Le Ly Hayslip

Le Ly Hayslip is the author of the bestselling books When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Child of War, Woman of Peace. Both of these books are haunting memoirs of a girl on the verge of womanhood in a world turned upside down. The youngest of six children in a close-knit Buddhist family, Le Ly Hayslip was twelve years old when U.S. helicopters landed in Ky La, her tiny village in central Vietnam. As the government and Viet Cong troops fought in and around Ky La, both sides recruited children as spies and saboteurs. Le Ly was one of those children. Before the age of sixteen, Le Ly had suffered near-starvation, imprisonment, torture, rape and the deaths of beloved family members - but miraculously held fast to her faith in humanity. And almost twenty years after her escape to America, she was drawn inexorably back to the devastated country and family she left behind. Her story offers a poignant picture of Vietnam then and now, and of a courageous woman who experienced the true horror of the Vietnam War - and survived to tell this unforgettable story. The books were adapted into the film Heaven and Earth by the award-winning director Oliver Stone and released by Warner Brothers in December 1994. Hayslip worked as a technical advisor and consultant on the film to bring her intensely personal and spiritual story to the screen. Hayslip arrived in the U.S. in 1970 and became a U.S. citizen. She was widowed twice and raised her threesons in San Diego, California. She has become a successful businesswoman. In 1986, Hayslip returned to her native homeland, Vietnam and was stunned by the devastation, poverty and illness left by the Vietnam and American War.

Through her will and compassion she founded and ran the East Meets West Foundation in 1987, a non- profit, humanitarian relief and development organization to help rebuild Vietnam with village's schools and universities, general hospitals and many clinic facilities. As Executive Director/CEO of her foundation she is able to build and run schools, health clinics, medical outreach facilities, clean water projects, evolving loan programs and provide homes for several hundreds of orphaned children. After the success of her first foundation, Hayslip established the Global Village Foundation, a non-profit organization with the mission to train impoverished villagers to reproduce tradition arts and handcrafts, thereby creating jobs and preserving the rich cultural heritage of central Vietnam. Hayslip now imports these traditional beautiful arts and handcrafted goods into the U.S.

As a writer who advocates reconciliation and peace, Hayslip has helped to heal the wounds of war between the American and Vietnamese people through her books and humanitarian work. Her two books and the movie have promoted a better relationship between the two countries, and in recent years, America and Vietnam have not only fully established normal diplomatic ties but the U.S. also signed the trade agreement with Vietnam last July. In November 2000, Hayslip, on delegation with former President Bill Clinton, visited Vietnam as part of the major "achievement" of her humanity works and healing purpose.Today Hayslip lectures at groups and universities across the globe and leads international groups/delegations in cultural and anthropological studies at her Ky La village in Vietnam to help rebuild her birthplace. She continues to travel frequently to Vietnam to collect the world-renowned hand carved sculpting, arts and crafts from her home village, famous Marble Mountain, and ship it to the U.S. In addition, her foundation recruits American and Vietnam veterans, college students and U.S. citizens to volunteer their time and expertise to help rebuild the war-ravaged village of Ky La.

Hayslip is currently working on her third book. She continues to travel frequently to Vietnam from her hometown of San Diego to do humanitarian work.