Press conference to release the State of the World’s Mothers 2003 and introduce the Women and Children in Armed Conflict Protection Act of 2003 Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
May 6, 2003
I am the little girl in the picture. It was 1972 and I was nine years old, running away from a napalm fire in my village in Vietnam. The napalm burned through my skin and muscle down to my bone.
A photographer tried to help me by pouring water on my back, but napalm burns at about 1,000 degrees Celcius so the water boiled, and I was burned twice. I almost died, but after 17 surgeries the doctors were able to save my life. After 14 long months in the hospital, I was finally able to go home.
My body was slow to heal but my spirit was even slower. I lost two cousins and many friends in that bombing. Like so many other children, I lost my ability to trust. For many years I was filled with bitterness and anger – anger towards my government, towards Americans, towards anyone who was “normal.”
My mother was by my side throughout this ordeal. She was caring and gentle, but she was also tough. She said: “You have to realize, Kim, the whole world is not going to pity you. You must make a change and get through this.” I might not have made it if my mother had not taught me that lesson.
I will never be able to totally separate myself from the effects of war. I have scars on 50 percent of my body. I am still on medication to prevent infections. And sometimes I still have pain. But I try not to think about it and that helps.
I am happy now because I can experience love, peace and forgiveness. I thought I would never have children. I thought no one would ever love me or want to touch me. But now I am married and I have two beautiful sons.
I want my sons to be aware of the horrors of war, but not to dwell on them too much. I want them to be confident and happy as they work towards their futures.
And I want other children like me – who have suffered physically and emotionally because of war – to have the opportunities I did to heal and forgive. That’s why my organization has partnered with Save the Children to give young victims of war positive experiences to help them turn their lives around.
I thank Save the Children for this State of the World’s Mothers report. It tells where women and children are most at risk of violence, rape and exploitation. And it says what needs to be done to protect innocent people from atrocities during war.
The legislation being introduced today will help to make war zones less threatening to mothers and children. I thank the Members of Congress and Save the Children for this important bill. Now we need to get it passed.
I hope many more people will become involved in this work to stop the suffering in wars. No mother or father in the world wants what happened in that picture to happen again.
