Afterwars

It is 33 years after the “end” of the US war on Vietnam but from day one of my trip here it was apparent that everything lives, dies or is dead in the shadow of war's destruction. Though many people want to move from the past and look to the future, war continues to haunt the lives and livelihood of many people here. Perhaps this will be a helpful lesson for the current anti-war movement in the US that our solidarity struggle should not end when the troops come home.

My mom once asked my dad why there are so many sad songs in Vietnam and his response was something to the extent of “try living under colonization and war for so many years and you’ll have a sad song to sing too.” To quote Elton John (which I promise not to do often), “Sad songs, they say so much.” I cannot imagine living (or fighting for that matter) in 4 wars (French, Japan (WWII), American, Khmer Rouge) but Hoi The,
who is now a medical doctor, can and he was a colonel for 3 of them. Hoi The is also
the Vice President of Tuyen Quang Chapter of Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange / Dioxin (VAVA) and he is still a leader in fighting against US aggression as he works with 4,933 people in his province have been exposed to Agent Orange (half directly exposed, and others indirectly exposed through the 2nd generation births).



Hoi The and I in front of a rendition of Ho Chi Minh’s thatchet house.







Tuyen Quang is such a beautiful place. I’ve mentioned it before! It’s like when you fall in love with someone and you can’t stop dropping their name into every conversation. It is where Ho Chi Minh stayed in a thatchet house and many important decisions were made including the 1st National Congress after independence from the French. The mosquitos ate me alive when I was near where Ho Chi Minh stayed. Maybe they are still protecting that area. Okay enough romantic reminiscing! Let’s talk about the hard stuff. . .



The highlands, Tuyen Quang province very near where Ho Chi Minh stayed.




What Do You Know About Weapons of Mass Destruction?

On my first working day here I met with Professor Nhan Trong Nguyen the Vice President of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange / Dioxin (VAVA).
Agent Orange is the code name for a powerful herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military. According to a Columbia University Study (Nature, April 2003) from 1961 to 1971 the US forces sprayed about 80 million liters of defoliants and herbicides half of which was Agent Orange) containing about 336 kg of dioxin (some other scientists estimate about 500 to 600 kg. This chemical not only destroyed the environment in several areas in South Vietnam (forests and agricultural lands) but also left a legacy of severe diseases and continues in generations of children living with birth defects.



Professor Nhan Trong Nguyen and I at the VAVA headquarters.





Professor Nguyen who is documenting the terror of agent orange and seen many people die from it’s affects including the former president of VAVA, Mr. Hiep, and 2 victims who recently went on a speaking tour in the United States and two weeks later passed away. However, he still remains positive about cooperating with the United States for compensation for the victims.

“We are ready to put aside the past in order to look to the future,” says Nguyen. And it seems that Vietnam has been very giving in this respect. They have helped the use to find US soldiers missing in action (MIA), and prisoners of war. “We are very sorry that the US does not respond equally.”

There is an on-going campaign to get compensation in particular from the companies who developed agent orange /dioxin and sold it to the United States for military use. The campaign included a lawsuit but US judges dismissed the case. VAVA and their allies will try to file again under the Alien Tort Claims Act.



Children playing a game at the Agent Orange Friendship Village.






In all of the provinces I have visited I can see the effects of Agent Orange, particularly on women and children. Women who are raising families on their own and carrying for the victims have a double the work to do. The Agent Orange Friendship Village with the support of veterans and the international community helps to support young children, the second generation born with birth defects with a collective school environment where they receive education, physical rehabilitation and medical treatment. Tuyen Van Dinh, Deputy Director or the Friendship Village said, “. . . [At the Friendship Village] they have collectivity and can share with others their experience.”



Classroom at the Agent Orange Friendship Village.






These lasting affects of war paired with the death of so many fighters was the reason that for Ming Y Nguyen the fall of Saigon, though a great feat, was not a celebratory time. “We were more meditative then. We were remembering those who had died.” said Nguyen.



From left to right Tuyen Van Dinh and Y Ming Nguyen at the Agent Orange Friendship Village.





