Thanh Xuan Peace Village - Final reflection

This last week we held our final project festival at Hoa Binh, and it was amazing and so successful!! Beforehand we were worried about if we had enough supplies, volunteers, electricity, tables, and many other things but by 9 everything had fallen into place. We were able to recruit many of the other volunteers who work at Thanh Xuan to help out and participate for a majority of the festival and many UCHANU-ers turned out and were a great help! We couldn't have done it without their presence. And many of the doctors, helpers, and teachers also came out to hang out with the kids.
Our kids themselves were having a fantastic time! We must have had about 45 people outside at the max and everyone was eating, playing sports and games, drawing, and running around screaming. One students even said that he couldn't remember when he had such a good time, and was walking around talking to people and singing. If felt so wonderful to have everyone out of the building and playing around with each other. Even the people who entertained themselves by popping all the balloons or throwing the beanbags at the targets with all their strength were smiling and screaming and chasing around, all for fun of course.
I was really pleased about the success of the mask and wing-making, but we ended using up all the pre-made pieces and some kids wore them the whole festival and even afterward during lunch. I think Phuong was another saving grace when she brought with her a DVD of exercises & musical accompaniment, which attracted a large group in front of the entertainment table the entire festival. It was a well-known video and/or songs so it was really popular. Games and sports, unsurprisingly, was very successful. The beanbag toss was the most successful but there were still many people doing the blowing game and a few were even playing around with the tangrams. It was also really cute haw many of the kids didn't even need the prizes at the end, and a few even played around with some of their goodies until the end when they tried to give them back. The sports area looked reminiscent of most of our after-school days with kids kicking the balls around but this time with some badminton rackets and jump ropes. Peter also got some chalk and drew hopscotch and a jump line which were being used the whole time. I only wish we had brought chalk earlier on in the year. And even though we raised everyone's blood sugar at least 20 points with all the snacks and soda, no incidents happened. These kids are the best at sharing and not fighting with each other over snacks and prizes, more so than any I've met before, and there were 0 accidents. A totally successful event.
I think it was rather impressive how organized we looked. We did not need to ask for much, just a place to plug in our electrical cord and then a broom afterward. We set up on-time and were able to clean-up in about 15 minuets, thanks to our volunteers. Nothing got out-of-hand or out-of-control. But the best part really was seeing how happy everyone was all at the same time. Many of the family members who stay at the village came out and they looked thoroughly happy as well at beautiful chaos that was happening outside. I'm really, very much going to miss this place and it was nice to have a little celebration while we were there.

Emotional and Physical Integration

How can I integrate my lessons of the semester into my life back in America? I am not positive how I my daily life will change because of my time here, as I haven’t had the shock of returning home and realizing I’m not in Vietnam anymore, but I know there will be change and it will be positive. Because of things we learned and saw in class I am more aware of will be more conscious of the origins of things I use almost constantly, namely food and clothing. I hope to never take a grain of rice or a single vegetable for granted or waste again, now knowing how hard it is to cultivate the things we eat (including animals) and how little return it gives the grower on average. I will also more frequently be aware of at least the place that my clothing and goods come from. The work that we observed during our trip to the textile factory was very interesting as we got to see how clothes are assembled from start to finish, including thread-making and assembly. This helped give me a perspective, again, on how difficult it is to make the clothes that we purchase with such ease; and though I am not sure of exact numbers, we also saw how much work went into making a $40 shirt and could infer what percentage actually went to the creators of the garment.
I will also be able to take a new perspective on life back home with me to America. Though there are many aspects of life which are similar between these two countries, the ways in which they are different are extremely important and gave me a different view on the world, which I think everyone should try and experience at least once. Though it was difficult to step outside the amazing bubble that is EAP and UCHANU, it was really amazing to see how people lived their lives in Vietnam. Project Kiem An really enabled me to see different areas of peoples lives, as well as different aspects of Vietnamese life through work. Family plays such an important role in life to many Vietnamese. At home everyone is concerned with their families as well, but not to the same degree as here where the family will be referenced at least once during most conversations.
Life has also been greatly affected by the opening of the market economy during đổi mới which has caused much good and bad. This is an aspect less thought about at home since the market economy has been so integrated and included in American culture for so long, that it is hard to think of things otherwise. But here, it was only about 25 years ago that things were drastically different. After 1986 anyone could open a little or big business in order to make money, but now the moves to make things more “modern” has been slowly excluding many, many people like mobile vendors, small business owners, the poor, and the outcasts. It is interesting how the businesses that most people rely on or at least use - tra da stands, other mobile food sellers, outside markets, and the carts full of slippers or daily household wares – are the first to be shunned by the government. These businesses are one of my favorite parts of Vietnam, one does not need to drive all the way to a giant Co-Op Mart or Big C to get overwhelmed by the people and the onslaught of goods in order to satisfy daily needs, one simply must step outside of the house and stroll around the neighborhood until what they need passes by.
Another interesting occurrence here is the multiple and almost identical shops all lined up nest to each other. My favorite memory of this kind of business strategy was one night at the end of the night market there were more than 12 bicycles lined up next to each other, all selling bò bía ngọt, the delicious and sweet coconut rolls. There was no difference in their attempts to attract customers and all their boxes for making the rolls were all the same, yet they all managed and I guess even enjoyed selling all side-by-side. I am assuming this strategy works because of the mentality of the purchasers, because this is a normal occurrence in business practices people seem to know to spread out their business, or everyone has their own favorite that they return to, with many different people all preferring a different seller. I know also that all these sellers work together and sometimes provide each other with extra goods if another seller runs out, or will provide change to their neighboring seller. This kind of thing would never happen in America except for small locally-owned businesses who have a very personal relationship with each other, which is similar to what is happening here, but in Vietnam this seems to occur much, much more often than it does in the States.

