Life Onboard LAST UPDATE  February 5, 2009
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January 17, 2009 For the future of Viet Nam – Le Ly Hayslip
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The evening before the Peace Boat docks at Da Nang, Le Ly Hayslip teaches participants some useful Vietnamese phrases
Guest educator Le Ly Hayslip joined the 64th voyage from its departure in Yokohama, Japan – her twentieth time to join a Peace Boat voyage. The Vietnamese-American writer and humanitarian shared her story of growing up in a small village near Da Nang during the Viet Nam War, teaching participants how the country continues to recover from the war today. Ms Hayslip’s time on the ship included a screening of the Oliver Stone movie Heaven and Earth, which was based on Ms Hayslip’s two memoirs; lectures about her work in Viet Nam promoting children's education through her two foundations East Meets West and Global Village; and even a Vietnamese language lesson the night before the ship landed in Da Nang.
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Ms Hayslip talks with a Peace Boat participant on the upper deck of the M/V Mona Lisa
Ms Hayslip was only a teenager when the United States began bombing her family’s village. She was captured and tortured by US soldiers for her association with the Viet Cong (VC), and in turn the VC believed she was a traitor, and punished her with rape. She was forced to leave her village and try to provide for herself, her mother, and her son in the city. When she was 19, she was finally offered the opportunity to leave Viet Nam and move to the United States. When Ms Hayslip talks about her experiences today, especially the helplessness her father felt as he watched his family torn apart by the war, her eyes still well with tears.

According to Ms Hayslip, even worse than the war was the US embargoes against Viet Nam from 1975 to 1994, which were also the reason for Viet Nam’s continuing poverty. “The United States said no other country can help Viet Nam, no other country can aid Viet Nam. ‘If you do, you’re a Communist, and we won’t play with you.’ That is why Viet Nam could not have any help from any country except Cuba, North Korea, and China. And all of them are poor, so how can they help Viet Nam? (The embargoes) are even worse than the war, because at least then the Vietnamese had food.” Soon after the embargoes were lifted, foreign investors saw opportunity for cheap labour in Viet Nam, and Western corporations started to open enterprises there. “It’s a different kind of war,” says Ms Hayslip. “But it gives Vietnamese jobs, and it helps rebuild Viet Nam, so it’s ok with me.”
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Ms Hayslip, with the Global Village Foundation, delivers aid to a Vietnamese community (Photo: Le Ly Hayslip)
“In the cities, people need good jobs,” she went on to say. “They need to make a lot of money, they want to go to America to study. In the villages, they would like to send the children to school. That’s always number one. Secondly, they need clinics. Even if they have clinics, there’s nothing in them. And they need factories, so they can get jobs and rebuild the country. So many needs.” The amount of work to be done is intimidating, but Ms Hayslip has already made a huge difference in Viet Nam through her two foundations, East Meets West and Global Village. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Global Village Foundation (GVF), which Peace Boat celebrated by holding a birthday party onboard. GVF has built many hospitals, homes and other facilities in Viet Nam, relying mostly on private donations and the efforts of volunteers.
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Vietnamese children read books from the “mobile library” donated by the Global Village Foundation (Photo: Le Ly Hayslip)
Ms Hayslip acknowledges that the work does not end upon the school or hospital being built. “Then, there is no money for electricity, or something breaks, or they want something new,” she says. That is why the foundation recruits people looking to spend time in the beautiful but impoverished country, helping out at each of GVF’s projects. Instead of just giving an empty school building, the foundation uses volunteers to train locals on how to use the school. Ms Hayslip is very concerned with the state of education in Viet Nam and stresses the need for English teachers. “The children need English so they can compete with Taiwan and other countries,” she says.

Ms Hayslip is a visionary with the skill and determination to make things happen immediately. In 1995, she raised $3,000 in donations as a guest educator on Peace Boat. She distributed $100 to several different Vietnamese women and urged them to make their business goals come true. “So in 2005,” she says, “I went to visit those families, and I found out that we not only got our money back but the money grew from $3,000 to $127,000 dollars. And so you see, if we work together, we can make a change.” On the 64th voyage, Ms Hayslip was able to raise $408 US dollars and 12,000 Japanese yen. With these funds she plans to donate a mobile library to the Center for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin and Disadvantaged Children, which she visited with Peace Boat participants in Da Nang. A mobile library is a portable wooden trunk designed by GVF which contains 250 books for Vietnamese children. After visiting the Center, Ms Hayslip noted: “It’s a great place, but they have no books, nothing to learn with. Now they will have books.” The trunk will be inscribed with “Peace Boat - 64th Voyage” and GVF will welcome any returning members back to the Center to see it being used. While Ms Hayslip’s energy and determination are amazing, she cannot do everything alone, and thus urged Peace Boat participants to return to Viet Nam and volunteer for GVF after their voyage. “All you have to do is come,” she says. “We’ll be waiting for you.”