For example in Thay Binh province 51,000 soldiers died in the war, 32,000 wounded, 14,000 are victims of Agent Orange. The resistance was particularly strong in Thay Binh with 3,000 members of the Association of Volunteer Youth who volunteered to join the resistance effort. 70% of the volunteers were women. One young women who I had the opportunity to meet, was below the age requirement and wanted so badly to join the resistance that she wrote her letter requesting to join in blood. She said, “We always kept in mind that nothing is more precious than freedom. That is why we devoted our youth [adolescent years] for the nation to protect our freedom.”



Members of the Association of Volunteer Youth in Thay Binh province.




I also met with a family where both husband and wife Mr. Naan Trung Nhan and Ms Yen Thi Haang were volunteer youth in 1965. Ms. Haang’s main task was to open roads by finding and detonate bombs. She now has many medical difficulties and cannot speak very well. Still, the feeling in Thay Binh is that the cause was a worthy one. “We strongly believe that socialism can bring happiness and prosperity,” said Nhan.



Giving a gift for Ms. Yen Thi Haang far right.







Ah, Didja Ya Forget Somethin’?? You Can Take Your Poverty With You Too!

But even before the end of the US war on Vietnam there is a legacy of oppression that Vietnam has to contend with. The trade union movement for example began well before the formation of the Communist Party in Vietnam in 1929 under French occupation. Mr Mr. Binh Nhat Chau the Deputy Director for the International Department for the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) explains, “The French rule, the colonization was barbarious. . . After they leave they took away everything except poverty.”

After winning independence against the French, the US waged war on Vietnam at a time when they had a serious lack of infrastructure. The very long US war on Vietnam of course also deepened the degree of problems of infrastructure. I think that right-wing Vietnamese people (and sometimes even progressives), do not look at the economic crisis or the phenomenon of the “boat people” within a historical context. We cannot make a fair comparison between the economic situation of the US with Vietnam because the US has not had war waged on its land in the same way that it has on Vietnam. The damages of course our huge.

Including the human cost of war - - 3 million killed, 4 million wounded, the impact of agent orange, 3,000 people missing, the war and occupation divided the nation pushing people against each other right down to the family level. For example, Mr. Loi Dac Tran, Executive Vice-President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, his father was on the side of the VietMinh and his brother fought for the Saigon army leading to divisions among his relatives.

Of course there are many impacts on the economy. Vietnam being an agricultural society the environmental destruction directly links to the economic impact. As mentioned before, many areas still have not recovered from the spraying of chemicals by the US. 45 percent of the land in Vietnam cannot be cultivated due to land mines and bombs.

Also the US embargo on Vietnam, which ended only in 1994 further prevented development. This in addition to the much forgotten war waged on Vietnam by the Khmer Rouge up until 1990. “The process of reconstruction of the country happened very slowly and takes a longer time and after today we continue to work for them,” said Tran reflecting on these challenges.

War and occupation then maybe compared to the abusive boyfriend in the cycle of violence - - taking your money, pulling you away from your resources, beating you up and even when you have the strength to leave the abuse or fight back still you are left with a broken heart. Not necessarily a broken heart for the abuser but for humanity in general. If Iraq then is another Vietnam, as some say, then there be decades of on going destruction to contend with.

Given all of the challenges that come after the war, Hoa My Troung, Vietnam's former Vice President states, “Although war is over, we never have false illusions of the victory.”

spoiling the enemy

i am visting vietnam for the first time in my life though i have been talking about going since i was a little girl. my dad always said next christmas we would save up enough money, and then next christmas and then the next. It's not christmas and i have not saved up enough money but i'm here because now is the time in my life when i have time to go.

i have had the privilege of visiting a lot of other countries. my first trip out of the US though was to Cuba. i am not the same girl who went to Cuba at age 21, in search of a utopian example of communism to look to. i am prepared for contradictions and difficulties and figuring out what socialism means to me and to people in Vietnam today - - a subject which they are still debating.

