Charity Hoi An Easy Rider
Nguyen Quang Bon (Leo) has been helping children affected by Agent Orange (more commonly known as napalm) for the past 10 years. His own family have been devastated by cancer and other diseases that have prompted him to try and help others in his country.
Leo is a tour guide and is the founder of the Hoi An Easyriders, in association with the Vietnam Veterans in Australia. This is the original Easyrider Association of which there are now many copies who do not give as good service and expertise to the tours offered.
Forty percent of the proceeds from the tour fees is given directly to charities arising from the motorbike tours as detailed on this website. Ethnic Minority Villages are also helped with a percentage of the fees going to aid the people living in these villages.
Agent orange
The vietnamese war has been over for more than 23 years but the effects of agent orange are still creating chaos. Agent orange was used by American forces to kill off anything providing cover (forest, agricultural fields) to the Viet Cong. Today it is still poisoning the food chain and causing serious effects to human health.
11 million gallons of agent orange were poured over the South of Veitnam, covering an area of 10% of the country. Canadian scientist David Levi, studying the effects of agent orange today argues that "We should not think of this as a historical problem. This is a present day contamination issue". Chemicals incorperated in agent orange, such as TCCD, are know to cause cancer, brain damage and children born in contaminated areas today are three times more likley to be born with cleft palates, to be born mentaly retarded, or to be born with extra or less toes or fingers, and are eight times more likely to suffer hernias, as well as a host of other birth defects. Vietnamese scientists shocked by the Canadian findings are now talking of evacuationg the areas contaminated by agent orange. Areas that are feeling the effects over 25 years after the spraying has stoppped.
Despite all of this, the U.S. government denies such claims that the chemical weapon agent orange affects human health, claiming it to be propoganda. Yet, in the U.S. vietnam war veterans can claim compensation for handling the chemical.
People Leo has supported
Azinh's story.
Azinh is 5 years old, living in the village of Kotu, located on the Ho Chi Minh trail. He was born with an eye problem that causes his left eye weep and be a constant source of pain. Money from the tours that has been donated so far has paid for a doctor to visit Azinh in his village to carry out a consultation. But at present more money is needed before treatment can be provided to stop Azinh's suffering.
Jim Bay's story.
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Leo met Jim when he was just 2 months old. Whilst on a tour through the M'nong ethnic village on the Ho Chi Minth trail, Leo met Jim's family who were struggling to raise Jim as they saw best, and could not provide the expensive support he needed. Jim was born heavily deformed, with no fingers and deformed legs which meant he would not be able to walk. The family who were on the tour with Leo adopted Jim, and he now lives in California aged 12, recently having undergone surgery 6 months ago to enable him to walk easily. The money raised through the tours goes to providing treatment and support to other families and individuals in the M'nong village, such as operations to help physical deformities.
By taking a tour with the Easyriders, you will be helping many children and people in this beautiful country.
Children will be able to go to school, learn to read and write and speak english, which will benefit them later in their lives. The money is also spent on building houses for the people in the villages and giving them clean water. In the end they will live a much healthier lifestyle and thereby postpone sickness and age.
Don't forget that you will have an amazing time whilst helping. You will get to see the real vietnam outside of tourist areas, places that only few people go to. There are beautiful mountains, waterfalls, rivers and tiny villages surrounded by rice fields. Everyone living there will meet you with smiles and joy that you just know is genuine. Don't miss out on this opportunity to experience something great AND help people who truly need it at the very same time.
http://hoianeasyriders.wordpress.com
for the same website of our group. Some other websites are not belonged to us .