One of our 2009 Grand Giveaway finalists, Clear Path International, shared a story with us recently that we wanted to share with all of you. Before you read it, let me pose the question, if you had a 50% chance of dying each time you went to work would you do it? Thank you to Clear Path International and, with no further ado...
Vietnam – The Lure of Scrap Metal Income Overrides the Risk
Briefly described, scrap metal collectors use metal detectors, wandering through sandy areas once occupied by military installations or weaving through thick vegetation to reach areas which were once regular targets for massive B52 bombing raids. They look for anything made of metal - a rusty chunk of steel from a broken bomb case, a corroded brass ring from a rotating band of a projectile, or a smashed-up aluminum fin tail off a mortar round. Everything is picked up. At the end of the day, it is sorted at scrap dealer shops. Steel goes with steel, brass with brass, and cash is paid by the weight.
The risk of explosion is 50/50. The lure of immediate cash for supplemental income is too significant to ignore.
TRIEU PHONG - QUANG TRI, JULY 4, 2009
Locals saw both men drinking their coffee at 9:00 am. The explosion occurred around 10:00 am.
The fatality accident site was approximately 12 kms from their village. Both men traveled there by motorbike to search for scrap metal. Nguyen Diem, age 39, took the lead with the detector, searching for signals, while Tran Long, age 35, followed him to excavate. The explosive was subsurface. When it exploded, Long received the direct hit of the blast, killing him instantly. Duan received only one injury – a fragment entered his body in the back, exiting from his chest. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
These two men left behind two widows and five orphans.
Tran Long first became Clear Path International’s beneficiary after an Explosive Remnant of War (ERW) related accident occurred in July 2005. A small piece of metal he picked up exploded, taking four fingers from his left hand. During the CPI assessment interview, Long revealed that he had just spent a fortune to purchase a deep-search metal detector. Everyone thought he had learned a hard lesson and that the loss of his fingers would remind him of the risks. Reality was different. Long returned to the job. He was not as lucky in his next accident on July 4, 2009.
HAI LANG – QUANG TRI, AUGUST 1, 2009
Pham Quy Tuan sat in the backyard of his house, looking at a 60mm mortar. The nose fuse looked a bit corroded. He thought that if he could get rid of the fuse, he would be able to burn the explosive inside, making the round safe to sell as scrap metal.
Tuan is married and has two school-aged children. He and his wife both work, earning approximately $5 per day. He tries to supplement that income with the sale of scrap metal.
Yesterday, Tuan had spent the whole day searching for scrap metal, and only found a few rusty pieces of metal. Tuan considered the risk in picking up the mortar round. He decided to take the risk as the mortar round was the biggest metal item available. Tuan had no time to regret his act. Neighbors who rushed to the scene found Tuan severely injured with major burns on his legs and bleeding wounds to both hands. He was immediately taken to the district hospital for first aid and then forwarded to the Quang Tri General Hospital for intensive treatments. The doctors had to amputate both his hands, and due to severe burns and injuries to his leg and other parts of his body, he was forwarded to Hue Central Hospital on for further treatments.
Tuan was released from the hospital on August 31, 2009. Great efforts from doctors saved his life, but the medical bills exceeded $1,400. The cost of the one month treatment period equaled ten months of gross income for the family.
CLEAR PATH DIRECT ASSISTANCE
Clear Path was able to follow the cases from the beginning. Family members were reassured by CPI commitments to cover the medical expenses. In addition, CPI provided nutritional supports for the patients, a care taker during the treatment periods, and transportation costs.
For fatality cases, CPI staff visited each family with their condolences and assisted each family with a bereavement grant which helps with the cost of the funeral to the poor and unprepared families.
CPI’s next consideration was to provide economic assistance. In the first accident, both families' breadwinners were killed while the breadwinner in the second accident lost both hands. CPI conducted assessment interviews to determine support appropriate to each family’s specific circumstances. Nguyen Diem's widow was assisted with pig raising. Raising a cow was more appropriate for Tran Long's wife as she must take care of her small daughter. Due to the severe burns on his legs, Pham Quy Tuan was unable to walk. The best solution was to turn the family's living room into a small grocery shop. Kind neighbors purchasing items from the store deposit their payments into a tin box at his bed and take their goods. CPI helped to set this up with a capital grant.
Despite these accidents, life still goes on for their family members. The third follow up grants to these families were scholarships for the children. Six out of the total seven children are of school age, and currently attending classes. CPI’s implementation of a private donation from an U.S. veteran helped pay the school fees for these poor little children.
Although the primary purpose is assist the affected families during their financial crisis, the reality is that the timely support and assistance always provides significant spiritual encouragements. These poor families assumed this these accidents and losses were their own bad luck and that they would have to bear the consequences on their own. They never thought that anyone would show up and give them a helping hand in their most desperate time. Clear Path’s assistance helps many families stand firmly against emotional and financial crisis.
Thank you to the 43,000 of you that voted in our 2009 Grand Giveaway. The finalists were confirmed in February, the big checks sent and work is already underway. Throughout the year we will check in with our finalists from time to time to see how they are doing and what's been done to "Change the Score."
To start this off, each of them submitted a "thank you video" to tell you how important your vote was to them. We love these videos as it lets us all get a peek at the people who work hard every day to "Change the Score." We are honored to be associated with them.
