Payment Deadline - Friday, January 15,2016
Dates of travel: Mar 14 - Mar 30, 2016
Each year since 2012 members of Việt Nam's Hoa Binh (Peace) Chapter 160 of Veterans For Peace (VFP) invite up to 20 veterans & non-vet spouses & peace activists to come to Việt Nam every Spring for an insider's 2-week tour. The Hoa Binh chapter is the first & only overseas VFP chapter of American veterans living in Việt Nam!
The mission of the tour is to address the legacies of America’s war, as well as visit a beautiful country & form lasting ties of friendship & peace. Therefore each tour participant is asked to bring a minimum of $1,000 as a donation. The money will go to VFP Chapter 160’s humanitarian projects in Việt Nam: bomb clearance, chemical warfare victims, hospitals, orphanages, schools, etc. The group will visit recovery & assistance projects supported by VFP & meet with Việt Namese families & war veterans struggling with: Agent Orange/Dioxin, Unexploded Ordinance & Poverty. Bringing the $1,000 minimum donation is mandatory. We also encourage donations from individuals & their organizations not going on the tour. These non-tour donations have accounted for more than half of the almost $200,000 donated so far.
The Hoa Binh Chapter of Veterans For Peace is well-known & respected in Việt Nam. The 2016 group will be the fifth annual tour. In all, 54 people (31 veterans & 23 non-vet spouses & peace activists) have gone on the Spring delegations & delivered nearly $200,000 in aid -over $100,000 from non-tour individuals & organizations!
Cost:
Participants pay for 4 things:
- In-country Land Cost of $2,750 (16 nights, 17 days), includes Single Room
- Airfare to & from Việt Nam (optional Group Flight from San Francisco, approx. $900-$1,000)
- The $1,000 Minimum Donation
- Visa Fee of $100
Please see Ch. 160 web page for more tour Info, Photos, etc.: www.vfp-vn.ning.com & www.aoag.org
Mail donations or $200 tour deposit to:
Nadya Williams
VFP Volunteer Việt Nam Tour Coordinator
1436 Grant Avenue, Apt. 10
San Francisco, CA 94133
Make checks payable to:
Veterans For Peace
San Francisco Chapter 69
Memo Line: "ViệtNam Tour"
Credit card donations and payments:
Contact VFP National Office in St. Louis, MO
Tele: (314) 725-6005
E-Mail: virginia@veteransforpeace.org
Web:www.veteransforpeace.org
For More Information contact:
Nadya Williams
VFP Volunteer Spring Tour Coordinator in San Francisco
E-mail: nadyanomad@gmail.com
Home: (415) 362-0162
Cell: (415) 845-9492
Tour Coordinators in Việt Nam:
Suel Jones –FormerMarine Việt Nam Warcombat vet, 1968-69; lives in VN part of each year since 1998; volunteers in Da Nang with Việt Namese victims of Agent Orange (AO), of whom there are 3 to 4 million nationwide today. President of Veterans For Peace,Hoa BinhChapter 160.
Chuck Searcy –Army VN vet enlisted, military intelligence analyst 1966-69; lives in Ha Noi full time since 1995; International Advisor for ProjectRENEW, which clears UXOs (unexploded ordinance: cluster bombs, landmines, etc.). Vice President of Chapter 160.
Chuck Palazzo –Marine VN combat vet, 1st and 3rd Force Reconnaissance 1970-71; lives full-time in Da Nang since 2007; volunteers with AO victims. Secretary-Treasurer of Ch. 160.
Tour Coordinators in the U.S.:
Nadya Williams–Director of Communications for VFP San Francisco Chapter 69; Active Associate Member since 2003; lived in Việt Nam for 3 months in early 2008.
There are 4 Primary Ch. 160 Members in Việt Nam Who Organize & Lead the Tours:
Suel Jones
- Initiated the Cow/Water Buffalo Project
- has volunteered for nearly two decades with Agent Orange victims.
- President of VFP Chapter 160.
- Volunteers directly with DAVA, VAVA & the Farm Animal Project.
Chuck Searcy
- ProjectRENEW's international adviser since its beginning in 2001.
- Vice President of Chapter 160.
- Volunteers directly with ProjectRENEW, the Farm Animal Project & VAVA.
Chuck Palazzo
- Honorary member of DAVA. Secretary-Treasurer of Ch. 160.
- Volunteers full-time & directly with DAVA, VAVA & the Farm Animal Project.
Don Blackburn
- VN war vet
- former Army 1967-68 in Ben Cat and Cam Ranh
- returned to Việt Nam in 2004
- lived in Ha Noi, Hué, & now lives in Nha Trang
- member of the American Committee for The Friendship Village Project in Ha Noi
- teaches at VAE (Việt Nam Advanced Education), a language center in Nha Trang
- fundraises for an orphanage in Hué, for VAVA & other organizations
- Core member of VFP Chapter 160
- Volunteers with The Friendship Village, VAVA, an orphanage in Hué& teaches English in Nha Trang
Please Note: We are all volunteers, no one is paid.
List of Veterans For Peace, Hoa Binh (Peace) Chapter 160’s PROJECTS in Việt Nam. Donations from annual tour participants, plus non-tour organizational & individual donations, are divided up among these organizations:
- Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) - Has a special unit for Agent Orange (AO) Babies & Children; Tu Duhas taken in hundreds of abandoned, severely disabled orphans over the years. AO birth defects now continue into the 4th generation!
- Project RENEW – Founded in 2001, with support from the American Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund & the Quang Tri People’s Committee; clears UXOs in Quang Tri Province; also aids victims, teaches children & adults how to be safe & implements income-generating projects for victims & their families; since 2013 has a Prosthetics & Orthotics Mobile Outreach program, which also aids Agent Orange victims.
- VAVA - Việt Nam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin- Helps AO victims in the heavily-sprayed A Luoi (“Ashau”) Valley, Quang Tri Province, Nha Trang & throughout Việt Nam; has medical & residential centers, housing construction & poverty-alleviation projects, vocational training, special education programs, etc.
- DAVA – Da Nang Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin - A VAVA chapter with a special relationship with VFP Chapter 160; works in heavily-contaminated Da Nang City (home of a former major U.S. base), has day care centers & schools for AO victims.
- The Friendship Village in Ha Noi – Founded by an American Việt Nam War veteran; a residential, medical & vocational center for Agent Orange victims, including Việt Namese war veterans & their disabled children & grandchildren affected by AO. NOTE: U.S. male veterans' AO-affected children & grandchildren receive no medical benefits at all.
- Farm Animal Project – Provides a cow or water buffalo to Agent Orange-affected farm families in the Hue & A Luoi Valley areas by partnering with Hué University & their "Hearts of Hué" program to fund: purchase of the animal, training in care, materials for the animals' shelter, feed & veterinary care.