HAI
age 19

Hai is the oldest child in the village, but she is unable to speak or learn. Besides severe mental retardation, she has emotional problems. Her hair is always kept closely shaved because if allowed to grow, she will pull it out and eat it. In a matter of seconds, she can go from a smiling, loving child to fits of rage and screaming. Therefore, Hai needs constant care. Hai has a sister at home with mental disabilities and a brother who lived little more than a year before dying. Stillbirths are common in Agent-Orange families.

A house mother at the village works twelve hours a day seven days a week, but only makes about $15.00 (USD)a month. The village director, Dr. Hung (an M.D.), makes $36.00 a month. He served as a surgeon for 7 years in the Cu Chi tunnels during the war. Watching young men and women dying in abominable conditions (thirty feet under the earth) has not destroyed his ability to forgive.