The Từ family are midway through lunch when we arrive, gathered around a low wooden table in comfortable silence. Elbows press close as chopsticks reach into shared plates of vegetables, moving with the quiet rhythm of a midday meal.

It’s a humid afternoon in Quảng Kim commune, the kind where the air hangs heavy and clings to your skin. Our team has come to visit Từ Đình Cứ, a second-generation victim of Agent Orange, to hear his story. His family is one of two that AP and AEPD are hoping to support in this year’s fundraising appeal. (You can read about the other family, Giả Thanh Kiểm’s, here.)

AP and AEPD have partnered for over a decade to support families affected by Agent Orange in rural Quảng Bình province. More than 19,000 Agent Orange-affected families have been documented in the region, many of whom live in remote, low-income communities with limited access to healthcare, stable income, or disability support.

The AP/AEPD program focuses on amplifying the voices of victims and caregivers, raising funds for income-generating investments such as livestock, and helping families develop sustainable livelihood strategies with the guidance of AEPD’s outreach workers. This year’s campaign seeks to raise $2,000 to support two new families: the Giả family and the Từ family. Each will receive tailored support, primarily through breeding livestock, based on their needs and capacities. These investments aim not only to ease immediate hardship but to help families build long-term stability and independence.

Từ Đình Cứ is a second-generation child of Agent Orange. His father was directly exposed to dioxin during the Vietnam War, and like many children born after the war, Cứ lives with chronic health issues and disabilities. He is partially blind, has limited mobility in his left arm, spinal problems, and a speech impairment. His son also shows signs of poisoning and is severely underdeveloped, weighing only 28 kilograms (61 pounds) at fourteen. Chronic pain and physical weakness also prevent Cứ from performing the strenuous labor required in farming. As a result, his wife, Lợi, carries the burden of both caregiving and physical labor in the household.

“The family makes around 9 million VND a year through farming,” Lợi explains. That’s the equivalent of just $343 annually, or about $28.50 per month to cover the family’s living expenses. In addition, the Từ family receives a monthly allowance of 1,600,000 VND ($61) for Agent Orange victims.

To make ends meet, Lợi often takes on freelance work alongside caregiving and farm labor – cooking for local events, weeding neighbors’ fields, or cleaning houses whenever the opportunity arises. At most, she can earn up to 2 million VND ($76) a month, nearly all of which, she says, goes toward her children’s school fees and education.

When I ask what kinds of support they hope for, Lợi doesn’t hesitate. Families like hers, she says, would greatly benefit from more targeted assistance for Agent Orange victims and those with severe disabilities, especially programs that offer medical care, home repairs, or income-generating opportunities like livestock. 

Over the past decade, AP and AEPD have supported families in launching small, sustainable livelihoods tailored to their needs. Some choose to raise pigs, chickens, or fish. Others opt for breeding livestock like buffalo or cows. A few start small businesses, making fish sauce or offering local services. The model isn’t one-size-fits-all. Families decide what makes the most sense for them, and AEPD outreach workers help shape a plan that is realistic, gradual, and grounded in long-term stability.

But livelihood support alone doesn’t account for the environmental challenges that continue to bear down on families like the Cứ’s. Inside the Từ family home, the walls bear the long-term scars of exposure. The roof above offers little protection. During heavy rains, water leaks through, dripping onto the furniture and pooling on the floors. The paint has peeled back in wide, uneven patches, revealing the raw concrete beneath. Deep cracks stretch down from the corners, tracing the paths where water seeps in during the rainy season. Makeshift wiring hangs loosely from nails on the wall. A damp, earthy smell lingers in the air, a reminder that water has pooled here before and will likely return with the next storm. 

.

The current structure offers little protection against what’s to come. And for families like Cứ’s, where disability limits mobility, the consequences of each storm stretch far beyond the immediate damage. Evacuation becomes more difficult. Recovery, slower. The burden, heavier.

This year’s support for the Từ family will focus on both livelihood and shelter. The family has chosen to raise a breeding cow, an investment that costs around 18.5 million VND (about $700 USD). Any remaining funds will go toward urgent home repairs, such as reinforcing the walls, securing the roof, and improving flood protection. They offer families like the Từ’s a home that is not only lived in, but safe to live in.