How will I remain in contact with the wonderful people who male up UCHANU 2010? My best guess is facebook, skype, and other forms of internet communication, at least for the time being. I haven’t even left yet and know that I will want desperately to return to Vietnam and Hanoi as soon as I leave. I am not sure how plausible it is for me to come back within the next 5 years as I would need to find a good-paying job, in order to afford the plane ticket over and the missing days of work during my visit, but I am not ruling the idea out. I also hope that some of our HANU buddies will be able to find their way over to America, if for a short visit or more permanently so that we can show them our perspective of our country, like we got to see theirs. But returning to Vietnam is definitely something that will happen in my life. I want to bring my friends and family here to see how I have seen life in Vietnam, so hopefully I will be able to return before things become unrecognizable to me, though that would just create a whole new adventure and way-of-life for me to figure out.
And as for my fellow American students, we had better keep in touch as our distances from each other are not too large and many of us have the means to travel around the state to visit one another. Many of us are graduating soon and we will lose the bonds of the UC system which keep us linked, but we have hopefully created a strong enough bond to over-come time and distance to see each other, reminisce about our time in this amazing country, and hopefully return together someday.

Team Cucumber – A group dynamic

Team Cucumber consists of five awesome members, Tran Tu Thanh, Chau Son, Nguyen Van, Nguyen Hailey Lan, and myself.  We are named Team Cucumber because of Son’s mystical abilitiy to continuously pick the same cucumber from the prize box during our first EAP party, then it was fate that brought him and then the rest of our newly-formed Project Kiem An group to the power of the du leo. 

From the very beginning our group got along well. There were never any large disagreements and everyone had something to do.  Van had most of the connections that made our interviews possible, from the banker to the recycler to the flower seller.  Hailey Lan also provided us with some of her friends like the MC to interview and was present at every single interview asking questions and keeping track of answers.  Both Van and Lan were also able to provide us with all of the Vietnamese versions of the interviews.  Lena was also able to get us in contact with one of her Vietnamese friends to interview and was very helpful with editing and writing the Vietnamese-to-English translations.  Son was similar in providing links in the Hanoian community and was an excellent writer and editor.

I myself, had no connections to provide us with interviews, but I did try to attend all of the interviews and though I did not make it to one.  At the interviews I was not too helpful at asking questions, because of the language barrier, and mostly came along for moral support and comradery.  Mostly I wrote out the English versions from their translated transcripts and wrote introductions.

