It was a great pleasure for Filming in Vietnam's team to have the opportunity to work closely with strong and resilient people who were exposed to Agent Orange from their father, who served in the Vietnam War.
We assisted the Xtreme Media filming crew in producing a heartwarming documentary series named "Touch of Hope" in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. We visited a veteran's house in Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City. Veteran Tran Van Don stays in this house with his blind-at-birth daughter Hang and son-in-law Truong. His wife passed away three years ago. It was sad that Agent Orange passed to his family's third generation. His granddaughter, Nguyen, was also exposed to Agent Orange. Nguyen is now 10 years old, and she is as blind at birth as her mother.
Agent Orange is now seriously debilitating Mr. Don's health. He suffers from heart illness and pain in his bones and joints. Truong is the only one in this family who is in a normal health condition. He is the source of light for his wife and daughter. During the interviews with Truong and Hang, we found out that they are very strong and resilient people. We saw hope in their eyes.
In Ho Chi Minh City, there is a village where handicapped, orphans, and deformed children have been looked after. Some of them are victims of Agent Orange/dioxin. Many children exposed to AO from Peace Village grew up and achieved success in their lives, especially in art, swimming, and singing... We highly appreciate doctors, nurses and all staff working at this village.
One of the AO victims grew up at Peace Village. His passion for drawing was nursed there, and now he has achieved achievement in painting. He is Le Minh Chau. He suffered severe deformities of his legs and arms, but he used his mouth to draw unique paintings.
Leaving Ho Chi Minh City, we flew to Danang to visit Phuong, who was also exposed to AO by his father. Now, Phuong is working at the Danang Center for Supporting AO Victims and Disadvantaged Children. Phuong suffered from deformity of his height. He is only 90cm high, but luckily, his intellect is quite average. He can walk, drive a motorbike and work to earn his living. Now, he is staying at a small house with his younger sister, who was also exposed to AO and has a deformity in her height as her brother.
They are AO victims and suffer from health problems as well as discrimination in job opportunities and even in daily life in this way or that way. But they are solid, resilient and optimistic to overcome all difficulties to prove they are not a burden to family or society.
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