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Project “Mines to Chocolate” in Vietnam
In April 2010 Vietnam celebrates the 35th anniversary of the country libration. Three decades after the devastating war ended, bloodshed and life loss still occur across Vietnam due to huge amounts of unexploded bombs mines remaining under the ground that are threatening the lives of local inhabitants at any time, particularly the young generations in rural areas that were born after the war.  According to the statistics, since the war ended in 1975, over 100,000 Vietnamese people died or were injured due to the unexploded bombs and mines under the ground. In the central province of Quang Tri, which is mostly affected by landmines, 80% of the province's area is still contaminated with landmines and bombs, and there are over 7,000 landmine victims; of whom, more than 2,000 died. According to Mr Ngo Xuan Hien, an officer of the Renew Project: “According to the Defense Ministry of Vietnam, there are 800 tons of unexploded landmines of different types remained under the ground after the war. However, according to the US Defense Ministry, the figure would be 1.5 tons.” According to our assessment, 20% of the total land area in Vietnam is still contaminated with landmines and bombs. Our landmine clearing activities are implemented with the humanitarian funding from the US government and other countries. Also, the Government of Vietnam has fund for landmine clearing activities implemented by the Ministry of Defense and the High Command of Engineering. Also, the Government of Vietnam is in charge of landmine clearance in the locations intended for large infrastructure projects. Mr Hien also said that majority of landmine victims are young people and teenagers.  “For the young generations that were born after the war, their knowledge and understanding about the landmines are very limited. As a result, 31% of landmine victims are children. That is also the case for me. In 1980s when I was 12-13 years of age, I used to collect landmines to extract the explosive powder inside them to burn in order to light the celebration of the new year eve.” For preventing the accident for children, the Government of Vietnam as well as projects like ours have integrated landline issues into their school curriculum. However, there are still landmine accidents due to the fact that local people have no choice but search for and collect materials to earn their living. An 8X generation person, Nam Long living in Long Binh, Ho Nai 3, a location used to be an ammunition depot during the war, has an oldest brother who died and an older brother who was injured and became disabled due to collecting landmines and bombs to earn living for their family. Nam Long said: “I have two brothers, one was born in 1972 and the other in 1978. One died at spot when he was attempting to open a M79. The other brother born in 1978 was badly injured with one leg broken. In the past and even now, people here are poor and not fully aware about the risks associated with landmines.” Another young person of 32 years old, Minh Quoc, an inhabitant in Long Binh Area was born as a normal baby as others. At 10, he became disabled as a consequence of playing with a bomb; which he simply thought as a metal piece. Quoc was lucky to escape from the Death but not his two brothers who died at spot when the bomb suddenly exploded. Minh Quoc recalled: “In 1988, one of my legs was broken, due to landmine explosion. It was an accident. I played with it as I thought it was a metal piece. By that time I was 10, attending grade 3 or 4 so I did not know about landmines. Vietnam is still a very poor country and we need more time to clear all landmines after the war. As Vietnam is still a less developed country, we do not receive as much support as those victims in other countries. Though there is still life loss due to landmine, we need to live with it. I am living in Binh Long, near the former ammunition depot. In the past, to earn a living, I used to open landmines and bombs to collect metal materials to sell, and one time there was a sudden explosion. When I returned home after months being hospitalized, I became to know that my two brothers died. I had not known this when it was exploded as by that time was too young and badly injured.”  For marking the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action declared by UN, on 4th April this year, the Roots of Peace, with its substantial experience in landmine clearance and removal worldwide, plans to implement a program “Mines to Chocolate” in Vietnam for landmine removal and land rehabilitation in order to bring bumper crops to local farmers instead of bloodshed resulting from landmine explosion. After successful meetings with the Government of Vietnam, the Roots of Peace is awaiting the license for officially operating in Vietnam as a non-governmental organization (NGO). If everything is accomplished as planned, all deadly landmines remaining on the territory of Vietnam will gradually be converted into chocolate bars with the flavor of peaceful life, humanity, sympathy and sharing from the friends in the other side of the globe. Roots of Peace, with the headquarter in California, USA was established in 1997 by Mrs Heidi Kühn as a humanitarian NGO to remove landmines in many places worldwide and at the same time improve the livelihoods of landmine affecting communities. In March 2010, Mrs. Kühn in person paid a visit to Vietnam with the aim of designing an economic rehabilitation program titled “conversion of landmine into chocolate” in Binh Phuoc Province, in the Southeastern region of Vietnam. As a found and CEO of Roots of Peace, Mrs. Kühn said: “We really want to introduce this model to Vietnam. After my son came to Vietnam, I can understand and feel the pains and losses with which Vietnamese mothers have burdened over the past 35 years after the war.” “In Quang Tri Province where I had a chance to visit, 83% of land there is contaminated with landmines and bombs. The young generations, accounting for 60% of the country population are still affected by the legacy of what happened 3 decades ago on the territory of Vietnam. Therefore, I think we all have humanitarian responsibility to remove all landmines under the ground that are still threatening the lives of local inhabitants and help local farmers to grow seedlings for peace.”  Regarding the details of the project “Mines to Chocolate” in Vietnam, Mrs Heidi said: “We wish to plant cocoa in the area like Binh Phuoc Province and in the landmined areas that are suitable for producing the highest quality cocoa, ranking only after Ghana in Africa.” “At first, we will remove all landmines and then help local farmers to grow cocoa on those areas in order to improve their livelihoods, converting the bitterness of the war into the sweetness of the peaceful life via the sweet aroma of the chocolate bars.” “We will heal their war wounds by introducing to them modern farming techniques to adapt to their poor and disadvantaged rural areas. Then we will help them to access the market for their cocoa.” Although the pilot project in Binh Phuoc Province is designed to be implemented from Spring this year to Spring 2012, the founder of ROP said that after this project her organization would implement several other projects in other locations in Vietnam, particularly Quang Tri Province which is most heavily affected by landmines. In addition, ROP plans to raise funds for young generations in the areas that are affected by landmines and bombs. “We and the Friends of Hue Foundation will organize campaigns to raise funds for building schools and soccer playgrounds for children in Vietnam.” Experts in Vietnam believe that for more effective landmine clearing activities in Vietnam, it is necessary to make best of significant international support in combination with enhancing the awareness of local people about the landmines. “Warning about the risks associated with landmines should be maintained over time. For overcoming the war legacy, the international community needs to provide more support to Vietnam to enable the country to have resources to remove all remaining landmines.“ A landmine victim, Quy Thi who is now a volunteer for awareness raising about landmines in Quang Tri Province, expressed: “I do wish that all landmine victims like us will have comfortable and happy lives and do not see any landmines remaining on our lands. I do hope that the international community will help Vietnam and landmine victims to overcome their hardship.“ Wishing that their simple hope will soon come true in order to heal war wounds soon. Now Tra Mi would like to say goodbye to you all. I would like to invite you to listen to our youth program on VOA at 10 PM on Tuesday next week.
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