Asia Injury Prevention Foundation

The 17th HumaniTour Viet Nam
Monday November 12, 2012

Our visit to the Protec Helmet factory in the Noi Bai Industrial Park (Hanoi). Protec is affiliated with the U.S-registered non-governmental organization Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (www.asiainjury.org), another partner-organization of Kids Without Borders.

Ba Vi

The 17th HumaniTour Viet Nam

Saturday November 10, 2012

Today we traveled to Ba Vi, less than 2 hours by car outside of Hanoi. Our friends and colleagues from Buffalo Tours will introduce us to three service centers in Ba Vi for orphans, street children, elderly and children with disabilities (some are connected to Agent Orange).

Hanoi

The 17th HumaniTour Viet Nam

November 9, 2012

In Hanoi.

Thanh Xuan Peace Village

The 17th HumaniTour Viet Nam

Friday November 9, 2012

We met up with Roni from Artists for Orphans (Australia), Ros (Rotary in Australia), Susan and Alison (California) for our visit to the Thanh Xuan Peace Village. This center is a rehabilitation and vocational training center for children with disabilities linked to Agent Orange. Kids Without Borders (and Rotary) has been supporting this center for more than 10 years.

We brought along two large bags of new clothes and toys for the children.

Top learn more about our work supporting children with disabilities linked to Agent Orange, please visit: Make Agent Orange History

Kids Without Borders 17th HumaniTour Viet Nam

November 8, 2012

Bags are packed. Our group of 12 people will bring along 10 bags packed by Kids Without Borders volunteers. The bags are filled with donated gifts: new babies/children clothes, toys, and four laptop computers.

We will meet up in Viet Nam with our friends from Australia. They are representatives of an Australia-registered non-governmental organization Artists For Orphans (AFO) and a Rotary club in Australia.

Go Vap Orphanage - May 2012

Kids Without Borders & Rotary HumaniTour May 2012

May 17, 2012

Visiting the Go Vap Orphanage and meeting some of Kids Without Borders volunteers, one is a 13 years old school student and two teachers from England (both are currently live and work in Saigon).

We also dropped off one laptop computers, new babies/children clothes, and some dental care and hygiene supplies.

You can learn more about the Go Vap Orphanage, how you can support or volunteer at: Go Vap Orphanage on Facebook

Return to Viet Nam

Kids Without Borders & Rotary HumaniTour Viet Nam May 2012
In Saigon

Meet our friends, Laurens and Roni Wildeboer. Roni founded Artists For Orphans (a partner organization with KWB).

Roni and Laurens (back row)

Foreign Correspondent - ABC News Australia
For full story and video, visit: ABC News

The Wandering Souls

Broadcast: 07/08/2012

Reporter: Eric Campbell

Vietnam helped Australia find its last six soldiers missing in action. Now two Australians - former veterans Derrill de Heer and Dr Bob Hall - are aiming to return the favour.

Using Australian war records, maps and combat references, they’ve produced the first comprehensive account of where nearly 4,000 missing Vietnamese troops might be found. 

In a country where most families lost someone during the years of war, the enduring grief for many is not knowing where their loved ones had fallen. Without that knowledge they believe their dead will be wandering souls who will have no peace. Nor will the survivors. 

"I’m very happy to be able to return this information to the Vietnamese people, particularly veterans. Soldiers get on with soldiers. We have a particular sense of humour. We’ll drink beer together, eat noodles together. And I think where there are some very disgruntled people at home in Australia, this is really a peaceful thing." DERRIL DE HEER Vietnam veteran

Enter Laurens Wildeboer. He’s spent the years since his return from Vietnam trying to forget the horrors and futility of war. And yet he’d held onto some very strong reminders of that time – a journal, a book of poetry and a scarf owned by one or more North Vietnamese soldiers. There were very few clues but Laurens’ fellow Vietnam Vets have helped him find an important connection – the mother of the soldier who’d committed his daily accounts of battle to a journal. The journey to return the diary becomes a cathartic pilgrimage.

"You know I’ve often heard guys say you should come back here to purge the soul or purge the spirit. And it’s amazing. It’s not until you go through it yourself that you realize how beneficial it is to return and have a look at the place and meet the people who show no sign of resentment or misgiving." LAURENS WILDEBOER Vietnam Veteran

Correspondent Eric Campbell joins Laurens and the others Vets for what is a highly emotional trip back to Vietnam. Laurens effort to return the relics to one 85 year old generates considerable interest among the local media and when it comes to the handover there’s not a dry eye in the house.
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Further Information

Anyone who has personal artefacts from the conflict and would like them to be returned to family members in Vietnam, please contact:

Dr. Bob Hall,
Operation Wandering Souls Project,
UNSW at the Australian Defence Force Academy,
PO Box 7916,
Canberra BC, ACT 2610 Australia
ph: +61 2 6268 8848
fax: +61 2 6268 8879
email: b.hall@adfa.edu.au