/Project RENEW: "Restoring the Environment and Neutralizing the Effects of War"

About SFR

Students for Renew is an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the continued threat of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in Vietnam while raising money to help the victims of UXO violence.

Education/Outreach

Our Goal, as teachers and students, is to engage all learners with materials and experiences that are relevant, tangeable and impactful on thier lives as current and future contributors to a global community.

Fund-raising

Our fund-raising efforts are initiated by grade school, high school and university students. 100% of funds raised are donated to Project RENEW, in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam.

An Introduction to UXOs

In 2007, Students for RENEW founder, Bill Holiday, travelled to Vietnam with a peace and friendship delegation led by Jan Scruggs and sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. During a stop in Dong Ha, one of the most centrally located, and brutally fought-over towns in Vietnam, he learned this:

In the late 1950's to the mid 1970's, the United States military dropped three times more bombs on the small nation of Vietnam than were dropped in all of World War II by all sides. During the past 38 years, since the official end of the war, over 42,000 innocent Vietnamese civilians have been killed by UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) left deployed, but undetinated in the countrysides of Vietnam.

Much, if not most, of these weapons were deployed by American soldiers and airmen.

For the United States, that war ended as the last American troops left Saigon on April 30, 1975, and has since become an increasingly-distant part of history. In Vietnam, the violence from that war continues today, in 2013.

In 2000, an organization called Project RENEW was founded in Dong Ha, with the expressed goal of helping to reduce the risk of future UXO accidents, while helping those injured construct a productive and meaningful life. It is on their behalf that we spread the message of UXO awareness, while helping to raise much needed money for a nation wholly deserving of a true and lasting peace.

Project RENEW is made up of Five Branches:

The MRE (Mine Risk
Education Program):
Focuses on educating the population about landmines and informing the province of dangerous areas. The MRE reaches out especially to children.

The MVA (Mine Victim
Assistance Program):
Focuses on upgrading the local health care system by providing services and resources. The MVA has provided over 300 artificial limbs free of cost. Also provides jobs for landmine victims.

Clearence:
Works to clear the landmines and UXO that are scattered across the country.

Information:
Provides people with statistics and information cocerning UXOs.

P-L Development:
Focuses on reincorporating mine victims back into their communities after an accident.