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Danish Vietnamese AssociationNattergalevej 6 - DK-2400 Copenhagen NV - Denmark |
Agent Orange: News - Links - Documentation
Film at YouTube - Trailer 1:09 for documentary film "Vietnam: Children and Health" (English version 2007 27 min)
"A Dane with a Vietnamese heart", interview Wilfred Gluud (VietnamNet 24/1 2009) - Interview in Vietnamese fra Saigon Giai Phong February 2009 Têt magazine
Information about Danish Vietnamese Association (DVA) - Short print-version PDF 2 pages
The objective of the Danish Vietnamese Association (DVA) is to promote co-operation, and understanding and friendship activities between Vietnam and Denmark, to organise support to Vietnam through the officially registered national collection "Hospital Equipment for Vietnam", to facilitate development aid to Vietnam, to issue the journal "VietNam Ajour", and to arrange public meetings about Vietnam. The DVA was established in January 1976.
VietNam Ajour is published four times a year in Danish, each issue comprising 24 pages. The journal brings news and articles about development, economy, human rights, culture and travelling in Vietnam. Every issue contains news about our charity and development projects.
Organizational structure and regulations
At present, DVA has close to 500 members. DVA is organised with a board of currently 13 members. The board meets at least four times a year. Unpaid volunteers do all the DVA work in Denmark. Volunteers working on projects in Vietnam are subsidised.
Charity "Hospital Equipment for Vietnam" (Hospitalsudstyr til Vietnam)
DVA founded the charity "Hospital Equipment for Vietnam" in 1979, and since 1980 it has supported the Paediatric Hospital No.1 in Ho Chi Minh City. The charity collects money for new medical equipment and usable second-hand equipment. The Danish Foreign Ministry�s International Development Agency (DANIDA) covers the transportation of the second-hand equipment. The annual amount collected has typically been more than 100,000 DKK. The amount has been increasing in the past couple of years, and in 2005 the charity collected 140.000 DKK (23.000 $).
Health Projects
In 1991 DVA was the first Danish Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to start development work in Vietnam with a grant from Danida, the Denmark government development aid organization.
DANIDA granted 1.6 million DKK for the ARI (Acute Respiratory Infection) Project which was implemented in 1991-1993 through the Paediatric Hospital No.1 in Ho Chi Minh City (PH#1). A training unit was established at the PH#1 which has become a reference centre for ARI in southern Vietnam. Pilot ARI training units were established in three provincial hospitals (Long An, Tra Vinh and Dong). In 1994-1997 a phase 2 was carried out, comprising treatment, training and research on ARI in four southern provinces of Vietnam. Phase 2 included the training of health staff in the improvement of case management, research on aetiology of middle-ear infections and established village pharmacies in 10 pilot health stations in the communes.
The 3rd phase of the project was funded by DANIDA with 6 million DKK (1 million $), under the name of IMCI (Integrated Management of Severe Childhood Illness in Southern Vietnam) in 1998-2001. It was extended with a 4th phase running until the end of 2006. The objective is to improve health and reduce mortality and morbidity of the five most severe illnesses in children below age 5 (ARI, diarrhoeal disease, dengue fever, malaria and malnutrition). Work is done in Ho Chi Minh City, Lam Dong, Tra Vinh and Vinh Long provinces in southern Vietnam.
Project objectives are, in cooperation with PH#1, to introduce the IMCI in health posts, district hospitals and provincial hospitals in the project provinces in order to improve case management, home treatment and prevention of serious illness in children below age 5. An objective is also to strengthen the role of PH#1 as a reference centre for treatment, training and research in severe childhood illness in southern Vietnam, and to contribute to future development of the IMCI program through research and development of case management of asthma, otitis, neonatal diseases and infection control.
Information about WHO IMCI www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/integr.htm
The Dengue Fever Project 1997-2000 was funded by DANIDA with 2.7 million DKK (480.000 $). The objective was to assist PH#1 in combating dengue fever, a severe childhood disease caused by a virus transmitted by of a certain species of mosquito. The project established training in hospitals in Ho Chi Minh, An Giang, Tien Giang and Ba Ria province, in diagnosis and treatment of the illness. There was also training in local health clinics on how to reduce infections by combating mosquitoes in the villages.
