over 41,150 indigenous trees have been planted on safely cleared land. It has built 100 homes, 4 kindergartens, and 8 libraries. Finally, 465 citizen diplomats have traveled with PeaceTrees to Vietnam to continue our efforts to build bridges of friendship and peace with the Vietnamese people. What have been the most challenging memories or moments for PeaceTrees? A difficult memory lingers of the day when we heard a loud explosion near the hotel in Dong Ha where our PeaceTrees tree planters were staying. We quickly realized that this was an actual ordnance explosion. Our volunteers ran down the path toward the village, and discovered two boys who had been seriously injured by an M-79 grenade that had exploded near their homes. This was an area where many children lived and played together. The PeaceTrees team decided that day that this land must be cleared of landmines and unexploded ordnance. After many fund raising challenges, the land was safely cleared. It is now the site of the PeaceTrees Friendship Village, providing 100 homes for families and safe places for children to play. We recognize that it is our challenge and our responsibility to help raise awareness of the serious legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Quang Tri Province and Central Vietnam. Helping people from other countries to understand this legacy and its impact on the daily lives of ordinary Vietnamese is a central aspect of our mission. As a small organization with a small staff, we must rely heavily on volunteers and our supporters to assist us in all aspects of our work. With the current state of the world economy, raising funds is an even greater challenge. However, we find that when people are educated on the continuing impact of the explosive remnants of war in Vietnam, donors willingly open their hearts and pocketbooks. What improvement have we seen in Vietnam-US relations? In 1996 on our first visit to Hanoi, we were warmly welcomed to the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organization. We were told: “It’s time to close the past and open the future.” It is in this spirit that PeaceTrees Vietnam is dedicated to working alongside the Vietnamese people to heal the land and build a vibrant future for children and families. The Vietnamese people continue to welcome American people in friendship and peace. Because of our long and successful record of helping the people of Vietnam, we invariably receive the support we need from officials at both the national and provincial level. PeaceTrees Vietnam could not do what it does without the support of its Vietnamese partners. As each year passes, more and more American veterans are returning to Vietnam, to see the beautiful country and visit the Vietnamese people, in a spirit of friendship and peace. Many of these veterans join in humanitarian activities with the Vietnamese people, including those who have participated in PeaceTrees Vietnam’s tree planting delegations. In memory of their fellow veterans and family members, veterans have also played an important role in helping to raise funds to build schools, libraries, and playgrounds for the children of Central Vietnam. In the 15 years since relations were normalized between our two countries, we have seen that each year more Americans want to travel to Vietnam. Business and trade between our countries are increasing. Vietnamese parents send their children to American universities and visit their American friends and colleagues. Educational exchanges are increasing. All of these actions deepen understanding between our peoples and help to forge lasting friendships and trust. |
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