[Description: Travel - Group - Asia - Documentary]
08 - 08 - 07, 7.15pm [Current Vietnam Time]

To begin: Caprice! It's been 11 months! -MWAH-, thank you for making the days bright, the nights warm and life so damn amazing in the time we've been together. I love you, and can't wait to see you when I return! Also...pick up the phone!

Alright, enough mushiness. The past 3 days have been quite interesting. To sum them up, we spent time with the kids at the peace camp, visited the War Remnants Museum, and overall got some great footage (and made a few new contacts along the way).

On Tuesday, after spending the morning at the hospital, (a day in which I've slowly started to become comfortable feeding the children) Courtney, Hai and myself went to the War Remnants Museum and requested permission to film the upcoming "Agent Orange Awareness Event." After a thorough evaluation of us, we received our permission. The rest of the day went fairly slow, allowing us ample time to rest. The next day was going to be a long one.

It was today, Wednesday, that things really picked up. So far, the going has been somewhat slow. We have filmed, but nothing seriously pertaining to the documentary.

The event was amazing. Most of the children/victims in or near Ho Chi Minh City were invited, and many showed up. A fairly famous photographer of Japanese origin (who has done most prize winning photography of the effect of Agent Orange) received an award, and the day was full of pretty amazing acts and shows. Unfortunately, the only photography we got was in the movie camera, so no pictures to post. Suffice it to say, it was a BIG event. While there, said Japanese photographer (will edit this once I remember his name) gave us his card, and wanted to keep in touch. We also met a man from the International Action Center, based in Washington, who was photographing for what out loud was a documentary, but in whispers was for the current lawsuit against the chemical companies that created Agent Orange. Apparently, many US veterans are joining with Vietnamese veterans in the lawsuit (though the Vietnamese government does not want to recognize this due to lingering Anti-American Government and Army sentiments). He is attempting to gather pictures and info to further encourage US veterans affected by the chemical to join in. A noble cause, though I won't mention his name for obvious reasons. We will keep in contact though; he seemed very well versed in current events surrounding Agent Orange.

On a closely related tangent, he mentioned that the US is still using chemical warfare, such as depleted uranium, in Iraq. This has already started to affect the populace, armies that are backing the US, and our own soldiers. It needs to stop, and people need to wake up to the fact that this is happening to our men and women in uniform - our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters. But that is for your own research.

Well, aside from this, we spent time with the kids (who were also at the event). Today, we presented them with the idea that we will be filming them - they seem pretty for it. Otherwise, this is the end of my post. Pictures in a bit, just like last time.