Expanding RENEW’s reach by leveraging local resources

Lê Văn Phú, a physician working at Quảng Trị General Hospital, is one of 21 local doctors who were trained by Norwegian doctor Hans Husum on advance life support skills. The training is part of Project RENEW’s cooperation with the Quảng Trị Health Department to improve local medical capacity.

Trauma care training has equipped hundreds of village health workers to respond to medical emergencies, reducing injuries and saving lives.

Since his initial training over four years ago, Phú and other trained doctors have re-trained hundreds of grassroots medical staff throughout the province to respond expertly and professionally to trauma emergencies. “We know exactly what Vietnamese medical staff lack and what is necessary to upgrade them to work professionally as emergency medical responders,” said Phú. “Most of the medical staff we have trained are now more confident when treating victims traumatized by not only UXO accidents but from other causes as well.”

With a different focus, Nguyễn Thị Anh Thư does not try to hide her pride when she describes her participation in risk education campaigns that teach children and adults in Cam Lộ District to be safe and avoid injury or death from unexploded ordnance. Her work is part of the on-going partnership between Project RENEW and the provincial and district Youth Union.

School safety education and injury prevention training conducted by local Youth Union volunteers have made children more aware of the dangers of UXO, and how to avoid them.

“I am now the facilitator of this special training,” said Thư,” and I think I have contributed to reducing the number of deaths and injuries from UXO by making the community aware of UXO risks. We also encourage them to report UXO sightings to us so that we can pass the information on to Project RENEW’s teams for quick and safe response,” she added. Ms. Nguyễn Thị Hương, Chief of Cam Lộ District Youth Union, noted that there are many others like Ms. Thư. “Our partnership with RENEW relies on teams of existing Youth Union leaders, like Ms. Thư, who work voluntarily to provide risk education instrucnotion to local residents living in UXO affected areas,” she said.

With training provided by Project RENEW staff, Cam Lộ District now has a team of 380 YU volunteers qualified to teach local residents, precisely and accurately, how to avoid UXO accidents and to report UXO sightings to RENEW teams for quick and safe response.

Also in Cam Lộ District, 24 women are raising cattle to earn sustainable incomes. They are beneficiaries from UXO victim families, targeted for inclusion in Project RENEW’s revolving credit program. Hồ Thị Kim Ngân, chairperson of Cam Lo District Women’s Union which partners with Project RENEW to implement the credit program, says no one can understand women better than her organization. “Thanks to these loans, most of the families have improved their living conditions, paid back the debt, and procured necessary household utensils,” said Ngân.

Women's Union officers train women from survivor families in how to raise livestock and manage their incomes, creating better lives and opportunities for their children.

Hoàng Thị Thắng, a resident of Cam Tuyền Commune who lost her husband in a UXO explosion, now owns four cows worth 30 million dong (about $1500 USD) after three years of raising cattle. “These four cows are a great asset to me,” Thắng said. “I hope other women will be able to escape poverty and prosper like my family,” she added. While Project RENEW’s teams of qualified EOD technicians, who conduct clearance operations every day, are the foundation of the RENEW effort, their work in the field is supported by others. Medics, drivers, and other support personnel are essential.

In addition, Project RENEW’s office staff, only a dozen experienced program officers, administrative and financial staff, and data base managers, are responsible for training and supervising hundreds of local volunteers.

Youth Union members, others from the Women’s Union, the Farmers Union, Provincial Health Department – they are the ones who actually deliver the services to beneficiaries. And these Quảng Trị residents are neighbors of people like Phú, Thư, and Ngân, along with nearly 500 other part-time volunteers who extend RENEW’s benefits to people throughout the community.

Project RENEW’s success has been built on leveraging these local resources, the people and institutions at the community level who have always been one of Vietnam’s great strengths. The children and adults of Quang Tri Province appreciate the life-saving and injury-preventing contributions from their neighbors, Phú, Thư, Ngân and others. And even with the hours they spend in sometimes demanding tasks with no financial compensation, these volunteers say that they get a good feeling from helping their neighbors.

“I’m so happy to be engaged in a program which provides opportunities for poor women to rid themselves of poverty and help their families prosper,” said Ngân.

[more news]