|
|
|
| |
| |
Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
November 1, 2005
|
|
| site design imagesparkle.com |
| September 10, 2005 |
Legacies of War: Viet Nam and Agent Orange – My Doan Thi Takasaki |
|
| |
 |
| My Doan (second from left) introduces new friends to the traditional Vietnamese women’s dress, called Ao zai. |
My Doan Thi Takasaki is a small woman with a big vision. A researcher and advocate of international peace, she joined Peace Boat from Yokohama, bound for Da Nang in her homeland, Viet Nam. Unfortunately a typhoon forced Peace Boat to change route and head directly to Singapore. However this did not deter hundreds of Peace Boat participants from attending her onboard lectures. My Doan spoke about Vietnamese culture, her experience during the Viet Nam – US War, her work studying the effects of ‘Agent Orange’, and her vision of a world without war. |
site design imagesparkle.com |
 |
| My Doan gives a lecture about the diverse culture of her homeland, Viet Nam. |
My Doan was just seven years old when the Viet Nam – US War began. Over the next decade she watched her family and her country disintegrate. Her two brothers aged just 15 and 16, were killed fighting for The National Front for the Liberation of Southern Vietnam, which is also known as the “National Liberation Front (NLF)” and the “Vietcong” and was the primary rebel (partisans) organization fighting the colonialist French regime and later the US-backed Republic of Viet Nam. An image that My Doan will never forget is of a corpse tied to the back of a US tank that was being dragged past her home. “I saw the way the US and Saigon armies treated the Vietcong [sic], and I [also] saw the pain caused by the Vietcong. The war changed my life so many times, and even today I still have nightmares.” |
| |
 |
| In a panel discussion My Doan discusses the effects of the deadly herbicide used during the Vietnam – US War, Agent Orange. |
After being separated from her parents during most of the war years, she was finally reunited with them in 1975, after the US retreated. Her father had been tortured by electrocution by the Saigon government during the war. Under communist policy, My Doan’s family lost their land and livelihood, and lived in poverty for many years. My Doan was eventually able to enter university, and after gaining her masters degree she became a biology lecturer. Her experience during the war has motivated her to work towards peace and the prevention of violent conflict. She is now a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo. As part of her research she has spent much time focusing on the effects of Agent Orange.
What is “Agent Orange”?
Agent Orange is the military code name for a herbicide carrying deadly dioxins that was used by US Forces during the war in Viet Nam. Between 1961 and 1979 the US military sprayed Agent Orange and other herbicides containing harmful dioxins over jungles and farms in Viet Nam and Laos. Its rationale for using Agent Orange was to kill plant life in order to reveal enemy hiding places and destroy food crops. However the chemical contained powerful dioxins, which later proved to be extremely harmful to humans, animals, and the natural environment. |
| |
 |
| A group of Peace Boat participants fundraising to build a rehabilitation center for victims of Agent Orange. |
During the war in Viet Nam, more than 21 million gallons of Agent Orange was sprayed. In other words, over six million acres in the south of Viet Nam was exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides, containing at least 400 kilograms of dioxin. Over 3000 villages have felt the effects of Agent Orange spraying, and more than 16 million Vietnamese people live in dioxin-infected regions today.
According to the World Health Organization, around 4.8 million Vietnamese people suffer from Agent Orange related illnesses, with nearly half requiring daily care. Sicknesses that have been linked to exposure to Agent Orange include severe physical disabilities, mental retardation, audiovisual impairments, cancer, skin and liver disease, and birth defects.
Peace Boat’s Agent Orange Relief Campaign
Peace Boat, in collaboration with counterpart organization, Da Nang Youth Union in Viet Nam, is committed to fundraising and building a rehabilitation centre for victims of Agent Orange. The Center will include rehabilitation machines to train weak muscles, as well as a special sauna, to help extract harmful dioxins from the body.
After hearing My Doan’s personal story, watching several documentary films about Agent Orange and studying the details of the Viet Nam – US War, many Peace Boat participants were inspired to help the victims of Agent Orange in Viet Nam. Generous participants have so far donated 327,000 yen towards the construction of the rehabilitation centre. Peace Boat’s goal is to raise half the estimated cost of the Centre from the 51st, 52nd and 53rd Global Voyages. The Da Nang Youth Union is raising the other half of the required funding to complete construction, and the Vietnamese government has donated the land.
My Doan will soon depart Peace Boat, but her personal story of the reality of war will not be forgotten by Peace Boat participants. |
| |
|
|
|
