The Advocacy Project is seeking $1,500 to invest in a Vietnamese family that has been devastated by the herbicide Agent Orange. Mr Thin has lost three sons to Agent Orange and two more are gravely affected. Your donations will enable our Vietnamese partner, AEPD, to purchase a cow for the Thin family which will help Mr Thin to breed calves, fertilize his land and earn an income which he needs to cover medical and other costs.
Years after the war, Agent Orange still affects over 3 million Vietnamese. Mr Thin himself has blurred vision and polyarthritis. His wife Cao bore five sons, who all suffered from cerebral palsy. Three have died and two surviving sons, Phan and Lan, are so incapacitated that they have to be wrapped in hammocks to prevent them falling to the floor (photo). Like most Agent Orange caregivers, Mr Thin and his wife Cao are getting old and worry about what lies ahead. Their biggest concern is money.
Your donations will purchase a cow and a calf for this vulnerable family and give them some financial security. Under a business plan developed by our Vietnamese partner, AEPD, Mr Thin will sell the calf and use the cow to produce fertilizer and work his land. AEPD's experience with other Agent Orange families has shown that cows are sturdy and can be easily managed. They offer the best way to ease some of the incredible pressure on Mr Thin and Cao.
Mr. Thin's family will be the tenth to receive funding through AEPD's Agent Orange program and we now hope to turn these short-term appeals into a long-term investment. Mr Thin could be a role model. He has been promised a government loan to produce bananas and grapefruit. If he succeeds in getting a cow, he may use some of the income to cover the payments. That would create a precedent for other families and allow Mr Thin to face the future with some real hope, after so much heartache.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
