Via Nho Vietnam Alumni Newsletter (winter 2007)

Nho Vietnam An Update for Alumni and Friends of the

Vietnam Program

Volume III, Issue I

Winter 2007

Alumni Create Academic Ties to Vietnam Alumni Peter Zinoman (‘90) and Davig Biggs (‘93) build U.S - Vietnam ties as faculty of UC Berkeley and Riverside. In 1990, Peter Zinoman was one of the first three volunteers sent to VIA’s newest country program, Vietnam. Today, Peter is a southeast Asian history professor at UC Berkeley and director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Last year, Peter helped launch the Journal of Vietnamese Studies (JVS). JVS is a new journal that “promotes and publishes original social science and humanities research about Vietnamese history, politics, culture and society, as well as Vietnam-related topics that have traditionally been set apart from mainstream area studies scholarship such as the Vietnamese diaspora and the Vietnam War.” According to Peter, the idea to found JVS grew out of an observation that although Vietnamese Studies has been growing rapidly since the late 1980s the field did not possess its own academic journal. “I had been troubled by the

Left: Peter Zinoman shares his VIA experience at VIA’s 15th Anniversary in Vietnam reception. Right: David Biggs and students from last year’s UC Riverside summer travel study program in Hue (Photo by David Biggs).

absence of a scholarly journal devoted to Vietnam Studies since Yale University’s journal The Vietnam Forum shut down in the mid-1990s,” said Peter. With a colleague at UC Riverside, Mariam Lam, Peter raised grant money for the project, approached University California Press about publishing the journal and set up an administrative office at UC Berkeley. According to Peter, the presence of a journal is important to a field since it provides scholars with a forum to publish their research. In addition, the availablity of an academic forum is especially crucial for young scholars who need to publish in order to get jobs and secure

tenure in a very competitive academic market. David Biggs, a fellow alumni who volunteered for one year in 1993, has also created ties between Vietnam and his university, UC Riverside (UCR). David studied southeast Asian history at the University of Washington (1996-2000) and undertook field research in Vietnam through a Fulbright scholarship (20002002). Since 2004, David has taught courses such as “Vietnam and its Wars: Modern Vietnamese History” as assistant professor in the history department at UCR. Last year, David launched UCR Cont. on Page 3

Vietnam Alumni Focus Academic Paths on Vietnam Mitch Aso, ‘99-00 University of Wisconsin-Madison, History of Science Department Research interest: Health and environmental changes in Southern Vietnam during the colonial period, in particular, on rubber plantations. Va Cun, ‘04 University of California-Berkeley, Group in Asian Studies Research interest: Gender and human rights in contemporary Vietnam, in particular, on young female migrant workers in Ho Chi Minh City sweatshops.

Kristy Kelly, ‘92-96 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Educational Policy Studies Research Interest: Dissertation is preliminarily titled “Learning to Mainstream Gender in Vietnam - Where ‘Equity’ Meets ‘Locality’ in UN Development Policy” - a sociology of gender study that asks questions about citizenship and nationhood in relation to gender equality. Jack Merchant, ‘02-03 University of Michigan, Center for Southeast Asian Studies Research Interest: Vietnamese history,

predominately late 18th and early 19th century, specifically through the lenses of poetry and literature. Thesis concerns “Truyen Kieu,” the 18th century Vietnamese literature “movement,” the feminine role in literature and what this says about women in Vietnamese society during this period. Diane Fox, ‘00 University of Washington, Department of Anthropology; Hamilton College, Scholar in Residence Research Interest: The long-term environmental and health consequences of war; oral histories.

Vietnam, Agent Orange and an

Invitation to VIA Alumni

Left: Families in Thai Binh affected by Agent Orange. Below: Diane Fox presenting on the impact of Agent Orange (Photos by Diane Fox).