Before i left Oakland a friend gave me an article "Former Vietnamese Prison Guard Backs McCain," Oakland Tribune. Yes, i said i was ready for contradiction but i really could not understand why this former guard, was backing McCain. McCain in my eyes is even further to the right of George W., and if he is elected i will try to contact aliens and ask them to abduct me from this planet. I wanted the article to blow away. Not that i think that this guard's opinion will have much impact on the outcome of the election and certainly the right wing vietnamese community will disregard it. Understanding is what i'm here for so i reluctantly took the article with me with the deal that i could get the sports page too.

**side note- - why on the flight from Taipei to Hanoi was there a long NBA special on the Phoenix Suns (my favorite team though we'll see now that Mike D'Antoni is gone). The universe was looking out for me though i don't know if maybe i should be upset by the state of cultural imperialism.

my trip is well organized and began with a meeting with the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange / Dioxin (VAVA). I met with Mr. Ming Y Nguyen, who is a retired officer of the Vietnam People's Army and now the coordinator of international relations for VAVA. I asked him about the article and whether he knows the guard. "Yes, I will call him and ask him." And just like that he got on the phone and we had an answer.

And the answer is . . . not that satisfying. I was hoping for mis-translation or something taken out of context. His reason: McCain previously helped with the normalization of relations between the US and Vietnam so he is hoping that if he is elected there will be a good relationship. He said he was only thinking of the relationship with Vietnam and not other countries and he doesn't know too much about other candidates.

But as for the McCain's claim that he was tortured and not given food or medicine in a timely manner this is an issue of context says Ming Y Nguyen, "You have to understand that at the time there was not enough food, the situation was very poor. A small child would only have the equivalent of one bowl of pho as the amount of meat for a whole month. I would try to ride my bicycle as fast as I could past the pho restraunt because the smell is so strong. i had no money for food and i did not want to be tempted by the smell. We did not even have access to medicine for ourselves. They bombed the hospital! We gave them things we didn't even have for ourselves as soon as we could."



And who knows torture better than the U.S. They held people in tiger cages. I will be meeting with one of the former Vietnamese prisoner who was held in the tiger cages by the US so I hope to report more on that later.

***
I have a lot to post but little time to access the internet. In the past week I have already visited 6 provinces! So I will back date my entries.

ps.
my apologies to all of you who i was uable to see before i left for Vietnam. If I have something of yours that I was meaning to get back to you, i most likely still have it. I return to the bay briefly from July 29th to August 2nd and hopefully i will see you then!

Wait! What Country Am I In?! What Language Do I Speak?! Who Am I?!

"Where is Claire Tran?"

No this ain't Lake Merritt!

When I arrived at the airport in Hanoi, I could not find Hang the woman who was coming to pick me up from the Womens Union. Apparently she had been looking for me for a long time but because I looked "so Vietnamese," she didn't think I was Claire Tran. When I visited the different chapters of the women's union in Thai Binh Province and Hay Doung Province they thought that I was a staff member of the Central Womens Union office in Hanoi. So they were very surprised to see me.


I remember now that this also happened to me when I went to study Spanish in Guatemala! When I arrived at the language school they thought that I was Guatamalteca, a new Spanish teacher. They called my host family to ask why Claire Tran has not arrived at the school yet.
When I began my first working day in Vietnam, Ming Y (who I spoke of in my last blog, "Spoiling the Enemy") said that I should feel very comfortable here because everyone looks like me. Growing up in Nebraska at my school there were only about 3 Vietnamese students- my cousin, me and another boy. I once pretended to be a foreign exchange student because I knew that I could get away with it. My father said of the first time coming back to Vietnam that he wanted to go back and live there, because even though he now has US citizenship, to "American" people he will always be Vietnamese, he will never be equal. He also felt more confident and good looking. Well the confident and good looking part isn't really happening for me just yet, I been singing "Lately" by Stevie Wonder every morning.

