Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

WAR C BY MARSHALL SWANSON Gamecock Contributing Editor "We have a desperate need for people on campus to help." The plea was from Mrs. Sara Davis. wife of USC sociology professor William Davis and organizer of a Columbia chapter of Friends of Children of Viet nam (FCVN), a nationwide group organized to help Vietnamese war orphans. "Fraternities, sororities, organizations, groups and families can all lend a hand," she continued. "By pledging $10 a month, they can help keep a child alive and learn about the child they're helping through personal information provided by an or phanage. "If an individual wants to help we need people to solicit con tributions, pack emergency sup plies or distribute posters to doctors' and dentists' offices." Mrs. Davis, the mother of an adopted Vietnamese child, said FCVN chapters across the country have been successful in getting support from students and university personnel. The drive is designed to give much-needed aid to some 25,000 children in orphanages throughout the Asian country, she said. FCVN was started in 1967 when ROUI * RU! WE IRPHAN By donating $10 a month they can help keep a child alive.' six doctors from the American Medical Society of Physicians for Vietnam went to Saigon from Colorado to help in the orphanages. After a few years the doctors began receiving supplies and donations from unknown housewives and parents of adopted Vietnamese children in Denver, Colo. The Colorado women organized into a charitable, tax exempt, non-profit group and were granted use of the FCVN name by the appreciative doctors in Viet nam who had originated it. . The group is now chartered in Denver and has nationwide af filiates. The Denver office is in strumental in handling in formation and assistance to other affiliates, and repackages supplies from stateside donators bound for Vietnam orphanages. Mrs. Davis said that the Foster INTERNATIONAL WEEK ND THE WORLD FASHIO ESELL HOUSE CAFETERI DNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1 FIVE TIL SEVEN on campus. University Dining Service. faculty W Orphanage Plan Group--underway in Columbia--is an effort to get 50 families or other groups to each pledge $10 per month for some needy child. A goal of $500 per orphanage has been set. Some 16 orphanages are on the list of anticipated con tributions, she said. "The assistance we give only provides the basic essentials to keep these children alive," she said. "We figure there are about 100 200 children in each orphanage." Mrs. Davis said she heard about FCVN from friends after she adopted her own Vietnamese baby. She said she knew of at least three families adopting Viet namese children and was aware of at least three more in the process. "But we're not pushing adop tion," she said, explaining that nationwide, there are some 10,000 families on the waiting list to adopt Vietnamese orphans. A lengthy delay from the. time adoption is approved until the family is united with their child is caused by bureaucratic red tape on both sides of the Pacific, she said. The -children face a harrowing existence in Vietnam, she con tinued. Fifty to 75 per cent of the orphans die before they reach their third birthday. NS A 4 ife pleads 'The assistance only provides the basic essentials to keep these children alive.' If they're born prematurely, they face almost certain death because of a lack of adequate medical facilities. Other children are - the vic tims of dehydration, - diarrhea, intestinal parasites, malnutrition, measles, ear and eye infections and a host of other ailments. Orphanages in Vietnam are licensed by the Vietnamese government and receive $5 per child per month from the American and Vietnamese governments, a pitifully small amount, according to Mrs. Davis. Many of the orphanages are run by Roman Catholic nuns but receive no church money. "Support other than that which comes from the goternment is provided by outside private organizations that raise money in the United States for specific or phanages, but FCVN is not associated with them and they Thousands of Topics $2.75 per page Send for your up-to-date, 160-page, mail order catalog. Enclose $1.00 to cover postage (delivery time is I to 2 days). RESEARCH ASSISTANCE, INC. 11941 WILSHIRE BLVD.. SUITE a2 LOS ANGELES. CALIf. 90025 (213) 477-8474 or 477-5493 Our research material is sold for research assistance only. DARKROOMS Hourly or mor includes chemical! Discount on Koo Fotogra 1524 Wash ingtor ~open Jim Gi "Your 01 Discount Bee SChilled Wines SSnacks Ice Your favorite 1 Package Sho Kilbourne Road ar (next to Casey for help don't have chapters in this area." For groups interested in helping, FCVN has speakers and a slide presentation aimed to get interest in the program. Interested persons can call 772 4980 or 772-7444 for further in formation. Departments Seeking Interest In Arabic Studies Several USC departments are trying to determine whether or not there is a demand on campus for a course in elementary arabic to be taught for credit as a foreign language. Coordinating the poll is Dr. Shahrough Akhavi of the department of international suudies. Students interested in such a course may contact him, Akhavi said, at Calcott social science building, room 225. J. f&d" 1330 FOR RENt ithly rates, s and equipment. Jak P.C. paper. tie, Inc. iSt. 252-7933 'ady's mon. thru 4II. Sat. rie-stop ~enter" r and Wine Mixes Party Supplies iquors at our p next door. d Rosewood Drive: ~s Fireworks)