Diane Fox, ’00, is coordinating the Agent Orange Education Project and Resource Center. What follows is an introduction to that work, and an invitation to those who would like to be involved. By Diane Fox, ‘00 In 1997, while I was talking with a student in Hue, I was surprised by a sharp whack to my shoulder. “Why hasn’t your country done anything to help the people it hurt during the war?” my assailant wanted to know. She was thinking in particular of the people hurt by Agent Orange. So much for easy stereotypes of the refined and demure Hue woman, and the easy response visiting Americans report when they try to bring up war: “Oh, that was a long time ago.” Like landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO), Agent Orange is a vestige from that “long ago” that continues to cause harm in the present, both to the land and health of Vietnam and to relations between the US and Vietnam. In 2002 Ambassador Burkhart called it the “one significant ghost” from the war still troubling the improvement of relations;

his Vietnamese counterpart called it “chemical warfare.” The figures are hard to calculate for a number of reasons, but a minimum of 10% of the land of the south was denuded by the chemicals, including roughly 30% of the upland forests, 30-50% of the coastal mangroves, and 50% of some provinces. Between two to seven million people were exposed to the spray, and unknowable numbers affected by the dioxin it contained as an impurity. Though controversies remain, dioxin has been linked by international and US government agencies to several forms of cancer as well as troubles of the endocrine, nervous, circulatory and reproductive systems. My first response to my interlocutor’s question was to write an article for Viet Nam News based on interviews with Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan (see box on the next page about the Chris Jenkins Fund), who at that time was writing a dissertation on the link between birth defects and genetic change. My second response was to help translate a book by the late Dr. Le Cao Dai, then head of the Vietnamese Red Cross Agent Orange Victim’s Fund. With the help of Dr. Dai and the International Federation of Red Cross, I then conducted interviews with families the Red Cross called “the disabled poor, including those thought to be affected by Agent Orange.” In the meantime, I had gone back to school in anthropology, and those interviews became the basis of a

dissertation and three published articles. This year both the Ford Foundation and Ambassador Michael Marine have declared their intention to “make progress” on Agent Orange, and military to military cooperation is underway to clean up the dioxin remaining around the airbase in Da Nang. (While most of the dioxin has long since washed down the slopes of the Truong Son and into the world ecosystem, it remains concentrated in certain hot spots, such as around bases, where Agent Orange was intensively and repeatedly sprayed.) Charles Bailey, Representative of Vietnam and Thailand at the Ford Foundation, says greater US public awareness and engagement with the issue would help move things along. The Agent Orange Education Project and Resource Center is trying to foster just that—and that’s where we would love to invite any former VIA volunteers who have an interest in this issue to participate in whatever way you can, be it large or small. On the next page you will find some ideas. We welcome others!

An Invitation to Alumni (cont.) What the Resource Center Can Offer:

Some Things You Can Do:

Speakers: From the perspectives of science, anthropology, the environment, and public health.

Raise the issue at meetings you attend that touch on related issues, for example: Environmental (environmental impact of war on site and linked to domestic); Issues at the points of manufacture and testing; Health (the long term health consequences of war; opportunities to address them); Religious (ethics, responsibility, compassion); Civic groups (eg: Rotary works on UXO issues; suggest Agent Orange as well).

Videos: Six different videos from Vietnam, the US and Canada, ranging from 28 minutes to an hour. Some of the videos focus more on families in Vietnam, some on the remediation efforts of Americans and others, some on the lawsuit currently in US courts. Some are meant to shock, others to promote reflection. All call for action. 4 exhibits: 1. “Suffering and Smiles,” black and white photos by Doan Duc Minh, Saigon. 2. “Silent Spring: Agent Orange,” 40 years of black and white photos by Japanese journalist Goro Nakamura; Vietnam, US, and elsewhere. 3. 30 posters from a contest run by the Vietnamese artists’ association, along with a menu of works from other artists in Vietnam and the US. 4. “Agent Orange: Collateral Damage in Vietnam,” black and white photos by Phillip Jones Griffiths. (Each of these exhibits can stand alone or be supported by continuous loop videos, small photo albums, stories, and ways for viewers to contribute their thoughts). Other: Website at www.warlegacies.org, fact sheet and resource list.

Reflection and smiles in Quang Tho (Photo by Diane Fox).

Host or make contact for an informational or fundraising event in your home, workplace, community group, school, art museum, religious or other organization, using some of the materials above. Speak with or write a letter to your congressman, pointing out the importance of this issue for US-Vietnam relations (Let us know if you want to be contacted for more targeted efforts in the future). Help us improve our website or suggest places we can apply to fund our work. Contribute to the Chris Jenkins Fund (see below) or other groups on our website and in our fact sheet. Suggest (and help organize, if you can!) other approaches and projects.

The Chris Jenkins Memorial Fund The Chris Jenkins memorial fund honors the memory of Chris Jenkins, ’66, former Vietnam volunteer and long time mentor to several generations of Vietnam volunteers, beloved by many for his gentle spirit, warm twinkle, and life-long work in Vietnam and the US for justice, peace, and public health. The fund is dedicated to improving the health and living conditions of poor people in and near Hue, a city of special significance to Chris and his wife, former VIA board member Tran Khanh Tuyet. Donors can designate their funds for one of the following projects: 1. Support for the work of Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan in Hue who, as Dean of Physiology at Hue Medical School and Director of the Office for Genetic Counseling and Disabled Children, arranges for surgeries and rehabilitation for families who cannot afford them, runs a school for blind children, a workshop for the deaf, a school for special education and project to integrate the disabled into public schools, as well as his genetic counseling office, for which he needs equipment. More info about these projects can be found online at www.ogcdc.org. 2. Support to a village near Hue for small income-generating loans, house repair, education, rehabilitation or medicine. For more information, please contact Diane Fox at [email protected], or at 917 232 5109.

A mother and son living in Dong Nai. (Photo by Diane Fox).

Alumni Connections to Vietnam (cont.) Summer Travel Study program at Hue University’s College of Foreign Languages and will be running the program again this year. The program includes a course on Modern Vietnamese History, Vietnamese culture and language, and short trips to historical sites. Davis is proud of helping to provide positive educational experiences for his students, especially coming from UCR where classes are large and students receive less personal attention. This study program is limited to 20 students and language tutorials have a teacher-student ratio of 1 to 3 or less. In addition, David sees the program as offering heritage students an exciting way to visit Vietnam. UCR has the greatest number of students of southeast Asian heritage for any research university in the country. David hopes to develop an endowment and private contributions to create travel contributions for students on financial aid: “I hope that the program will appeal to Vietnamese American communities, and perhaps they may be interested in supporting the program to benefit Vietnamese heritage students.” Issues 1 and 2 of JVS are available at: http://ucpressjournals.com. More information about UCR Vietnam Summer Travel Program is available at:

Measuring the Impact

VIA Conducts Alumni Survey

Did your VIA experience lead you to an Asia-related career? Are you still committed to public service? Do you look back and think that you’re a much better person because of your VIA experience? These, or similiar questions, will be posed to all VIA Vietnam alumni this year through a project generously funded by the Ford Foundation. Beginning in the spring, VIA will conduct an online survey of approximately 200 former volunteers of the Vietnam program. We recognize that in our 15 years of service, many acaemic paths, career choices, and life directions have been directly impacted by a VIA experience. The purpose of this survey will be to inform VIA of this impact, to gather useful information to apply for future funding, and to create a stronger community for alumni to reconnect and share resources. Currently, VIA is in the process of col-

lecting and verifying email addresses. In a couple months, a short online survey will be emailed to you. For those who are interested in more in-depth discussions, we will also be asking for volunteers to participate in phone interviews and regional focus groups. We look forward to your participation. Thank you!

How You Can Help:

3. Volunteer to participate in a phone interview or regional focus group. Focus groups will be conducted in New York and San Francisco. The New York focus group will be held Sunday, May 20, 2007 from 10:30 am - 1 pm.

Coming Up 3/17:

Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 pm Oh, Saigon Accompanied by gripping images from the war, OH, SAIGON is a compelling documentary of how one refugee

HCMC Holiday Dinner Special thanks to Fred Burke and his wife, Loan, for hosting a Christmas dinner for staff and current volunteers at their home in HCMC.

2. Complete the brief online survey to be released in the spring.

Asian American Films and Tet Festival

Saturday, March 17 at 2:45 pm Nerakhoun: The Betrayal Comprised of interviews, archival footage, and verite sequences spanning two decades, this documentary—a collaboration between famed cinematographer Ellen Kuras and its primary subject, Thavisouk Phrasavath—uses one family’s emotional story to expose the disastrous effects of U.S. involvement in Laos. (AMC 1000 Van Ness)

We couldn’t do it without you!

1. Tell friends from your VIA cohort that we’re conducting a survey. We may not have their most up-to-date email addresses.

San Francisco Reunions: Once again, VIA is proud to be a co-presenter for the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, running March 15-27, 2007. This year, join VIA staff and alumni for these two films on Saturday, March 17:

Thank you’s:

family attempts to survive the physical and emotional wounds of the conflict in Vietnam by healing political differences, and by having faith in family. (AMC 1000 Van Ness)

Last Month:

On Sunday, February 11, Vietnam alumni spanning 10 years (from ‘94 to ‘04) came out for Northern Vietnamese eats and the annual San Francisco Tet Festival in San Francisco’s Little Saigon neighborhood in the Tenderloin district.

National Recruitment Fairs Our incredible network of alumni are helping us outreach to campuses nationwide! This year, VIA attended 3 campus fairs for the first time: Patty Esposito (New York Universty), Virginia Player (Seattle University), and Mitch Aso and My Linh Do (University of Madison, Wisconsin) National Interviews John Trien, Van Tran, Kristyn Ha, Adam Briones, Diane Nguyen, Mai Tran, Jack Bailey, Rachel Chaney, David Biggs, Adrian Khactu, Rommel Calderwood, Patty Esposito, Sharla Dodd, and James Vest Hanoi Reunion and Justin’s Farewell Ann Le, Patrick Carpenter, Vinh Nguyen, Amy Cherry, and Julie Vo Tet Festival in San Francisco Patricia Fieldsted, Jennie Mollica, Paul Langner, Tom Burrow, Danielle Bird-Robinson, and Daniel Mandell Nho Vietnam Contributors Diane Fox, Peter Zinoman, Jeff Bettencourt, David Biggs, Kristi Smith, Lillian Forsyth, and Amy Cherry Special thanks to Patty Esposito and Lorene Strand. Patty is helping VIA with our Ford Foundation-funded alumni survey. Lorene is creating a template for a post-specific teaching and resource manual.

Introducing... Three New Posts in Vietnam! In 2006, VIA opened three new posts in Southern Vietnam. This move heralds an exciting direction for the Vietnam program - towards areas with more need for native English speakers. Read about our newest Vietnam posts and meet the volunteers who are posted there.

Nha Trang University

Nha Trang, Ninh Thuan Province

Post Description: Formerly the Nha Trang University of Fisheries, Nha Trang University (NTU) only this past year dropped “Fisheries” in its move to become a multidisciplinary institution. A majority of NTU students are from families of fishermen and receive scholarships to attend NTU. VIA’s Role: Tom McAuliff and Janella Pennington, a husband and wife team from Vermont, signed up to be the first VIA volunteers at the beautiful, seaside Nha Trang University. NTU began offering an English major only three years ago. Tom and Janella teach English to 1st and 2nd year English majors and co-teach continuing education courses with fellow VIetnamese teachers.

Can Tho University

Can Tho, Can Tho Province

Post Description: Can Tho University is the premier 4-year university of the Mekong Delta, attracting the brightest and most talented students from its 17 provinces. VIA’s Role: Chioke Borgelt-Mose and Tambi Cork, both recent Stanford University graduates, teach in the English department and Center for Foreign Languages (CFL). At the CFL, Chioke and Tambi also work with the Mekong 1000 group, a government-sponsored program to prepare 1000 professionals from the Mekong Delta region for advanced study abroad. Chioke and Tambi have facilitated discussions ranging from Proper Citation of Sources in Academic Papers to Social Mixers.

Vietnam Plus

Long My District, Hau Giang Province Post Description: This post is by far our most rural placement - Long My is too small to even be classified as a city! Vietnam Plus is a Belgian-French NGO which operates community development and poverty reduction programs in Vietnam. VIA’s Role: Jeff Bettencourt and Kristi Smith are our two brave volunteers at new post Vietnam Plus in Long My district. Jeff and Kristi are responsible for teaching English to local officials, high school teachers, and staff of Vietnam Plus.

Smiles and Laughter:

100 Invitations in Long My

Kristi Smith and Jeff Bettencourt are our first volunteers at the Vietnam Plus post in Long My in the Mekong Delta. Here, Kristi reflects on the simple life. By Kristi Smith, ‘06 Jeff and I have been living in a small town called Long My since late August. It is in Hau Giang Province, about 90 minutes by bus from Can Tho City, the big city of the Mekong Delta. It is a new and very poor province and we are the only westerners living in it. As VIA volunteers, we teach English to province officials, public school English teachers, and the local staff of Vietnam Plus. Vietnam Plus is a small FrenchBelgium NGO, with entirely local staff at a few posts in southern Vietnam and Cambodia. They work primarily with the poorest people in the province, providing training in health, hygiene, agricultural technology, alternative energy and environmental resource management. They also provide partial funding and materials toward homes, outhouses, road and bridge construction, livestock, bio-gas systems, trees and produce. At the moment, they are conducting a scholarship program for the poorest children in the community. In addition, they create jobs and income for people at sewing and handicraft collectives, and in educational theatre. They’re very involved in the community at the grass roots level. There are eight staff members in the Long My office, and we are also in close contact with Bernard Kervyn, Vietnam Plus’ director in Ho Chi Minh City. I love Long My. It’s beautiful, despite or perhaps because of the poverty in the outlying areas. Most of the province is rural and has not been built up into concrete dominated cities, many of the local homes and bridges are constructed of natural materials. Homes and farms proliferate along the thoroughfares because there isn’t much dry land. The area is a maze of small rivers, canals,

and wetlands with tropical vegetation. Long My is the only real town in the district, with about 10 streets, and a large bustling market. This is an agriculture and fishing based community, life begins and ends early. Life is simple for us here. There’s lots of good cheap food in the street stalls. I’ve been trying to make at least one meal a day at home now that we have a kitchen. The coffee grown in Vietnam is some the best I’ve ever had, and they prepare it strong and dense, almost like a drip espresso. Mmmmm. I’ve finally learned how to make a decent cup. It’s been an odd mix of difficult and easy here. You stand next to the toilet and pour cold “buckets” over yourself instead of showering, and hand wash clothing in big plastic bowls. We do have a flush toilet and a refrigerator, luxuries compared to what most folks have here. Though we might be the only people in town without a TV. Often we are the very first westerners that people have seen, and are minor celebrities. There is a disparity here in the way that men and women are traditionally treated that is not so prevalent in cities where people have more exposure to the outside world. Family is important, and it’s wonderful to be around the old people and children. It’s a small town with a real sense of community. People sit around for hours over iced coffee and drinks. There seem to be more coffee shops in Long My than Berkeley, CA! What stands out most for me is how incredibly friendly, kind and generous the people are here. I have never in my life seen so many smiling faces, heard so much laughter, and been treated like family by so many near strangers. Even the poorest will go out of their way to serve you food and drink, no matter how much you may protest or wish to pay for them. “I invite” means “My treat.” After 50 years on the planet, I am finally learning the true meaning of generosity, in a place where I thought I was the one coming to give. For more information about Vietnam Plus, please go to www.vnplus.org. Jeff and Kristi were mentioned in their bulletin, www.vietnamplus.org/en/ doc/2006-07-09_quarterly_bulletin.pdf.

Vietnam Plus staff on tour of village projects. Here, a mushroom patch.

Jeff becomes fast friends with this Long My family.

Kristi and Mr. Thanh of VN Plus visit the new house being built for this father of three.

Truc and Chi. Truc is a student of Kristi’s and Chi makes the best rice plate in town!

Kristi and friend, Truc.

Dance rehearsals,

Costumes, and

Lillian Forsyth, 1st-year volunteer at An Giang University, reflects on Teacher’s Day in Vietnam, an annual celebration and rite of passage for most VIA Vietnam volunteers.

Karaoke,

Oh my!

By Lillian Forsyth, ‘06 “Teacher’s Day is a very important holiday in Vietnam.” This is a sentence I had heard many times from fellow teachers and from my students. However, any amount of warning could not have prepared me for the scale to which An Giang University (AGU) celebrates this holiday. Teacher’s Day in Vietnam falls on November 20th every year. This day has traditionally been a day for students to thank their teachers with gifts, cards, and visits to their homes. Teachers are considered some of the most important people in Vietnamese society, second only to the parents. Knowledge is highly respected, and as the purveyors of this knowledge, teachers are on somewhat of a pedestal. Although Teacher’s Day is officially celebrated on November 20th, we began preparing over a month in advance. At AGU there is an extravagant ceremony on the morning of Teacher’s Day, with dance and song performances by teachers and students, as well as speeches by the rector of the university and other key personalities. But how do they choose which lucky students and teachers will earn the privilege of dancing and singing in front of the entire school and the local people’s committee, you may ask. This process begins about a week before Teacher’s Day, with almost nightly dance and song performances by students in a sort of competition: beginning with the departments, then up to the level of each faculty, and then finally to the last round where the best performances of the university will be selected by a group of strict judges. The performances, in addition to taking much of the students’ time and

VIA volunteers at An Giang University, Lillian Forsyth and Tyler Watts (far left), getting their 15 minutes of fame in the annual Teacher’s Day celebration. Next step: Broadway!

energy to prepare, also include elaborate costumes and choreography. For a small example, my third year students had a traditional dance performance with 15 students, props such as lanterns, books, traditional instruments, and five giant boat-like structures that stood around the tiny stage at various points. The singing is either accompanied by a live band or by CD. In either case, the music is so deafeningly loud that you can not hear yourself sing, and would never know if you are singing off key or not (this was clear from some of the painful performances.) As for me, because the dance that I was a part of had two foreign teachers, it was of course chosen to showcase for the entire university (although I don’t think it was actually the best dance.) This meant that at 6:30 am on November 20th I was standing behind the outdoor stage dressed in a hot pink “ao ba ba” wearing a traditional conical hat, and trying to control the violent shaking of my nervous arms and legs. We pulled off the performance with only minor mishaps (dropping the hats, etc.) and of course the crowd cheered for the foreigners who were able to dance in the

traditional Vietnamese style. The rest of the day seemed to be a big party for all of the teachers. Many students wanted photographs with us, gave us cards, flowers, and their wishes of good luck for the future. I, unfortunately, had to teach in the afternoon when most teachers had the day off. In fact it ended up being one of the most interesting classes I’ve had, with the students explaining the significance of Teacher’s Day, and how it has changed recently to become more focused on performance and commercialism. Despite this fact, they asserted that the importance of teachers in Vietnamese society had not diminished in the slightest, but that the form of appreciation had merely changed. We spent the rest of the afternoon singing traditional Vietnamese songs about teachers. The students asked me to sing an English song about teachers, and I realized that I didn’t know any! How embarrassing. It was interesting to see even these adult students get excited about their elementary school teachers, and made me realize that the work I am doing here may mean a lot more to my students than I know.

Accidental Friends on the Sapa Trail

Amy Cherry, a current two-year volunteer at Hanoi University and interim in-country representative, on her beloved Minsk on the ride from Hanoi to Sapa.

By Amy Cherry, ‘05-06 It’s funny how the most frightening events of your life, those you try desperately to avoid, can turn out to be the most rewarding experiences you’ve ever had. Last May, my two friends, Patty and Amanda (also VIA vols) and I decided to drive our motorbikes from Hanoi to Sapa. It was on this trip that I was faced with a situation I NEVER wanted to find myself in. But there I was, all alone, in terrible pain, and feeling more vulnerable than I’d ever felt in my life. Here’s how it happened... On the second day of our trip, it started to rain lightly. Patty was first, Amanda was in the middle, and I was bringing up the rear. A few minutes later the rain started to come down more steadily, making the roads slippery. As I rounded the second half of an s-curve, I suddenly felt my bike slipping out from under me. My body turned sideways, and I watched the mountains and trees twist into a blur. My bike hit the ground, and together we slid about 2 meters across the pavement. My bike continued on without me for another 4 meters or so and came to a halt in the grass. There I was...sitting in the middle of the road watching my two friends drive around the corner. I stood up and feverishly tried to wave them down, but they were too focused on their own safety to look back. So, on they went without me.

In spite of the thrashing pain in my left knee, my first thought was, “I’m alive. I can walk. This is good!” As I hobbled over to pick up my bike, two young men rushed over to help me. One of them picked up my bike while the other one ran up the hill, grabbed some leaves, crushed them, and applied them to my bleeding hand. We had no means by which to communicate because I hadn’t learned Vietnamese like I was supposed to. A smile and a nod would have to do. Concerned about being left behind by my friends, I assured the boys that I was okay and started to get on my bike. The boys smiled, waved, and started to walk away as an older gentleman approached me. I assured him that I was okay, too. Then, I noticed that the front wheel of my bike was pointing to the right, and the handlebars were pointing to the left. So, I called the man back and pointed to my handlebars. He tried to bend them back with brute force, but that didn’t work, so he pointed for me to take the bike back to his house. However, when I tried to put the bike into neutral, I realized that the gear lever was smashed up into the engine and wouldn’t budge. Things were getting worse by the minute, and my friends STILL hadn’t come back for me. Now a small crowd was gathering. Another man arrived with some tools. Well, one tool. He also had a metal rod

and a rock. The two men started pulling apart my bike, bit by bit. As soon as they would take off one part, they’d notice another broken part. At first, I thought I was doomed. But, I’d heard many times that everyone in the countryside knows how to repair a Minsk because they are often used by the farmers. So, I decided to have complete faith that they would restore my bike. I watched in awe as a bigger crowd gathered to oversee the repairs and to gawk at me: the western female who towered over them all. Some of them touched my skin. All of them smiled, and sometimes they would talk to each other, look at me, and laugh. I could do nothing but smile and have faith in them. And I did. They smashed parts of my bike against the road, they beat it with the rock, they argued over what was the best way to do it. When all of the smashing and banging finally stopped, the two men stood up and proudly smiled at me. The one who had done most of the work showed me his grease-laden hands, then wandered off to clean them. The one who did most of the pointing and bossing around hopped on my bike to test drive it. Everyone smiled and cheered as he drove around in a circle. They watched my face to see if I was pleased. Indeed, I was. I inquired about how much money I should give them. They teased, “100,000 dong, no 200,000 dong!” and laughed. As the man with the now-clean hands returned, they joked with him about how much he would charge me. He shook his head at them, walked up to me, smiled, and extended his hand... “Khong tien. Cac ban.” - “No money... Friends.” As I shook his hand, I smiled and fought back tears. I will forever remember that man’s humble nature and unassuming kindness. For him, it was just another day. For me, it was a defining moment in my life. As I threw my leg over my bike and waved my goodbyes, I noticed one of the men pointing up the hill. There were my two friends. They’d finally come back for me. I was happy to see them, but sad that they didn’t get to experience the wonderful moments I shared with these men. I often think about this experience, and I share it with as many people as I can. I don’t think anyone will ever understand how that one moment profoundly affected the way I view humanity.

Vietnam Program Post Round-Up New Posts 2006-07: Nha Trang University, Department of English Can Tho University, Department of English Vietnam Plus, Long My District, Hau Giang Province New Posts 2007-08: Hanoi School of Public Health Friends of Hue Foundation Xuan Phu Children’s Shelter, Hue An Giang Dong Thap Alliance for the Prevention of Trafficking, a Project of the Pacific Links Foundation, Long Xuyen, An Giang Province Continuing Posts: Center for Agricultural and Ecological Studies, Hanoi Danang University, Center for Continuing Education Hue University, College of Foreign Languages Dalat University, Dept. of Community Development and Social Work An Giang University, Long Xuyen, An Giang Province

Total Number of Volunteers in 2006-07: 14 Total Number of Volunteers in 2007-08: 17

Farewell to the Captain!

VIA and Institute of Anthropology: A Friendship through the Years!

In early December 2006, VIA bid a sad farewell to Justin Hart, the Vietnam program’s in-country representative for nearly the last four years. Justin, a trained social worker and former international volunteer with Australian Volunteers International (AVI), came to VIA with over 5 years of experience living and working in Vietnam. Justin moves on to an exciting opportunity in Phnom Penh, teaching English and providing counseling to AVI volunteers. We wish you the best of luck, Justin!

In 1998, Kate Dunham, a former China volunteer and Program Director, returned to Vietnam to help VIA open new post, the Institute of Ethnology. Nearly a decade later, VIA and the Institute (now the Institute of Anthropology or IA) have come to a sad but mutual agreement to end our 9-year partnership. Dr. Hoan, current IA director, and his team of staff and researchers have been dear friends to VIA and our volunteers through these many years. Many of IA’s researchers have completed their advanced degrees abroad; thus, the need for a dedicated VIA volunteer to teach English at IA is no longer as great. VIA sends our best wishes to Dr. Hoan and IA as they move forward with their initiatives to advance understanding of socio-anthropological issues in Vietnam among Vietnamese and abroad.

VIAs gather in Hanoi to bid farewell to InCountry Representative Justin Hart.

“I think that everyone is sincerely very appreciative of and grateful for

The Institute of Anthropology recently relocated to its new office in Ba Dinh district.

VIA’s presence. Everyone is well-aware of what they stand to gain by learning English and for this reason they make a great effort to attend class and are diligent workers.” Kitty Steel, ‘00 (Quoted in 2000) “Everyone, Dr Hoan and all the researchers at the Institute were always as welcoming to me as possible during my two years there. I learned so much about Vietnam from them and made so many good friends. I’ll never forget my time at IA.” (Kate Dunham, ‘98)