After that conversation with Ming Y, I returned to my hotel and the first thing that the concierge said to me was, "Are you from Mexico?" This really threw me off. First of all, when I'm in the United States most people guess that I'm Filipina. I'm not talking about just white people. No one guesses right. I wondered how many Mexicans visit Vietnam? I was happy that I look Mexican but does that mean I don't look Vietnamese? I have to admit I was surprised that he thought I was from Mexico. Apparently though they show Mexican films from TV so people know more about Mexico in Vietnam. Yah for Mexican film! But what do they know about Mexicans - "Y Tu Mama Tambien"?! But the craziest thing is that the last time I was in D.F. (Mexico City) there was not one theater showing a film made in Mexico. Even the Art House did not have one film from Mexico, they were showing French films!

It can be a good thing to blend with everyone else. I never want to look like or act like a tourist where ever I go. I'm not generally not seen as prey for people selling souvenirs and other hussles. However looking Vietnamese almost got me turned away at the presidential palace where I got to meet with former Vice President Truong My Hoa (this woman is bad ass and I will tell the whole story in a future blog). At the gate, my interpreter said to the guard that Claire Tran has a meeting with Madame My Hoa. The guard looked in the car and asked, "Where is Claire Tran?"

I Did Not Expect Shakira

Many things remind me of Mexico. Tuyen Quang province where Ho Chi Minh went underground and the location of the first National Congress after Independence from the French is so beautiful and reminds me of Zapatista territory in Chiapas. Only they don't need a sign that says "liberated zone" because the whole country is a liberated zone. I will have to blog more about this province later.

Today I'm being hosted by the Hanoi Friendship organization. I am being hosted and I pretty much do whatever people plan for me to do. I know that people put a lot of time and work into organizing trips like these having organized many student trips myself, but honestly I am not that interested in learning about French Architecture in Vietnam. I can appreciate the architecture when I walk by it but i do not need to go to a seminar of architects to appreciate. Also, I'm not really into gushing over how great the architecture is especially when it reminds me of French Colonization which is not a pretty thing. I wasn't really expecting it to be a part of my trip. But the people are nice and generous and I don't want to offend them so I go along with it.

At the beginning of the presentation though there is a straight booty shaking dance by teenage girls. Straight outta Oakland! But they happen to be dancing to Shakira -- ah, straight outta Columbia?? And they are not shy about the fact that they are shakin' it in front of a much older generation of architects. I however am embarrassed when they do the drop and pop move I only bust out when I've had to much to drink. By the way, I have discovered that the uniform for architects is to have very stylish glasses.

Spanish Language in Vietnam- No Manches!

I would like to report that I speak Spanish very well in Vietnam. Only no one speaks Spanish here. I can think of everything I want to say in Vietnamese in Spanish and sometime I accidentally say it out-loud. Though my friends never hear me speak Spanish because it is one of the things I am shy about, I do know enough to have some short conversation with people when I travel. I can speak enough to get around Mexico by myself. I even understand sometimes when people are speaking about me in Spanish but think that I won't understand. So watch yourself.

Sometimes I can even think of what I want to say in French. I have not spoken French since I lived in Nebraska over 12 years ago! I took 4 years of French in school and I started to minor in French. My father thought it would be good because he speaks French, but i cannot understand French with a Vietnamese accent. Maybe i can only understand French with a mid-western accent! Scary. When my father moved to the South (in the United States) he could not understand southern Vietnamese people speaking English and they couldn't understand his mid-west Vietnamese English. Too many accents thrown together.

It makes me very sad to not be able to speak my language. It is not as if it was a choice. My father did not speak to me in Vietnamese. I grew up in a very racist area and he thought it was better for me (or perhaps safer) to try to blend in. Obviously, my skin is brown, there is no blending that unless you want me to be a Michael Jackson look a like.

I don't expect everyone to translate for me every word while I'm here and I am picking up little phrases in Vietnamese here and there. Often I find myself daydreaming like I did when I was a kid while everyone is talking, laughing, and telling stories at the dinner table but I can't understand a word. Sometimes I feel very privileged to be mixed- - to get to know many cultures, languages, communities and to sort of be a part of them and other time I just feel lost and alone, sad that I can't quite connect to at least one group of people, like I don't quite fit anywhere.