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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 19, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 24, 2004 |
Le Ly Hayslip |
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| Le Ly Hayslip talks to participants about her life |
Even as a young girl, Le Ly Hayslip, the author of the book turned blockbuster movie "Heaven
and Earth" by Oliver Stone, knew the destruction and horrors of war. Growing up in Ky La village
outside Da Nang city in central Viet Nam, Le Ly was born at the end of France's century long
imperialist rule. In 1954, when she was just five years old, Viet Nam was split into North and South.
Soon after the split, the North's Viet Cong began to teach the rural Vietnamese that the split
was France's way to preserve power. They also taught the people that the only way to be in
command of Viet Nam's destiny would be to fight against this power.
Considering France's brutality leading up to 1954 it was not difficult for the Viet Cong to find
support in both regions of Viet Nam, especially from the villagers in rural areas. "Land was
the only thing we had to support ourselves, so when French or US came to invade Viet Nam the villagers
fought very hard to protect the land," said Le Ly. Torn between sides, central Viet Nam suffered
particular hardship. Le Ly explained that even in her own family some of her mother's family was
pro south while her father's was pro north. |
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| Addressing a question to old friend and Peace Boat staff member Yoko Furuyama |
In 1963, when her school shut down, at age 13 Le Ly became
directly involved in the war. "I worked at night for the Viet Cong and in the day for the South
Vietnamese," said Le Ly. "I went through torture, rape, and prison." After surviving
these brutalities in the countryside, Le Ly escaped to the city where her struggles continued. Eventually,
Le Ly found a way out by leaving Viet Nam and moving to America after marrying an American civil
contractor, however, in America she suffered from racism and family struggles. Through all this and
much more, because of the gripping nature and truth of her story, and her incredible determination,
she has helped bring considerable change to her country and - as she puts it - "helped put Viet
Nam on the map."
When asked what had inspired her to write When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, Le Ly said, that
in the 1980's she had read about an American that had written a book about Vietnam, and she wondered
what he knew about Viet Nam. Le Ly decided to tell her own story to raise awareness about the struggles
of the war from a Vietnamese point of view. "We lost over 2 million lives and 3 million wounded – that
was not even mentioned . . . I needed to tell how we lived and what we went through during the war." |
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| As a fundraising event for Global Village school Le Ly organized a traditional
Japanese Wedding |
Now change in Viet Nam is rapidly taking place, so rapidly
in fact, that the international media recently recognized it as one of the worlds leading economic
reformers. Even the government, lead by Communist pro-reformer Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, is undergoing
change.
Working with Peace Boat for nearly ten years, Le Ly accompanied the 46th voyage from Vietnam to Singapore
to talk about her life, to teach people about her country, and to help raise interest and money for a
school she started outside of Da Nang with her newest NGO, Global Village. Le Ly also spoke of developing
the East Meets West foundation - one of the leading contributors of aid to Vietnam. |
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| Participant holds umbrella during wedding ceremony |
Recognizing the importance in development, Le Ly also understands
the importance of trade. In 1964 the US put a trade embargo on North Vietnam, then after the US
left Viet Nam in 1975 it placed a trade embargo on all of Vietnam. A breakthrough came in 1994
when Bill Clinton announced to lift the trade embargo on Vietnam and in 2000 Le Ly escorted him
on his visit to sign the final trade agreement with Viet Nam. She said, "When I stood there with him and
listened to what he had to say, and listened to what he'd done, I told my soul, or my soul
told me, my mission with Viet Nam had been completed."
Now focused on helping other countries which face trade embargoes like Viet Nam once did, Le Ly
has said, "It is important to help move the US towards lifting the trade embargo with North
Korea and Cuba." Ly Le believes that embargo wars are even more destructive than real war
because it cuts a country and its people off from the rest of the world. "In real war people
can still have a job and make a living, but embargo warfare - the people have nothing. That is
why we need to encourage the US to lift the embargo on Cuba and North Korea." Le Ly believes
that lifting embargoes gives people the chance to become friends with the world. Through much
hard work in Viet Nam she has shown this to be true. |
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