Joan Widdifield and Friends Reach Vietnam

CPI Advisory Board member Joan Widdifield is traveling in Vietnam with a group of CPI supporters and filming her experiences. After being delayed in Taiwan, they arrived this week.

We landed in Taiwan prepared to wait for our connecting flight and were told that all flights were cancelled due to the typhoon. We had our passports taken away and were placed in a hotel with the instructions that we were not to leave. High winds and rain made for a loud 24 hours and interesting rumors about the specter staying up to four days. We were told that we'd get a flight to Saigon the next morning, but that we had to be in the bus by 3am. We were all standing in line waiting to board the plane when people started noticing that the flight was headed to Hong Kong.



Natalie and I had met Patti in San Francisco and then Clark in the Taipei hotel. When we learned we'd be going to Hong Kong we decided to just enjoy our time together and spend a chunk of the day exploring some of Hong Kong. We had to spend the night in Saigon, but got to visit our friends Geoff and Thuy at JUICE, their fabulous restaurant. Geoff has now opened a burrito restaurant, and we've heard from a man we met in Taipei that its better than burritos in the States.
Since we hit the ground in Hue we've started a full schedule of meetings with the staff, and with Dave and then Cliff at MAG, Mine Advisory Group. Cliff was very generous with his time and drove us around to see the uxo clearing sites. We learned a lot from him about the issues about clearance.
We spent today in Danang at the Danang Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center meeting with the director, Mr. Cuc, an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Than, and Ms. Huyen, Mr. Cuc's interpreter. They showed us around and introduced us to many amputees who had uxo accidents. Most were farmers.
Then we interviewed Ha, an endearing beneficiary who has suffered more than any human I've ever heard of, but who continues to thrive. She had a bomb accident when she was eleven and her feet were fused to her shins, and her calves were fused to her thighs for a decade until Clear Path identified her and sent her for surgeries. She crawled for half of her life, but now after 5 surgeries will be able to walk.
Then we met with the sweet 13 year-old boy who lost both of his feet and most of one of his arms in March. His father is also an amputee, from a landmine accident during the war. And, his grandfather was also a uxo survivor who eventually died from the wounds.
Mr. Cuc and Dr. Than said that they treat about 100 new uxo patients each year, and 1,000 landmine/uxo patients each year total. These unexploded bombs terrorize people and are slow weapons of mass destruction.
We are taking lots of photos and will post some soon, hopefully. Our delegation Natalie, Clark, Skye, Patti, and myself and of course the multi-talented CPI staff of Toan, Chi, Nhi, Phoung, and Duc are enjoying our time together and supporting each other. Until next time, tom biet.