In order to ensure sufficient medical support and proper administration of the above-mentioned health projects, the DVA has so far delegated the project administration and financial management to the Paediatric Ward no. 2, at the Rigshospitalet, a department of Copenhagen University hospital.
The project is administrated by a steering committee appointed by the board of DVA, with representatives from DVA and medical specialists.
Shelter project - English Resume PDF 80 kb
In 2005 we started a new project in Ho Chi Minh City, supporting the girl shelter The Little Rose Warm Shelter under the administration of Ho Chi Minh Child Welfare Foundation (HCWF). DANIDA granted about USD 172.400 for a three-year project under their Mini Project Funding. The main goals of the project are to strengthen the rehabilitation capacity of the shelter by focusing on the psychological skills, the fundraising skills, the pedagogical methods, knowledge sharing capability and English speaking skills. The shelter houses between 20 and 25 girls at the age of 8 to 16. They go to school and are given vocational training. Whenever it is possible, the girls are reunited with their families. In March 2006 the shelter had the honour of being visited by the Danish prince Joachim.
PACODE project - English resume PDF 45 kb
The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) has a special funding for consortium projects conducted by at least three NGOs, in order to strengthen the cooperation, capacity building and knowledge sharing of the Danish NGOs. DVA, together with CARE Denmark and OVE (Danish Organisation for Renewable Energy) were successful in applying for such a consortium project at DANIDA at the end of 2004, and we received close to 19 million DKK (3, 9 million $) for a five-year program, in cooperation with our the Vietnamese partners, Women�s Union, Children�s Hospital No. 1 and Enerteam. The project is called the PACODE project (PArticipatory COmmunity DEvelopment). The PACODE project is aiming to better the living conditions of especially the Khmer people in eight communes in the An Giang and Soc Trang provinces in the Mekong Delta. The communes chosen for the project therefore have high Khmer population rates. The economic development in Vietnam is on a very positive track these years, but usually ethnic minorities like the Khmers do not get their share of the economic growth because they are isolated from the Vietnamese society in general due to cultural and language differences. Therefore, the project also aims to better the health, water/sanitation and energy situation in the communes, as well as the integration of the Khmer people in the Vietnamese society in general by encouraging especially the women to participate in the formal organisations such as the Women�s Union. The project also contains income-creating activities for the women, including a micro-credit scheme. DVA and our direct partner Children Hospital No. 1 are responsible for the health part. The project started out in May 2005 after being approved by the Vietnamese prime minister, and is expected to run for a five-year period.
Cultural projects
Every year in February or March we arrange a Vietnamese Cultural day, with 45-minute lectures, workshops and exhibitions. The number of visitors are between 80-130.
In October we celebrate the Tet Trung Thu Mid-Autumn festival with an event for children and their parents.
On 1 July 2006 we arranged a concert with Thanh Lam, Nguyen Quoc Trung, Tung Doung and Niels Lan Doky in Copenhagen. The concert was sponsored by the Cultural Fund at the Danish Embassy in Hanoi.
In august 2004 DVA organised three exhibitions with the famous Vietnamese painters Ta Thi Than Tam and Le Thi Thu. These events were supported by the Danish Center for Culture and Development (DCCD).
We are working on a documentary film about our health projects, which we also hope to publish in Vietnamese and English.
Visit our Link-page (partly in English) * Agent Orange page (English) * Books in English * Meeting in London 2001
Membership (including the journal) costs 215 DKr. yearly, reduced to 140 DKr. for young people in the process of training/education, pensioners and people of limited means. A further member of the same household costs 55 DKr.
Firms and organizations can be collective members at a subscription rate of 600 Dkr. Contributions are received with thanks.
Quarterly magazine: 
The journal Vietnam Ajour appears 4 times a year in Danish, each issue containing 24 pages. The journal brings news and articles on Vietnam. We write about development, economy, aid projects, human rights, culture and traveling. Each number contains news about the charity and our project on Childrens Hospital No. 1 (Nhi Dong 1) in Ho Chi Minh City.
