Port of Call LAST UPDATE October 2, 2008
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September 24, 2008 In Pictures – Photo Tour I of Peace Boat Hibakusha Project in Viet Nam
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photo courtesy of Lee, Jung Yong
In front of a banner reading “War Victims Claim for Peace—we don’t need Agent Orange, Nuclear Weapons or Wars,” 28-year old Nguyen Ngoc Phuong of Da Nang, Viet Nam shares his life story with members of the Peace Boat Hibakusha Project. Mr Nguyen’s father was sprayed by a near-fatal dose of Agent Orange during the war in Viet Nam, and both Mr Nguyen and his sister were born with physical deformities.
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photo courtesy of Lee, Jung Yong
Tsuchida Kazumi, a Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) from Hiroshima, meets the mother of a child affected by Agent Orange and shares her grief. Many members of the Hibakusha Project said they did not know that the lingering effects of Agent Orange continue to cause an array of physical and mental abnormalities in the children of Viet Nam today, and have vowed to raise awareness of the problem in Japan and other countries.
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photo courtesy of Lee, Jung Yong
Morimoto Junko, the author of My Hiroshima, cuddles with a child physically and mentally affected by Agent Orange.
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photo courtesy of Lee, Jung Yong
Two members of the Hibakusha Project teach Nguyen Ngoc Phuong how to make origami cranes, the symbol of peace, hope and longevity. Mr Nguyen said he was eager to teach others at the Agent Orange Rehabilitation Centre in Da Nang how to make the cranes and preserve the ties established between nuclear bomb survivors and Agent Orange survivors.
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photo courtesy of Lee, Jung Yong
Morita Takashi shares a laugh with 19-year old Uyen, an Agent Orange victim who aspires to become a lawyer and pursue justice on behalf of the three million people affected by Agent Orange ever since it was used during the Viet Nam War. Mr Morita is the director of the Associacao das Vitimas de Bomba Atomica no Brasil (Brazil Associaton for Victims of Atomic Bombs), an organization that strives to send messages of peace to people throughout the world so that the tragedy of the atomic bombings will never be repeated, and to achieve greater justice for Hibakusha in Japan and other countries.
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photo courtesy of Lee, Jung Yong

Holding a banner that reads “Peace Through Heart-to-Heart Communication,” Hibakusha Project members, Agent Orange Rehabilitation Centre members, and others enjoy a moment under a rainbow-ringed sun in Da Nang.