Usually when working in groups I like to take more of a leadership role because I like things to go exactly as I have envisioned them, and in a lot of my experience others do not mind someone else taking over who is not them.  However in this situation I was very willing and able to take a less prominent role, seeing as I was just starting to learn about Vietnam and Vietnamese.  We had a very equal group dynamic so I was still able to have input and suggest questions to be asked to our interviewees as were my teammates.  Sometimes I would wonder how helpful I was at Project Kiem An because during a majority of the interviews I just sat, listening and not comprehending anything that was going on.  However I could contribute in the English sections and it was sooo interesting to be able to hear some of out interviewee’s stories straight from them.  

This project enabled me to meet many people I never would have and learn about occupations that I did not even know existed.  I only wish that we could have met up more though and have more group bonding, though the lack is understandable due to everyone’s busy schedules. I love my group!

Van, me, Hailey, Lena, & Son aka Team Cucumber!!!

Thanh Xuan Peace Village - Interest

Occasionally, on less pleasant days at Thanh Xuanh Peace Village, I wonder why I am still going there day after day, and if my presence is actually beneficial to these kids in any way. Usually this occurs because of frustration at the language barrier and a intense desire to be able to joke, tease, and banter with our kids. But then, this is also the answer to why I come everyday. Each time we step into the village I get closer and closer to our little (and not so) friends regardless of my inability to properly talk and understand. Their continued interest in me is so amazing and we are getting to know each other through interaction and simple sentences. I try to please them with songs, dances, and acting a fool in front of the class which I think they greatly appreciate. I'll sit there and help them trace a, ư, and ô over and over. I think they also enjoy being able to tease me and know that I won't necessarily understand and definitely will not be able to retort. They can tell I'm trying to engage with them and desperately want them to like me too.
I really hope our final project festival event lives up to my group's hopes and visions. Thay Gerard is worried that our plan might not necessarily be that entertaining to the kids and that they might not have as much fun as we think. I think all of his fears are completely unwarranted. Anything out of the ordinary captures these kids interests, as does anyone willing to talk or help or entertain them. I think if they see the effort we put in as well as the candy and time to spend outside just running around like crazy then they'll have a great time. If there's one thing I know about kids it is that they will make their own fun if need be. Also, all the new faces will definitely pique their interests. I'm very excited for the event. I only hope that we are able to properly prepare our booths and get enough helpers to be able to do this right.

Preparation for Nghệ An – 1 Heartland Vietnam

This upcoming weekend UCHANU is working as the volunteer group 1 Heartland Vietnam and is taking a whole class weekend-long field trip and volunteer excursion to the province of Nghệ An.  The purpose of this visit is to provide all the children in the Nghệ An school with warm winter jackets.  We have been fundraising this past week in order to raise ~$2000 for the cause, using multiple methods in order to gain revenue.  The most popular and successful methods are the 1 Heartland Café which is situated in front of S Home, as well as donations that have been requested from organizations and family members in other areas of Vietnam and the US.  Other methods of fundraising are the UCHANU High-Roller Game night and a 3-day long fundraiser where 10% of revenue at the Diém Vọng Café is donated to 1 Heartland Vietnam. 

I actually do not know much about the province of Nghệ An except for a few key facts, which make our purpose obvious.  Nghệ An is located in the North of Vietnam in a mountainous area that gets very cold during the winter.  The school is not heated so during the winter it can get to such temperatures that parents do not want to send their kids to school because of the intense temperature.  We are providing new, warm jackets for these kids so that nothing, not even the coldest Nghệ An days, can prevent these children from getting the education they deserve. 

I helped organize the Diém Vọng Café fundraiser, and though the idea was very nice, trying to bring more of the community to our cause and build relationships with nearby establishments, it is not quite as successful as I imagined.  What Lan and I forgot while being inspired by the idea and past experiences with this method in America, is that the cost of food and drinks in a school (university and secondary school) area, as well as in Vietnam in comparison to America, is reasonably less.  Therefore our return from this fundraiser will probably not be very much money at all, hopefully enough for a couple jackets priced at 150,000VND.  We did help spread the word and, hopefully, bring more customers into the café but it is not as successful as the 1Heartland Café, which has so far earned quite a few million VND. 