Ask for a free trial issue - Yearly subscription rate for 4 issues is 110 DKr, outside Europe (Airmail) 140 Dkr.
Düsseldorff April 2008 Internationalt meeting 8 pictures
Meeting in Düsseldorf 5-6.th. April 2008, host Freundschaftsgesellschaft Vietnam. Behind from right Jørgen Prag and Wilfred Gluud in the middle chairman Gûnther Giesefeld. No. 2 from right Marie Hélène Lavallard from France. In the middel 2 vietnamese from Vietnam-German Frindship in Hanoi.
Sunday the 22nd April 2001 the Danish Vietnamese Association met with representatives of the Vietnam movement in Great Britain, for an informal talk on friendship and solidarity work.
Front row from left: Margarat Methley and Madeleine Sharp from Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia Medical & Scientific Aid and Len Aldis from Britain-Vietnam Friendship Society.
Behind is Wilfred Gluud and Morten Rasmussen from Danish Vietnamese Association.
The photograph were taken outside the Cam Phat restaurant in Macclesfield Street (between Shaftsbury avenue and the Chinatown gate) where the lunch-meeting took place.
Friendship with Vietnam
Excepts af regulations for the Danish Vietnamese Association
1. Name and object
The name of the Association is Danish Vietnamese Association, established on 31 January 1976. The object of the Association is to promote co-operation and understanding between Danes and Vietnamese. The standing tasks of the Association are to organize support to Vietnam through the officially registered national collection, "Hospital Equipment for Vietnam", to issue the journal "Vietnam ajour", and to arrange public meetings about Vietnam.
2. Members
As member of the Association is admitted anybody who complies with the regulations of the Association and pays the subscription fixed. Organizations and associations can be admitted as collective members, with one vote each.
3. Local branches
Local branches can be established upon decision made by the General Meeting of the Association. The economy of local branches is being dealt with in concert with the Executive Committee of the Association.
4. General Meeting
The ordinary general meeting is the highest authority of the Association and is held once a year in the month of January. Calling in to be effected with three weeks notice. Proposals which are wanted to be treated at the general meeting must come to the hand of the Executive Committee by one week prior to the general meeting.
The agenda must contain the following items:
- 1. Election of chairman and note taker.
- 2. Report of the Executive Committee and plans for next years activities.
- 3. The national collection "Hospital Equipment for Vietnam":
- Report and orientation of accounts.
- 4. Aid projects (Development programs): Report and orientation of accounts as well as plans for next years activities.
- 5. Approval of accounts and fixture of subscription rates.
- 6 Treatment of proposals received.
- 7. Election of a) chairman, b) cashier and c) other members of the Executive Committee of 7 to 15 members. Election of d) 2 to 4 substitutes and e) 2 auditors.
- f) Approval of the Collection committee and Project groups.
- 8. Any other business.
Voting is settled by ordinary majority among the members who are present and have paid subscription. Amendments to the regulations, however, require a 2/3 majority. It is aimed that the editors of the journal as well as the hospital collection committee and the project groups are represented in the Executive Committee of the Association.
5. Extraordinary general meeting
Extraordinary general meeting is held within 2-4 weeks, if it is desired in writing and with a reasoned agenda by the Executive Committee of the Association or by 1/3 of its members.
6. Executive Committee
The Executive Committee holds at least 4 yearly meetings. The Executive Committee constitutes itself with vice-chairman and appoints among the members of the Association the editors of the "Vietnam ajour", an office group to take care of the routine work of the Association such as correspondence, maintenance of members/subscribers, sale of articles etc. The office group to meet every month, collection committee and project groups as required.
7. Danish Vietnamese Associations persons of resource
Previous active members of the Association and others with special interest in Vietnam who in special cases are prepared to make an effort for the Association, are registered in a special list.
8. Dissolution of the Association
The Association is dissolved if this is decided with 2/3 majority among the members who have appeared and are entitled to vote, at two successive general meetings.
Sidst opdateret 23-08-2010