The first video comes to us from our Feed the Hungry finalist - our friends at Blood:Water Mission. Take a look:
On April 18th, 150 different countries are taking part in the Dow Live Earth / Run for Water event. Over the course of 24 hours, people across the globe will run/walk 6km (the average distance women and children walk everyday to secure water) to help bring attention to and solve the global water crisis.
This event will be the largest worldwide water initiative on record. While there are hundreds of events throughout the world, the two showcase events will take place in New York City and Washington D.C. New York will feature a run/walk through Prospect Park followed by a benefit concert with the soulful sounds of The Roots and special guest, John Legend. D.C. will feature a scenic run on the Potomac hosted by the National Harbor. If you happen to live in either of these cities we encourage you to take part. If you put down your roots in some other fantastic U.S. city check out the website for other run locations.
Currently, there isn't a sanctioned event in Dallas/Fort Worth. Any one up for a 6K? I think we may be. Stay tuned and get your running shoes out.
Briefly described, scrap metal collectors use metal detectors, wandering through sandy areas once occupied by military installations or weaving through thick vegetation to reach areas which were once regular targets for massive B52 bombing raids. They look for anything made of metal - a rusty chunk of steel from a broken bomb case, a corroded brass ring from a rotating band of a projectile, or a smashed-up aluminum fin tail off a mortar round. Everything is picked up. At the end of the day, it is sorted at scrap dealer shops. Steel goes with steel, brass with brass, and cash is paid by the weight.
The risk of explosion is 50/50. The lure of immediate cash for supplemental income is too significant to ignore.
TRIEU PHONG - QUANG TRI, JULY 4, 2009
Locals saw both men drinking their coffee at 9:00 am. The explosion occurred around 10:00 am.
The fatality accident site was approximately 12 kms from their village. Both men traveled there by motorbike to search for scrap metal. Nguyen Diem, age 39, took the lead with the detector, searching for signals, while Tran Long, age 35, followed him to excavate. The explosive was subsurface. When it exploded, Long received the direct hit of the blast, killing him instantly. Duan received only one injury – a fragment entered his body in the back, exiting from his chest. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
These two men left behind two widows and five orphans.
Tran Long first became Clear Path International’s beneficiary after an Explosive Remnant of War (ERW) related accident occurred in July 2005. A small piece of metal he picked up exploded, taking four fingers from his left hand. During the CPI assessment interview, Long revealed that he had just spent a fortune to purchase a deep-search metal detector. Everyone thought he had learned a hard lesson and that the loss of his fingers would remind him of the risks. Reality was different. Long returned to the job. He was not as lucky in his next accident on July 4, 2009.
HAI LANG – QUANG TRI, AUGUST 1, 2009
Pham Quy Tuan sat in the backyard of his house, looking at a 60mm mortar. The nose fuse looked a bit corroded. He thought that if he could get rid of the fuse, he would be able to burn the explosive inside, making the round safe to sell as scrap metal.
Tuan is married and has two school-aged children. He and his wife both work, earning approximately $5 per day. He tries to supplement that income with the sale of scrap metal.
Yesterday, Tuan had spent the whole day searching for scrap metal, and only found a few rusty pieces of metal. Tuan considered the risk in picking up the mortar round. He decided to take the risk as the mortar round was the biggest metal item available. Tuan had no time to regret his act. Neighbors who rushed to the scene found Tuan severely injured with major burns on his legs and bleeding wounds to both hands. He was immediately taken to the district hospital for first aid and then forwarded to the Quang Tri General Hospital for intensive treatments. The doctors had to amputate both his hands, and due to severe burns and injuries to his leg and other parts of his body, he was forwarded to Hue Central Hospital on for further treatments.
Tuan was released from the hospital on August 31, 2009. Great efforts from doctors saved his life, but the medical bills exceeded $1,400. The cost of the one month treatment period equaled ten months of gross income for the family.
CLEAR PATH DIRECT ASSISTANCE
Clear Path was able to follow the cases from the beginning. Family members were reassured by CPI commitments to cover the medical expenses. In addition, CPI provided nutritional supports for the patients, a care taker during the treatment periods, and transportation costs.
For fatality cases, CPI staff visited each family with their condolences and assisted each family with a bereavement grant which helps with the cost of the funeral to the poor and unprepared families.
CPI’s next consideration was to provide economic assistance. In the first accident, both families' breadwinners were killed while the breadwinner in the second accident lost both hands. CPI conducted assessment interviews to determine support appropriate to each family’s specific circumstances. Nguyen Diem's widow was assisted with pig raising. Raising a cow was more appropriate for Tran Long's wife as she must take care of her small daughter. Due to the severe burns on his legs, Pham Quy Tuan was unable to walk. The best solution was to turn the family's living room into a small grocery shop. Kind neighbors purchasing items from the store deposit their payments into a tin box at his bed and take their goods. CPI helped to set this up with a capital grant.
Despite these accidents, life still goes on for their family members. The third follow up grants to these families were scholarships for the children. Six out of the total seven children are of school age, and currently attending classes. CPI’s implementation of a private donation from an U.S. veteran helped pay the school fees for these poor little children.
Although the primary purpose is assist the affected families during their financial crisis, the reality is that the timely support and assistance always provides significant spiritual encouragements. These poor families assumed this these accidents and losses were their own bad luck and that they would have to bear the consequences on their own. They never thought that anyone would show up and give them a helping hand in their most desperate time. Clear Path’s assistance helps many families stand firmly against emotional and financial crisis.