The UCHANU High-Roller game night was SO successful and a ridiculous amount of fun!!  A much better turn-out than I had originally expected a full of friends from around HANU and Hanoi.  It was basically thrown together in a day, but everything worked!  We got lights, tables, drinks, music, guests, and a lot of funds for the kids in basically a few hours.  Buy in was 20,000 and many people donated so much more.  It was really a beautiful night with dancing and laughing and just hella fun.  I think what this project has definitely done, besides brings warm jackets to Nghệ An kids, is to bring UCHANU closer together.  We UC kids got to go on 2 very long trips which our HANU friends could not attend and some of us grew a little apart from our friends and buddies.  It feels good to work together again, let’s get these kids some jackets!

Thanh Xuan Peace Village - Society

Working at Thanh Xuan has really made me think about how society outside the walls of Thanh Xuan perceive the inhabitants within.  Before I first came to Hoa Binh I was afraid I would be dealing with people who were severely disabled both mentally and physically, unable to communicate with all people not just those who cannot speak the same language (like myself).  I don't know where those thoughts came from, but my guess is that I formulated these ideas through the way, at least American, society thinks about the disabled, the autistic, and people affected by Agent Orange.  People in general are afraid of the disabled, mostly because we think communication would be difficult so there would be no way to convey the necessary feelings and awareness that is "required" by interaction in a given society.  So far my experience there has completely blown away all those previous assumptions and worries.  A vast majority of the children and adults in Hoa Binh are perfectly able to communicate, just not in the way that is classified by society as "normal."  For example, there is a boy at Hoa Binh who doesn't like to stay in his seat, doesn't exactly speak sensical Vietnamese all the time, and has difficulty concentrating, but when you rub his head and really sit with him and and work then he gets really pleasant and interested in doing his work. 
I have also inquired how Vietnamese society feels about disabled people and the general response I've gotten is that if they cannot learn very fast or very well, then they should be taught a skill that would be able to benefit the family like handicrafts.  The same communication fears are present which do also limit the expanse of possible activities for disabled people.  Though there are laws here and in America to prevent discrimination in the workplace, they are shakily enforced in both countries.

Mien Nam

So I must admit: the South was as ridiculously spectacular as everyone kept telling me it would be. The food was amazing, the people were amazing, and the places were amazing. If only we could have spent more time there. I'm thinking maybe a month in Central Vietnam and a month in the South.

The streets of Saigon

I did feel quite silly however visiting Ho Chi Minh City and the Cu Chi Tunnels exactly the way our readings the previous week described as designed to tell a particular narrative. I enjoyed myself regardless, but it was weird hearing our tour guides and seeing the tour routes that I knew were designed to peak the interests of specifically Western foreign tourists. I'm not sure how the village homestay would fit into that category so that could have been one of our more "authentic" experiences. The Apocalypse Now bar in Saigon that was mentioned in the readings also, was not exactly how the readings described it anymore, and though the music was very good I was still uncomfortable with how many foreigners were interacting with some of the Vietnamese women there. The rest of my Saigon experience was amazing. We explored many parts of the city, but could not get to much of it. I want to go back after the program is over and see more before I leave this wonderful country.

Anh Kuoi (aka greatest tour guide ever) taking us along the Mekong River

My favorite parts of the trip were our experiences along the Mekong Delta and in the Mekong River. Fishing in the traditional style, with us helping by throwing logs out of a net, floating to the fish markets and along the river, discovering trees that go on for hundreds of meters, and exploring bird sanctuaries on boats through water covered in algae. I had heard many things about the beautifully fertile Mekong River and it was amazing to be able to see and dip myself into it. It was really tragic to hear about the rising water level and have Anh Kuoi describe how in 20 years a third of the land will be underwater. How that will affect the dynamics of people living there I do not now know.  I also loved the Cao Dai temple we visited which was a uniquely Vietnamese experience. Sooo interesting that it encompassed Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, and so many other religions into one.  It was beautiful to see so many religions which  clash so often brought together to be combined into something so moving.  It was equally as interesting to see the diaspora of Cham Muslims tucked-away on the Mekong River.  A cultural island in the midst of a larger typically Vietnamese community.
We finished our trip with a visit to Phu Quoc, a tropical island which lies close to both Vietnam and Cambodia. This was paradise. We traveled up and down the island sampling the famous pepper and eating dishes with their famous nuoc mum. The beaches were beautiful and clean with crystal clear waters. A wonderful way to end a wonderful trip. I love the South and the Mekong Delta.