The Phan Siblings
http://www.advocacynet.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/10309700923_71b94c0acd_o.jpg
Phan Van Gianh and his two siblings were born with severe birth deformities from Agent Orange.
2013 Profile by Peace Fellow Kelly Howell
Nguyen Thi Bich was born in 1930 and married in 1952. She has seen much in her long life, too much of it war. She will not tell me her husband’s name, as he died in 1984, and she says it is not good to speak the names of the dead to strangers. She herself was involved in the war between 1960 and 1964, delivering rice and helping out when asked. She remembered seeing that the forests were dying, but did not know why. It was during this time, she believes, that she was exposed to Agent Orange.
Phan Van Danh, a boy, was born in 1960 with severe birth defects. He is slight in size, and his legs are malformed and useless. They are permanently bent to the side and crossed, and the size of children’s legs. He moves around using two wooden blocks to drag himself about, but he must be careful, as his bones are light and easily broken. Phan Thi Banh, a girl born in 1964, and Phan Thanh Gian, another boy born in 1966, both suffer the same condition. All three have suffered from constant pain, as well as other physical problems such as gastro-intestinal issues.
Not one of the siblings received a formal education, because of a lack of wheelchairs and transportation. Their mother was also reluctant to send them to school due to the discrimination that people with disabilities face in Vietnam and the lack of integration in local schools. Nguyen felt that the children would be better off at home, where she could watch over them and protect them. She taught them to read and write, and Phan Thanh Gianh writes poetry. The entire family belongs to a self-help group developed by AEPD using their Peer Support Model. They say this is encouraging and helpful to them.
 An AEPD micro-loan helped Phan Than Gianh set up a small barbershop out of a shed in his yard. However, lack of transportation, access, and funding prevent the siblings from obtaining proper medical care. |
The household has one wheelchair, and that is considered a luxury. They have it because Phan Than Gianh, the youngest brother, wrote a letter to the government describing the plight of himself and his siblings, and the government brought it to his home. It is used mainly by Phan to move between the house and a small barber shop that AEPD helped him to open with a micro-loan. AEPD has also helped the family to build a chicken coop, so that they can raise eggs and meat to sell. The three siblings work in the garden, raising vegetables to eat as well as sell. As their mother is too old to get around much any longer, they also collectively care for her, doing the cooking and cleaning the house.
None of the three siblings has ever received proper medical care, and they face the same challenges that face other families with disabilities – access, transportation, and inadequate funds. AEPD has helped the local medical center in Lien Thuy District, where they live, to upgrade their rehabilitative facilities. When transportation is available, they attend. But this happens rarely.
2015 Update: Armando Gallardo and Iain Guest visit the Phan siblings
The three Phan siblings might just be the face of Agent Orange in Quang Binh province. This is partly because they featured in a fine video by Jesse Cottrell which can be viewed above; and partly because they run a successful business. Also, we might add, because they handle the physical challenges with grace and humor. They are clearly extraordinary people, confident and completely un-selfconscious.
AEPD has invested in this family and is proud of what they have achieved, so it is no surprise that they take us to visit the Phan siblings. We are the third AP delegation to pay them a call, after Peace Fellows Jesse Cottrell in 2011 and Kelly Howell in 2013. Kelly centered her profile around Nguyen Thi Bich, the family matriarch. The old lady is now 85. Instead of retracing her story, we decided to focus on the family’s economic success.
First, we encounter a mystery. Phan Van Danh, the oldest of the three siblings, was born in 1960. That was two years before American planes started to drop Agent Orange on Vietnam. If he was not struck down by Agent Orange, then what? It is striking that Phan’s two siblings have identical deformities – and there is no doubt they were born when their father was almost certainly exposed to Agent Orange. But their older brother is a bit of a mystery.
The family lives in the Lien Thuy ward of Le Thuy district. The government estimates that 1,080 AO victims live in the district. AEPD has only managed to support five or six families, because of limited resources, but the families have been carefully chosen.
AEPD chose the Phan siblings because they personify the threat from climate change, and the determined way that the siblings have responded. The oldest brother, Phan Van Danh and his sister Phan Thi Banh taught themselves at home. Phan Than Gianh, their younger brother, attended school and made it to the seventh grade before it became too difficult to move around. As Kelly noted in her earlier profile, Phan wrote to the government in 1998 for help and the Prime Minister sent him a wheelchair which he now uses around the yard. His brother and sister watch with affection while he gives us a demonstration.
The family exposes a quirk in the government’s compensation scheme for victims of Agent Orange. They first asked for compensation in 2000 and were awarded 2.6 million Dong a month, to cover the oldest brother and his sister. But the youngest sibling only receives 630,000 Dong – and as a disabled person, rather than a victim of Agent Orange. Their mother inquired about the discrepancy and was told that only two members of a family can receive AO compensation. This was not born out by our other interviews.
Whatever the facts, the family also began seeking help from NGOs in 2008. AEPD gave the family a generous loan in 2012 which they used to open the hairdressing business and buy animals. The three siblings now divide the labor. Phan Van Danh, the older brother, manages the animals – chickens, geese, rabbits, and birds. His sister looks after their ageing mother, while Phan Than Gianh, the youngest sibling, cuts hair.
Phan Than Gianh also received business training from AEPD and is acknowledged by his siblings to be the smartest member of the family. He loves to read and makes the point that the AEPD self-help club – which he attends every month – deals with literature and law as well as more practical topics. “The self-help group has lifted everyone spirits.”
Phan Than Gianh seems like a happy man. Business is good and his limited mobility has long since ceased to be a problem. A customer comes by during our visit, and cheerfully allows us to take his picture while Phan cuts his hair. Many of his customers found him through the self-help group and he often cuts their hair for free.
The family makes up to 2 million Dong a month from Phan’s haircutting, and this – plus a loan form AEPD – enabled them to strengthen their house against flooding in 2014 by adding two stories to the building. The cost came to 200 million Dong, which is considerable, but the brothers have no doubt they needed to do it, for the sake of their mother and sister. They had to dig deep into their savings.
It helps that they have no children and so no education costs. But they are still exposed and wondering what to do about it. By extending their house they have protected family members but not their animals, and they do not know what they will do when the next storm arrives. The storms are fierce and unexpected, and this leaves no time to sell off the animals. The best they can think of is to construct a barn on stilts, but that would make it difficult to manage the animals.
In spite of it all, they remain reflective and grateful for what they have – which includes each other. As well as the smartest, Phan Than Gianh appears to be the most philosophical. “I understand that I have to do my best. I’m the only one in my family to receive an income and the only person who can help myself. I have to try harder than normal people.”
[content-builder]{“id”:1,”version”:”1.0.4″,”nextId”:15,”block”:”root”,”layout”:”12″,”childs”:[{“id”:”2″,”block”:”divider”},{“id”:”9″,”block”:”image”,”source”:”~wp-uploads\/2015\/08\/10309700923_71b94c0acd_o.jpg”,”alt”:”10309700923_71b94c0acd_o”,”link”:”~wp-uploads\/2015\/08\/10309700923_71b94c0acd_o.jpg”,”class”:””,”scale”:”100%”,”position”:”center”,”size”:{“width”:660,”height”:495},”store”:{“source”:”~upload\/9-4519734d98e2e91286b8a7e955cebe36.jpg”,”width”:660,”height”:495,”mime”:”image\/jpeg”,”size”:262780}},{“id”:”10″,”block”:”rte”,”content”:”Phan Van Gianh and his two siblings were born with severe birth deformities from Agent Orange.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n”,”class”:””},{“id”:”8″,”block”:”divider”},{“id”:4,”block”:”layout”,”layout”:”12″,”childs”:[{“id”:”5″,”block”:”rte”,”content”:”
2013 Profile by Peace Fellow Kelly Howell<\/span><\/h4>\n\n
Nguyen Thi Bich was born in 1930 and married in 1952. She has seen much in her long life, too much of it war. She will not tell me her husband\u2019s name, as he died in 1984, and she says it is not good to speak the names of the dead to strangers. She herself was involved in the war between 1960 and 1964, delivering rice and helping out when asked. She remembered seeing that the forests were dying, but did not know why. It was during this time, she believes, that she was exposed to Agent Orange.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n