HCM City (VNS/VNA) - A place wherehundreds of Agent Orange victims have called home will soon close, and so farfor those who are there now, they have nowhere else to live.

Hoa Binh Village in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tu DuHospital has housed victims for the last 30 years but will close this year.

In 2015, the HCM City Association for Victims ofAgent Orange/ Dioxin launched a project to build a new centre in Hoc Mon districtthat will offer rehabilitation and post-surgery care.

The centre was planned to open last year andwould receive AO victims including those from the Hoa Binh Village.

But a shortage of funds has seen the projectdelayed, leaving many people worried about a roof over their heads.

Major General Tran Ngoc Tho, chairman of theassociation, said the HCM City People’s Committee allocated a 49,000 sq.mplot to build the Orange Centre and the association called on domestic andinternational donors to raise about 100 billion VND (4.3 million USD).

Tho said the association authorised the AgentOrange Ltd Company to collect donations and the company committed to spendabout 40 billion VND and start land clearance, build fencing and waste watertreatment.

“The company has not done anything at theproject area until now,” Tho said, adding that he did not know how much thecompany received from donors.

Meanwhile, both Tu Du Hospital managers and AOvictims at the Hoa Binh Village are desperate for a new centre.

Le Thi Hien Nhi, head of the hospital’sFunctions Rehabilitation Department, said in the last three years, the villagestopped receiving more AO victims.

Now, there are 35 AO victims aged between threeand 38 years old, two thirds of them suffer from cerebral palsy.

Nhi said the victims needed more assistanceincluding healthcare, education, job training and orientation for their futurewhile the hospital was able to provide them healthcare.

“The village is in the environment of ahospital, which is not good for the development of any child, particularlychildren with disabilities,” Nhi said, adding that the hospital staff wantedbetter conditions for the AO victims.

Former director of the hospital Nguyen Thi NgocPhuong who founded the Hoa Binh Village said it was not only a place where theAO victims and orphans received treatment but also their home.

Phuong said she felt heartbroken to see thechildren who considered each other as siblings, live apart.

“If only the Orange Centre could be completed asplanned and the children could move to there to live together,” Phuong said,adding that she and other people were making efforts to call for donations tospeed up the centre project.

Tran Ngoc Son, vice director of the city’sLabour, Invalid and Social Affairs Department, said when the Hoa Binh Villagewas closed, the department would take the AO victims to social sponsor centreswhich the department managed.

The department would discuss with the city’sHealth Department and Tu Du Hospital about transferring procedure and time.

It is not clear if the Hoa Binh Village’schildren would live together or have to be separated across the city.

Pham Thi Thu Thuy, 21, is paralysed in both legsand has lived at the village for ten years. To her it is the place she callshome.

“Since living in the village, I receive the lovefrom doctors, nurses and hospital workers. I and other AO victims have afamily,” Thuy said.

Thuy who is a student of the Special EducationDepartment of the HCM City Teacher Training University said she wished toreturn and teach other younger victims at the village after she graduated.

“As the village is set to close, I’m so sad.Maybe, I don’t have chance to meet other people who I know as my family,” Thuysaid.-VNS/VNA