Project RENEW was made possible in August 2001 by the generosity and vision of two donors: the Freeman Foundation based in the U.S., and American veteran Christos Cotsakos, who served in the U.S. Army in Quang Tri Province in 1967 and 1968, and went on to become a successful entrepreneur and founder of several international technology firms.

Ten years later, in 2011, Mr. Cotsakos traveled to Quang Tri Province to visit  Project RENEW.   Thanks to his seed donation, RENEW had evolved into a comprehensive and integrated mine action model for the whole country.  Here is a short video of Mr. Cotsakos being interviewed by Quang Tri Television.

Project RENEW was established in 2001 as a joint effort between the government of Quang Tri Province and interested INGOs to “restore the environment and neutralize the effects of the war”.