(Learn More about Specific Initiatives)

What is it?

Project RENEW™ is the first comprehensive management approach undertaken in Vietnam to restore the environment and neutralize the effects of war. Its work is to help reduce the risk of the more than 350,000 tons of unexploded (UXO) ordnance left from the war, much of it in central Vietnam in areas where farmers work and children play.

Who is involved?

Project RENEW™ was launched in December 2000 by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in partnership with the Quang Tri Province People's Committee.

What programs and services are provided?

In addition to clearing landmines and UXO from contaminated areas, Project RENEW™ performs many other valuable services.

* It pursues mine-risk education through television and radio spots and a variety of in-person programs.

* It provides emergency medical services and prosthetic limbs for amputees.

* It gives job training and assistance to landmine victims to help them attain sustainable income.

What are the results?

Since its inception, Project RENEW has:

* Removed and destroyed over 4,243 mines, grenades, bombs and other types of ordnance at more than 428 marked sites and returned over 14,923 square meters of safe land to the local people.

* Produced television and radio spots on mine education that are broadcast weekly to an audience of more than 500,000.

* Trained 88 people to provide safety instruction.

* Organized 100 youth volunteers to spread the word in their communities and conducted more than 1,500 integrated safety sessions.

* Disseminated mine risk education information to 25,000 children through Mobile Child-to-Child MRE teams that travel to the most affected communities in the district.

* Upgraded the health systems for 40 community medical stations and gave first-aid training to over 450 health care workers.

* Provided orthotic or prosthetic devices to 91 people.

* Provided vocational training and income generation through a mushroom farming project to 150 victim families.

Staffing: Project RENEW™’s professional staff is all Vietnamese, which is unique among nongovernmental agencies operating in Vietnam. The Memorial Fund’s in-country representative, Chuck Searcy, is a U.S. citizen and Vietnam veteran who works with the staff.

Other Memorial Fund initiatives in Vietnam: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund pursues humanitarian programs with a strong focus on education to help the local people lead successful lives now and in the future:

* The Memorial Fund has built a computer center at the Hanoi University of Foreign Studies.

* It has also built community libraries in Quang Tri and Dak Rong.

Offices: The Project RENEW™ coordination office is in Dong Ha Town, Quang Tri Province. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund has an office in Hanoi.

Contacts: