Vistanam

Vietnam: Country of coastline, mountains ... and natural disasters

2009-08-05T11:17:00.001-07:00

This article was in the most recent CECI e-newletter. http://publication.ceci.ca/en/bulletin/omni/archive/2009/06/30/13803.aspx

In the small Southeast Asian country of Vietnam, whose dragon-like shape is said to bring good luck, natural disasters are a part of daily life. Since time immemorial, peasants who fail to make their homes proof against an upcoming monsoon are left to rebuild what the high water destroys. But these days the skies seem to be taking it out on the poorest people on the planet. They are the first wave of climate refugees.

Quang Binh

In October 2007, Typhoon Lekima devastated the central coastal provinces of Vietnam. The residents of Quang Binh province, a 50-km-wide strip of land between Laos and the South China Sea, were particularly hard hit. One year later, hundreds of Vietnamese are still living in temporary shelters and in fear of the next storm.

In cooperation with local Vietnamese governments and several international organizations, CECI took part in a reconstruction project, its first contribution in Quang Binh. In total, some 80 houses are once again or soon to be functional.

Geneviève Gignac visited Quang Trach district in the northern part of the province, where the small commune of Quang Trung is slowly recovering from Lekima.

Listen to the podcast => More...

Nghe An
A little to the north, the mountainous province of Nghe An is also struggling from the aftereffects of the storm. In the Quy Hop ethnic district, CECI helped out with the cleanup.

In addition to rebuilding dikes and ridding the fields of stones and silt, our organization worked on reinforcing a basic irrigation system.

Geneviève Gignac visited the commune of Chau Dinh and its famous water-powered mills, whose simple elegance harks back to another time.

Listen to the podcast => More...

See the pictures (pdf format - 2.74 M) => More...

Happy Birthday Uncle Ho

2009-05-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development hosted each of its divisions to compete in a talent show for Ho Chi Minh's birthday celebration. The men at our office sang a song and the ladies did a tradition dance and of course insisted that I take part! We started practicing about 2 weeks ago.

Three days before the show we went to rent our outfits. The minute the rental shop ladies saw me enter the store with my colleagues they automatically said they had nothing to fit a Westerner! Their initial reactions are so funny especially considering I am not THAT much larger than some of the other girls at the office! Anyway they gave me something to try on and.....it fit!!! Well then they wanted me to try everything on:-) So we played dress up for a while!

On the big day we arrived at 6am at the office to get our make-up done.

There were 27 acts in the show, mostly singing and some dancing. Being the ONLY non-Vietnamese in the show, as soon as I came out on stage the whole crowd started oohhhing, ahhhing, clapping, and laughing! Not sure just how many shades of red I turned!

We didn't win but it was fun dressing up and dancing with my colleagues. Certainly an experience I will never forget:-)

Take a look at the video to see for yourself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkAT1xAnI2o

Work Update - Another Canadian Volunteer in Da Nang

2009-05-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

CECI has a program called Leave for Change in which people can volunteer part of their vacation time (2 to 4 weeks) to work on a project and the company they work for in Canada sponsors them. Last month, Francis Lavoie, who works for The Cooperators (an insurance cooperative) in Quebec City as a Manager and has many years of accounting and financial management experience, came to Da Nang to work with me on a special project for one week.

We were asked to present a model cooperative for a plan the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) has to begin growing vegetables in 5 areas of Da Nang under the GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification. This means all the vegetables will be grown with safe fertilizers and processes. Many vegetables worldwide are so heavily fertilized and sprayed with pesticides they are incredibly damaging to the environment and a threat to human health. As this is becoming a growing concern for consumers to have guaranteed safe products, being GAP certified is becoming more and more important.

The DARD wanted our advice on how to manage this project in a cooperative model, specifically in these 4 areas 1)Structure & Governance, 2)Membership, 3) Marketing, and 4) Finance.

Initially, we visited a cooperative currently growing vegetables in Da Nang to give Francis a better picture of how a Vietnamese cooperative operates and to ask some specific questions about their current distrubution of the vegetables. We had the chance to speak with a cooperative leader, several farmers, and one distributor.

With only one week, we worked hard to provide Francis with lots of information. We were conscience of the fact that the exact model that works in Canada, won't necessarily work in Vietnam. Keeping this in mind we found an example from Thailand and presented it in a way that they can use parts of the model and develop some of there own best practices based on our suggestions and customizing it for them. This will be a long term project and the DARD has a lot of work to do towards implementing the project.

In the end the DARD was very pleased with our suggested model and they believe they will be able to use many of our suggestions.

If you or someone you know might be interested in sharing your expertise to help out in a development project feel free to check out available listings at www.uniterra.ca

With only about 6 weeks left here I am drafting my final recommendation report and final presentation. Trying to summarize and make recommendations on a year's worth of research and information has my head in a bit of a tail spin! Was thinking the other day I have learned so much during my mandate that it is difficult to remember what I didn't know to begin with...if that makes any sense!!

Snake - The perfect Easter Meal!

2009-05-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Mireille and Audrey both had flights back to Canada from Hanoi so we flew from Siem Reap to Hanoi and spent two days there before they had to leave.

Mireille and I met up with two of my friends, Hung and Julie, in Hanoi to have a meal at a SNAKE restaurant!!

First, they bring out the live cobra so that you can choice the one you like.

Then they take out the still beating heart,

pour fresh blood and bile from the gull bladder into separate glasses,

and then the remainder of the snake goes back into the kitchen to prepare 7 different dishes.

Hung, our Country Coordinator for CECI in Hanoi had eaten snake many times so he offered to be the dinner chairman and to eat the heart. The rest of us weren't quite brave enough for that!

Really it is more like drinking the heart, while it is still beating, it is dumped into a shot glass mixed with some alcohol, and down the hatch!

However, we all did drink the blood and the bile!!

After the initial oddities, the rest of the meal was quite normal and delicious!!

It included over 7 dishes made from snake; fried snake skin, snake spring rolls, snake fried rice, snake stir fry, crushed & friend snake bones, snake soup, and snake rolled in cabbage.

So that was our Easter dinner! Certainly one to remember!

The next day I returned to Da Nang and back to work. Audrey and Mireille still had another day in Hanoi before heading back to Canada. Was great having friends visit and being able to travel around with them. Mireille and Audrey - Anyone know where I can get a Tuk Tuk?? Love you guys:-)

Cambodia

2009-05-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

Continuing from the last blog, Audrey, Mireille and I arrived at Ha Tien, Vietnam from Phu Quoc Island in search of transportation to Cambodia, specifically Phnom Penh. Immediately after getting off of the boat, Mireille was approached by a gentleman with a motorbike who said he could take us across the Cambodian border and have a car waiting for us on the other side to take us directly to Phnom Penh. Sounding too good to be true but not really having another choice we went ahead and each of us got on the back of a motorbike headed towards the border about 10 minutes from where our boat docked.

After filling out our Cambodia visa applications, getting a 'health check' (checking boxes to say we did not have a fever or were vomiting!), and walking across the border; our driver decided to tell us that his friend with the car to take us to Phnom Penh was busy that day and couldn't do it.

So there we were on a dirt road with no other options! Our moto driver did offer to take us to Kampot, about an hour and a half away by motorbike where we could stay the night a catch a bus to Phnom Penh the next morning. Realistically, we didn't expect to make it to Phnom Penh that day anyway so we took them up on their offer. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip, driving through rural Cambodia at sunset on a motorbike!

We stayed in Kampot for one night which was a quiet little town, would have been nice to stay there a bit longer but we were short on time and had to leave for Phnom Penh early the next morning. So we found a cute hotel, grabbed a meal and headed to bed early to be sure not to miss out bus.

Just 30 minutes into our bus to Phnom Penh we got stuck in a muddy 'detour' where we had to wait about an hour to get the bus pulled out.

Once we arrived in Phnom Penh we visited the killing fields which is one of the memorials and burials grounds from the massacre of more than 200,000 Cambodians during the totalitarian communist regime of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 to 1979. Certainly a sobering place to visit, just a short time ago, so many lives were lost for no justified reason. Trials for these massive crimes are still undergoing today with hope to put some of the people responsible to justice.

With only one night in Phnom Penh we had little time to see the city and explore the Cambodian culture. We had a great Cambodian meal,

came across a lively Cambodian street dance party (like something I would have seen in Panama, definitely not in Vietnam),

and visited Happy Man Bar where many Cambodian ladies welcomed us and taught as a traditional dance.

The next morning we were off to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat. What an incredible site. The first morning we got up at 4:30am to see one of the temples at sunrise....absolutely breathtaking.

The next 3 mornings were spent exploring the amazing temples. Getting up early was totally worth it to beat the heat and the crowds. Here are some of the shots from the temples.

Mireille and I took a Cambodian cooking class. We each got
to cook 2 dishes. Like a cross between Thai and Vietnamese food it was very delicious!!

While visiting the temples I had an idea to make a rubbing with pastels of some of the carvings (bas-reliefs) of the temples. So I set out with lots of paper and pastels. Not sure this would be allowed, I wasn't surprised when one of the ground workers took my paper away! So I still had lots of paper and pastels left! Around the temples there were many children selling anything from postcards to shirts to scarves. I decided to give my art supplies to the children. At one of the last temples a little boy approached me; "Lady, postcard one dollar?" Instead I told him I would give him a dollar if he drew me a picture and handed him the pastels and paper.

After inspecting the crayons for what seemed like 2 minutes, he began drawing on the paper. The postcards he was selling became the furthest thing from his mind. A crowd started to gather around us. It was such an incredible experience watching this boy enjoy colouring this picture. It gives me goose bumps just retelling the story, in fact, I was in tears just watching him. It was just so overwhelming watching him and remembering when I was his age I probably had 2 dozen colouring books and over 200 crayons and lots of time to colour. Life doesn't seem fair sometimes!

About 20 minutes later he had finished his masterpiece.

Afterward I gave him the all the pastels and paper I had left. His smile was priceless, being 6 years old and probably never attending a proper school, I might as well given him a piece of gold. He left for a second and came back with a flute to give me and taught me a song.

Cambodia is such a beautiful country with beautiful people. It is incredible how a population can recover from such a recent, devastating history. Only one week in Cambodia is not nearly enough to see and learn everything but I feel extremely fortunate to have spent some time there to better understand their history and culture.

Friends Visit from Canada

2009-05-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

Well I must apologize for the delay in posting. Things have been rather hectic around here between work, having visitors and taking trips. Plus once I get blogging out of your routine is it pretty easy to forget!

A quick recap of the last 2 months; I had 2 friends from Canada visit and we had the chance to travel to a small island in the south of Vietnam, Phu Quoc and spent one week in Cambodia. An old friend from Halifax stopped by while traveling Vietnam after teaching in Korea for a year. A short- term volunteer from Quebec came to work with me on a special project for a week. I escaped into the mountains for my last holiday weekend in Vietnam. I was going to try to recap all of this in one blog but think it will be best to blog each one separately.

Audrey & Mireille Visit Vietnam and Cambodia

My friend, Audrey, came to visit me in Da Nang for a few days before heading south to meet our other friend Mireille in Saigon. She happened to arrive in Da Nang during the International Fireworks competition! It was a two day competition with the Philippines, Spain, Vietnam, Australia, and China. We stayed in Da Nang for the first night of competition but headed to Hoi An for the second night of competition. China won, we didn't get a chance to see it live but seeing it on TV afterward, it was pretty spectacular.

So we rented a motorbike and headed to Hoi An for 2 days and one night.

In Hoi An, they were participating in Earth Hour. Even the restaurants had their power shut off and there were candles light up in the river. It was so beautiful.

With such a short time in Hoi An, Audrey was still about to get 2 dresses and a winter coat tailor made,

met and had a laugh with Ba Linh, a lovely Vietnamese lady at the beach

had some great food, and a midnight swim in the ocean!

Audrey left me in Da Nang to work for the week and to meet Mireille in Saigon. The plan was for them to spend the week touring in Saigon and the Mekong Delta and I would meet them on Phu Quoc Isand for a few days and then we would head to Cambodia.

So I left Friday after work on a flight to Saigon. Upon my arrival in Saigon the bus company called me to tell me that the bus ticket I reserved 2 weeks early was no longer available and all the buses going to Rach Gia over night were booked and I would have to wait another day to get to Phu Quoc. Long story short I ended up on a bus to Rach Gia that was supposed to get me there in time to catch the boat to Phu Quoc. It ended up being a 12 hour bus ride with many Vietnamese liberally sprawled out sleeping - at one point I woke up on the bus with 3 pair of bare feet 1)dangling in front of my face, 2) on my arm, and 3) laying over my legs! Haha....I wasn't quite sure what people meant when they talked about lack of personal space in Asia....now I know! Finally we arrived in Rach Gia which I wasn't so confident would happen considering my poor Vietnamese and their poor English when I initially boarded the bus.

After a 2.5 hour boat ride and 30 minute motorbike ride, I met Audrey and Mireille relaxing on the beach of our comfy 'resort', we had our own rustic bungalow on a small quiet beach.

After a shower and some food I had forgotten about exhausting trip there.

That evening we walked along the beach to a nearby restaurant and had a lovely evening of catching up.

The next day Audrey and I headed out for a snorkeling trip.

Our last morning on the island we spent relaxing at the beach and doing a yoga class courtesy of a podcast and Audrey's Ipod!!! Even another guest from the hotel joined in.

Then it was off on the boat to Ha Tien, a small Vietnamese town near the Cambodian border. We still weren't sure just how we were getting into Cambodia and on to Phnom Penh but we figured once we get to Ha Tien there would be some information for us.

Bánh Chuối Chiên - Fried Banana Cake!!

2009-03-17T00:49:00.000-07:00

One Friday afternoon at the office Thom wanted to make Bánh Chuối Chiên (Literally Cake Banana Fried, pronounced ban chewy chi-an)for everyone at the office for her birthday. It always amazes me how the Vietnamese can cook something delicious with little equipment or planning! Bánh Chuối Chiên is normally eaten during the cooler season since it is most delicious fresh out of the hot oil!! It can usually be found at a small street vendor stall in the late afternoons and evenings. But Thom was convinced her Bánh Chuối Chiên is more delicious than the ones on the street, I think she was right:-P

The ingredients are : small sweet bananas cut in long strips, fresh strips of coconut, thinly sliced sweet potato, all mixed in with flour, sugar, salt and water and then fried in vegetable oil until golden brown.

These greasy little fritters are absolutely delicious!!! I think I ate 6 of 'em, good job they are seasonal!!! Hope you enjoyed the food blog.....I will be posting more about Vietnamese cuisine over the next few weeks!

Work Update

2009-03-11T01:03:00.000-07:00

Over the past 5 months, we have been working closely with 3 cooperatives in the development of their business and marketing plans.

Cooperative Hoa Quy 1

This cooperative was facing some troubled times when I first arrived. The head of the management board had left to work with the farmers organization, the members were not aware of what was going on with the cooperative, and their main source of income; providing electricity; was taken over by the local government office.

Many of the farmers in are looking for alternative ways to gain their income aside from their small rice crops. So the local government recruited a new leader for the cooperative to develop a pilot project to train local farmers how to grow flowers and leafy vegetables. We are assisting them develop their marketing plan and teaching them the importance of doing thorough market research to verify demand, understand the competition and planning a sound and feasible distribution channel.

An Hai Dong Cooperative

An Hai Dong was formed in 2003 which makes it very different from the cooperatives formed in 1978 and 1979 to eradicate famine after the war. This cooperative was formed with the purpose creating employment for farmers who lost land to urban development. Growing mushrooms takes up little space so it is an alternative for farmers who live in or near the city. The leader of this cooperative, Mrs. Mui, is a true entrepreneur. She has new ideas for the cooperative everytime we meet with her. Rather than motivating her to take on something new as we do with many of the other cooperatives we have to encourage her to focus on one thing at a time! Currently, the cooperative is offering training sessions to households on the techniques to produce mushrooms, selling supplies (inputs) for mushroom production, and trying to coordinate a sound distribution channel for the households. Offering marketing and assistance to the households to help them sell their mushrooms is very important to the sustainability of the cooperative, especially since the training income will only be for the short term. Only so many people can be trained to produce mushrooms before the Da Nang region will be flooded with mushrooms and all the efforts lost. So we have been working with Mrs. Mui to develop a distribution channel and marketing strategy for the farmers. Mrs. Mui is also the only female cooperative leader out of all the 25 agriculture cooperatives in Da Nang and she is one of the most active and passionate about improving the cooperative and offering the best service possible to members.

Hoa Khuong Cooperative

This cooperative is in a very similar situation to Hoa Quy 1 cooperative mentioned above. It no longer had a core service to offer its members and had lost confidence with the members and people of the community due to some miss management of finances. This cooperative still operates within the local government body so much so that its office is in the local government office. They have started focusing on producing watermelons, frog farms, and fish farms to regain farmers confidence in the cooperative model. Their idea is that once each of these groups becomes stronger they can break off and become their own cooperative. We have been working with them on business plans for each of the models and put them in touch with several farmer interest groups in Northern Vietnam who are using a similar strategy to rebuild confidence in the cooperative model.

On another note, my contract here has been extended another 3 months to work more with the cooperatives on the impletmentation phase of thier business plans and also to work with another cooperative interested in producing organic vegetables, a project supported by the Asian Development Bank. I will be helping them develop a cooperative model similiar to what we use in Canada and with their marketing plan. In April, another Canadian will join us in the project to help set-up the financial management system. Stay tuned for details!!

Aside from work, I have 2 friends visiting in April and we have planned a week visit to Cambodia!

Workshop on Location

2009-02-10T02:49:00.000-08:00

Last week we headed 60km south of Da Nang to a small town called Tam Ky to deliver a 3 day workshop to coop leaders from the surrounding provinces. This workshop was delivered in partnership between CECI and SOCODEVI. SOCODEVI is a network of Canadian cooperatives who assist with cooperative development in many developing countries. They have selected cooperatives to work with throughout Vietnam and asked if I would work with them to deliver a workshop on sustainable cooperative development and marketing. Together using their existing resources and the resources I have gathered, we developed a 3 day workshop which will be used all over the country and hopefully delivered by Vietnamese cooperative support workers. We had several participants from the local cooperative alliance and department of agriculture and rural development attend the workshop with the intention that they will be able to deliver this material to the cooperatives themselves in the future.

It was an excellent experience for me to work with cooperatives from different areas and to compare their issues and challenges with those of the cooperatives in Da Nang. Of course they had a lot of similar issues such as aging membership, difficulty catering to the new needs of the farmers, competition from the private sector, bureaucracy,loss of land due to urbanisation and lack of management capacity.

Several of the cooperatives had started successfully offering composting services to the members. This is something which would benefit the citizens and cooperatives in Da Nang. Currently, there is no waste management system and the farmers are in need of clean soil. Hopefully we will be able to arrange and visit to one of these cooperatives or at least make the contact so that several of the Da Nang cooperatives can look into offering this service in their own communities. Few Highlights from the workshop.

As an icebreaker one morning, a few of the cooperative leaders offered to sing for the group!
(click on the link to see a video of one of the coop leaders singing!)
As a gift for facilitating the workshop, the vice-president of the cooperative alliance gave me an ostrich egg. Apparently very delicious!! I have yet to try it!

The participants!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi - Happy New Year

2009-01-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

The week of Tet has come and gone. A week which I thought was going to be relaxing and catching up on some reading, turned out to be a week of eating, visiting friends, more eating, and drinking. It all started with an amazing fireworks show at the beginning of the new year. (click link to see video of fireworks...look out for the heart shaped ones!)

Then the true celebrations began. I visited over 10 houses in 2 days - which translates into A LOT of overeating and drinking. Much like our Christmas tradition of visiting every one's Christmas trees, the Vietnamese take the time during Tet to visit as many friends and family as possible. There are officially 3 days for the celebration; the 1st day is more dedicated to immediate family and visiting the temple to do ancestral worship then days 2 and 3 are hoping from house to house to wish everyone Happy New Year, share food and drinks, and give the children lucky money. Small amounts of money are placed in envelopes and given to the children.

Here are a few of the highlights from the all the houses visits!

The director of the bureau's nine year old son was very entertaining and ending up helping me improve some of my Tai Chi moves.

I was told to wear my ao dai (the traditional dress my colleagues gave me for Christmas) during Tet and that everyone wears the Ao Dai during Tet - to my surprise, I was the only one in an ao dai.

I went home as soon as possible and changed!! It isn't as if I don't stick out enough here with my short, light brown hair, pointy nose and white skin - a lime green ao dai certainly made heads turn. Oh dear!!

Each house had a Tet Tree but they weren't all the same. Some had yellow flowers which is more a tradition from North Vietnam.

Some had pink flowers which is more of southern tradition.

And some had beautiful mandarin trees.

Everyone was so giving and there was no saying no to more food. My friend, Trang's mother was even stuffing my pockets with food as I left the house at 10pm!! She was such a sweaty and hilarious....even with my poor Vientnamese and her no English....I was able to understand that she thought it would be a great idea if I married her son:-)

More eating with my colleague Phuong and her sister-in-law Thuy!

Mot, Hai, Ba - Yo!!! (One, Two, Three - Cheers!) with my colleagues Thuy, Thom and their husbands.

Nhung's three year old son gave me a lesson on how to ride with a heavy load on the back of my bicycle!! They learn early!

Usually lucky money is reserved for children aged 15 and younger but since it was my first Tet, a few of my friends also gave me lucky money!

My grand Total - 120,000 dong = about $8:-)

Are you ready for Tet?

2009-01-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

A man da! A man da! A man da!!

(this is how the Vietnamese say my name because Vietnamese words are usually only one syllable)

I woke up to hear this outside my door this morning and I had over 5 missed calls on my phone when I got out of the shower!! It is new year's eve today in Vietnam according to the lunar calendar and so begin the Tet Holiday celebrations. When I finally got dressed and went outside, I saw that someone had left me flowers, a bottle of wine, Tet candies and a Banh Chung.

My colleagues were the ones calling me at 8am!!! Haha....It was quite a surprise and since I was still in the shower I didn't make it to the door in time to greet them!! I wasn't expecting guests until tomorrow!! haha

Most foreigners don't stay in Vietnam for Tet because it is really a family holiday and everything is closed. I decided to stay because my plan was to visit Laos but since I accidently did that in November I decided to stay in Vietnam to see what the holiday is all about. Everyone told me the Vietnamese will be with their families so you will be very bored....so far this has proved to be wrong.....glad I bought some extra food cause I have a feeling there will be more drop in guests over the next few days!! So far my colleagues have come with gifts, the owners of my apartment have brought me potted daisies, and a friend brought me water melon seeds and yet other Banh Chung!!

All week everyone has been preparing for Tet; buying yellow potted daisies,

mandarin trees,

preparing Banh Chung (a dense sticky rice cake filled with pork and green beans wrapped in a large banana leaf - quite tastless and VERY chewy and heavy.),

Here are some of my neighbours washing banana leaves outside my apartment for wrapping Banh Chung.

buying roasted watermelon seeds (they eat them like sunflower seeds except they are extremely hard to open....I think I went through about 100 seeds before I could open one with out crushing the seed!)

painting & cleaning the house, and preparing some special food ( Here they are drying vegetables just outside my house to later pickle in vinegar and chilli)

For the next 3 days Vietnam will be celebrating the new year...They are ringing in the year of the buffalo. Tonight there will be 3 firework shows and followed by 3 days of visiting friends and family!!

Stayed tune...Tet has just begun!! Chuc Mung Nam Moi!! (Happy New Year!)

Trip to Thailand .....Continued

2009-01-13T05:13:00.000-08:00

Continuing from my last post......

ring, ring (conversation between my mom and I while being stuck in Thailand)

Me -Hello, Mom?

Mom -Ah, where are you??
Me-Oh, well I can`t catch my flight back to Vietnam through Bangkok because of the protests at the airport. So I got a flight tomorrow morning to Laos, the country between Vietnam and Thailand and I will get a connection to Hanoi and I should be in Da Nang by tomorrow evening.`
Mom-Ah ok, you had us worried, the news is making this look very scary.

Me-I know, but I haven`t seen any protesting and really the airports are just backed up like when we get a snow storm at home. No need to worry.

ring, ring (conversation between my mom and I from Luang Phrabang, Laos about 12 houres later with a very choppy connection)

Mom-Hello?
Me-Hello?

Mom-Hello?

Me- I have arrived in Laos but I can't catch another flight out for a week.
Mom-WHAT? Where are you? Is it safe? Oh my nerves!

I think I gave them a few more grey hairs that week but really I was safe and actually enjoying myself...I think that makes it worse;-) Love you Mom and Dad!

After discussion with the CECI office in Hanoi, I decided that instead of wasting the week trying to get back to Da Nang by bus, I would to take my last week of vacation in Laos and bought the next available ticket to Hanoi from Vientiene, Laos. I grabbed a Tuk Tuk into town to find a cheap hostel.
Common mode of transportation - Tuk Tuk!

I set off to discover Luang Phrabang...I knew very little about the place, since I wasn't really planning on visiting Laos until January, I hadn't done my research.
Luang Phrabang - BEAUTIFUL!!!

It is a sleepy mountain town (pop. 26,000) in Northern Laos along the Mekong River.

The Laos population is 67% Buddhist and 10% of the population in Luang Phrabang are monks. This was very visible in their daily lives. Here I came across some young monks practising their morning drumming session.

Then I came across some monk laundry hanging out to dry!!

The markets were so beautiful, filled with woven products from the local indigenous tribes, hand made umbrellas, and of course lots of tasty snacks!

Wanting to get out into the beautiful mountains I saw from the plane I signed up for a 2 day trek to a remote village. There were 7 of us in total ; a young Irish couple, a young American girl, a Polish man, and our 2 guides, Cay - born in one of the minority villages, then his family was relocated to the town because they were opium farmers and Gang - who spent 12 years as a monk (both incredibly intelligent, hilarious and extremely generous). We started with a short boat ride up the Mekong then begin the 8 hour trek.

We soon came across a small village where they were drying river weed (similar to Nori - the seaweed use to wrap sushi). They collect it from the river banks then dry it out on straw mats but not before adding tomatoes, garlic and seseame seed for flavor. Once it is ready it is eaten with sticky rice and chilli paste...it is very yummy!!

Drying Chilli's to make chilli paste!!! YUMMY

Ok back to the hike! First day the plan was to hike for 8 hours and stay with a village the the peek of this mountain!!

It got pretty steep at times and was much more challenging and remote than the hike I did in Thailand the week before.

The views were spectacular

and so was the canopy of bamboo over our heads during the last hour, and steepest part of the trek.

We arrived at the village and were greeted by the children.

They were so entertaining. The little girls just wanted to get their picture taken so that they could see themselves on the camera screen. The little boys, however, were a bit more shy.

The next morning we woke up above the clouds.

And got ready for the steep trek down the mountain. We went through a few villages and came across a wedding. The locals invited us in for some dancing and drinks. It was about noon and everyone in the village was `3 sheets to the wind`! They had live karoke under a bamboo hut and lots of homemade wine. It was one of those moments I will never forget and couldn`t have planned it if we tried. They were so welcoming and happy to have us there to celebrate with them.

Once back into town. I met some great people at the hostel I was staying at and they were heading down to Vientiene the next day same as me. So we all took the same bus. And headed the 6 hours down to Vang Vieng. I stayed in Vang Vieng for 2 days and did a crazy tubing trip down the river with my new found friends. Then it was off to Vientiene to finally catch my flight back to Vietnam. The 3 hour bus ride to Vientiene turned out to be 5 hours and the seat I bought in the bus ended up being a spot on the floor beside the driver!!It wasn't the most comfortable 5 hours of my life but the views were spectacular!

Once I finally got to Hanoi Sunday evening, I missed the connection flight to Da Nang so I had to take the 1 hour ride into Hanoi at 8pm and then back the airport at 4am the next morning to get to Da Nang. Absolutely exhausted I finally made it into the office at 9am Monday morning. It was great to see everyone and they were happy I made it back safely. All in all it was a bit hectic trying to get the planes, trains, and crowded buses back as they say when life serves you lemons, make lemonade!! It turned out to be a fabulous trip.

Trip to Thailand .....and more....

2009-01-11T13:39:00.000-08:00

In November, I had the opportunity to go to Thailand for a week. I flew into Bangkok and met a friend of mine, Wicky, from university who is from Bangkok. We hadn't seen each other since graduation so it was great to catch up and he gave me a great tour of Bangkok.

What an amazing city; so modern compared to Ho Chi Minh City. It is very westernized but still maintains its unique culture. Traffic was a bit of a mess, shopping was out of this world (variety, style, and price), and the food was terrific.

Wicky and his friends were amazing hosts and are really into the live music scene and amoung themselves they are always getting together for a jamming sessions. Being starved of the live music scene you can say it was 'music to my ears'! Thanks Wicky & Sun:-)

My purpose for going to Bangkok was to represent UNBSJ (the university I graduated from) in a recruitment fair for their MBA program. It was a great opportunity to meet the potential students and answer their questions about studying in Canada, UNB, and of course the weather!!

I decided to make a bit of a holiday out of the trip and headed up north to Chiang Mai. Wicky had some other friends visiting from Italy who were also heading up north so we all went together!! One of the Italian girls and I did a 2 day trek into a remote village. It was extremely beautiful! Here are a few of the highlights:

Elephant riding!!

All they wanted to do was eat the Bananas we had for them!!

Our guide from one of the villages, Buffalo Bill, was extremely entertaining. He didn't speak much English or Thai but knew all the words to the Bob Marley song he was named after and didn't go anyway without his slingshot!

The scenery was beautiful

and when we arrived at the village we were greated by the children who sang to us around the camp fire. Then they wanted us to sing a song from our country to them!! OH GAWD!!! Yeah, you guessed it, I sang oh Canada! and it was aweful:-) Sorry kids!

After a few more songs by the fire and some dancing lessons from Buffalo Bill it was time for bed. We had another full day of trekking ahead of us. What a great sleep under the stars in complete darkness..ahhh!!

If you noticed I mentioned I was in Thailand in November, yes, during the airport protests! Instead of taking a plane from Bangkok to Chiang Mai I had to take an overnight train which was totally packed due to the cancellation of so many flights. As planned I stayed in Chiang Mai for 4 days hoping the airport would reopen before I had to catch my flight back to Vietnam. Getting a bit concerned it wasn't going to reopen in time I decided to look into alternative ways to get home. Everything was selling quickly and my only option was to fly into Luang Phrabang, Laos and get a connecting flight to Hanoi from there. So I had to stay an extra day in Chiang Mai and took advantage of the opportunity to take a Thai cooking class.

The next morning I took flight to Luang Phrabang and after a brief connection I would be back in Vietnam by that night. Right?

View of Laos from the plane!

I got off the plane, onto the single runway and was surprised at how small the airport was. Upon entering the airport, about the size of a legion hall, I was given the form to apply for a visa to enter Laos. I politely explained to the customs official that I wouldn't need a visa because I was just connecting to Vietnam. He gave me an equally polite and innocent smile and handed me the application. To make a long story short, there were over 80 people on stand-by for the next flight to Vietnam and there were only 2 seats left on the plane!! The next available flight to Vietnam was a week from that day and the bus would take 35 hours to get to Da Nang. What to do....?

....to be continued.....

Celebrating a Sweet Victory!

2008-12-30T14:30:00.001-08:00

Normally the streets of Da Nang quiet down well before 9pm. The Vietnamese are known more as early birds (5am!!) than night owls.

Well this was NOT the case on December 28th!! Vietnam was playing in the final game of the Suzuki cup against long time rivals, Thailand. After a nail biting match with only one minute left in the game Vietnam scored to win the title!!! The Vietnamese have not won a championship of this caliber in 49 years!!

Just to put it in prospective this would be like the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadians at the Air Canada Centre and scoring in sudden death overtime of game 7!! Well maybe not exactly the same...it has only been 42 years since Toronto won a cup:-P And I wouldn't have been celebrating!!

Men, women, children, and Vietnamese of all ages took to the streets immediately after the win to celebrate the sweet victory!!! The celebration went well past midnight!! People were cheering "Vietnam Vo Dich!" (Vietnam is the Champion!), waving flags, improvising barrels and pots as drums, dancing in the streets!! It was a beautiful site and I feel very lucky to have had the chance to celebrate with them:-) Check out the video - it is taken from the exact same spot as the photo above! Vietnam Vo Dich, Vietnam Vo Dich!!

Christmas in Da Nang

2008-12-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

Being away for Christmas can be a bit tough and I figured since they don't really celebrate Christmas in Vietnam I would just work through the week and try to treat it as any other work week.
So I went to work on Christmas eve and all day everyone was tiptoeing around and giggling! Something was up!! Around 4 o'clock they called me into the meeting room where they had dinner, flowers and gifts for me!! I was so touched I even got all teary eyed!! How nice of them to go to so much trouble to make me feel more at home:-)

They gave me a new big rain coat to wear when riding my bicycle, flowers, and some lovely material to take to the tailor to get an ao dai (the national dress) custom made!

It just so happened that there was a HUGE football match going on between Thailand and Vietnam on Christmas eve. So after a great meal and lots of wobbly pops I headed to the local pub to catch the game.

Thailand has a long history of winning against Vietnam. After an intense match Vietnam ended up winning 2-1!! The whole city came alive for about 3 hours people were riding through the streets with Vietnamese flags and celebrating! It was truly awesome!

On Christmas day one of the restaurants owned by an American couple put on a beautiful turkey dinner so I invited Nhung, her husband, their son, and my badminton partner! So even though Christmas is never the same being away from friends and family it didn't turn out so bad! Happy Holidays everyone!!

Successful Workshops!

2008-10-12T03:08:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in previous posts, the main propose of my mandate here is to assist the agriculture cooperative leaders to improve their business management and marketing skills. The first 4 months Nhung (the National Volunteer) and I spent conducting research to identify the training needs of the leaders and preparing a workshop on business planning and marketing.

During our research we discovered that the management capacity of the cooperative leaders varied greatly. We had to develop a training session that would benefit all the leaders. Our goals were to make the training interactive so that the leaders could share experiences with each other and to give them relevant examples so that they could apply the concepts to their own situation.

I must admit, I was a bit nervous about how well they would participate in a classroom setting. The majority of the coop leaders are male, aged 50+, agriculture background, and high school would be the highest level of education. Needless to say, the group demographics are not particularly used to sitting in a classroom for 8 hours!

We had planned many group activities, case studies, group discussions, etc. and some lecture. We held two 2-day workshops both with 18 leaders in attendance. To my pleasant surprise, they were very active.

We started the sessions with a cooperative game. They had to work silently in groups to work out a collective solution. It was a hit!

This group is brainstorming ways to sell vegetables to restaurants and the local markets!

And here they are presenting their ideas to the larger group! You can see they even got creative by drawing pictures to express the customers needs.

*Notice the Uncle Ho Chi Minh bust in the back. He sees over all conference rooms in government offices.

Here is Mrs. Mui, the only female coop leader out of the 25 coops in Da Nang. She is the head of a mushroom growing cooperative and it is one of the most successful in the region. She is presenting her groups analysis of a case study. They had to identify the sample cooperative's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Mr. Phuc shares his experiences with finding buyers for the rice and vegetable farmers of his coop.

These gentleman were having a difficult time understanding the need to treat specific customer groups differently. This exercise helped them understand that the needs of household customers are very different from the needs of restaurants and market vendors. They had to consider different pricing strategies, delivery, packaging, buying patterns, etc.

Overall the Coop leaders were very pleased with the training and afterward many of them spoke of getting together on a regular basis to share ideas amoung the group!!! I was hoping for this and the fact that they are taking the initiative themselves to form the group is excellent!

It wasn't only the coop leaders who learned something from these workshops. I learned a lot about the different teaching styles in Vietnam and Canada. In Canada, my experience with learning (especially adult learning) has been very interactive and the teacher facilitates discussion. Students are encouraged to ask questions, challenge theories, and add real life experiences. In Vietnam, the teaching style is much more authoritative. The teacher gives the information and the students study it, memorize it, and treat the teacher with the highest respect. So much so that questioning the teacher is often out of the question! During the workshops, I would ask the group if they had any questions, anything they didn't understand, anything they would like to add, etc. The room would always fall silent. Even when bribing them with treats and prizes to encourage discussion it was absolutely apparent that they were not accustomed to contributing in this way.

At the same time, in my Vietnamese language classes I often give suggestions for how I could learn better and always come to class with a list of questions. My teacher does not respond well to this and I could never understand why. Especially because I am paying for individual classes. It wasn't until after the workshops that I realized that I was probably insulting my teacher by doing this. And I thought I was being a conscientious student!!

While the Vietnamese can enhance their learning environments by encouraging students to ask questions and think creatively, I believe Canadians could also enhance learning environments by having a greater respect for the teacher, as we have been loosing this more and more over the years!! This is an excellent demonstration of how intercultural learning is often mutually beneficial!

Our next step is to choose 3 or 4 cooperatives to work with directly over the next 3 months to help them develop their own business and marketing plans. Stay tuned and feel free to make comments!!

Mid-Autumn Festival

2008-09-14T21:11:00.001-07:00

The second most celebrated holiday in Vietnam, next to the Lunar New Year or Tet Holiday, passed through here a couple weekends ago. For business purposes and everyday planning the Vietnamese use the same calendar as we do in North America, however, for their holidays and traditional celebrations they use the lunar calendar.

On the 15th of August of the lunar calendar they celebrated the Mid-autumn Festival. The best way to explain it is a cross between our Halloween and Thanksgiving. It really is a holiday for children and a time to remember your ancestors. During the 2 days around the full moon, children practice the art of lion dancing in the streets. Much like dressing up in Halloween costumes and going door to door for treats; the children perform dances for the homes in their neighbourhood in exchange for some money. The children (most often boys from age 6-16) wear a two person lion costume. One boy is the head of the lion and one is the back half.

They are accompanied by a 'happy buddha' and drummers to create the beat for the dancers. The happy buddha fans the home owner while the lion is performing a dance.

When the they conduct the lion dance throughout your house they are said to be chasing the bad luck away for the rest of the year. The whole thing lasts about 5 to 10 minutes then you give them some change and they are off. Usually a crowd of spectators from the neighbourhood follow them from house to house. This all happened very quickly and I apologize for the poor photos but you get the idea.

Also, large stores, restaurants, or hotels will hire professional lion dancers to perform for their clients. I just happened to be at the supermarket at the right time to witness a spectacular dance. The streets were packed shoulder to shoulder.

For the full 2 days surrounding the full moon, there was an incredible energy in the streets. Everywhere you could hear the sounds of drums beating, people cheering for the lion dancers, and the youngest children running around in lion customes.

In the past, children would also be given small paper toys but within the last few years these small plastic toys from China have gained popularity.

This is also a time when families remember their ancestors and they burn incense, fake money and throw candy our on the streets for their ancestors to enjoy.

They place some fresh fruit, fake money, and/or flowers on the family alter. The tradition of placing food and gifts on the family ancestral alter is practiced at the full moon of every month, but for the Mid-Autumn Festival they will give some special seasonal fruit and maybe some extra gifts for their ancestors.

Families will enjoy and share mooncake. Gotta admit it isn't the most delicious of desserts but more of a traditional custom. Many families enjoy it in small portions with tea. I believe even the Vietnamese would admit that it is not eaten for its tasty attributes but more for the tradition. Kind of like when we hand out fruit cake at Christmas or grooms cake during a wedding. These cakes do take a lot of preparation and are quite expensive. Most families buy the cakes and give them as gifts to friends, family neighbours, or colleagues. The cakes are made of a heavy dense pastry (either from rice or flour) and the centres usually have a whole egg, durian fruit, coconut, or mung beans. These cakes can be purchased in many sizes and they are about $5-$10 for a small one of about 6 inches diameter.

Besides that I have been busy at work getting ready for our first training session for the coop leaders. Next few posts will be about some of the places I have been able to visit over the past few months and a report on how the training sessions turned out!!

The Fall Rice Harvest

2008-09-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

When I arrived in Da Nang in early June, the rice fields were a rich green and each stem was half sticking out of the wet marsh.

Now the fields are dry and the rice is golden, as we approach the end of the dry season here in Da Nang it is time to harvest the rice.

I had the opportunity to go out to the field, I even helped out for a few hours!! It really reminded me of summers spent helping my neighbours haying back home in Bloomfield!! However, rice harvesting, in Vietnam at least, is much more labour intensive.

First, you must cut the rice stalks with a reaping hook (or sickle).

Then the cut stalks are placed in small piles as shown in this picture.

Once about 2 saos (1 sao = 500m2)have been cut, the small piles are carried by hand to one large pile. Once all the rice is collected they wait for the tumbling machine to come. The farmers around the community share the use of a tumbling machine, which trashes the rice stalks around to knock the rice grains off and toss the remaining part of the plant back into the field. The left over plant is burnt onsite and spread around the field for fertilizer. Before most families had gas stoves, the left over stalks were taken home with the help of the water buffalo and it was used for fires to cook the family meals.

Once the grains are sorted out of the stalk (each stalk has about 30-40 grains) they are poured into 50lbs bags.

All the farmers in the community work together to help each other harvest the rice. Each land owner then takes their crop home to dry out the grains. This takes about 3 or 4 days of dry weather....which can be difficult at the beginning of the rainy season. The family must keep an eye on the clouds and make sure to bag up the grains before they get wet!!

Once the rice grains are finally dry they are taken again to a communal tumbler machine or mill. After the small yellow husk on each grain is removed, the rice is finally ready for consumption!

I am not sure if this is accurate but from what I have learned about the rice process, a single grain of rice could pass through the human hand about 50 times before finally being served at the dinner table!! Hope this makes you appreciate the little white grains just a bit more....it certainly did for me:-)

Here are a few hard workers stopping for a much deserved lunch break. Of course they bring out the famous local dish, My Quang (My = pronounced 'me' means noodle, Quang is the province it originated) for everyone to have for lunch. You guessed it, the noodles are made of rice, and it is served with fresh shrimp, fish sauce, green vegetables are added just before you take a bit for some extra crunch!

Recent Flooding in Northern Vietnam

2008-08-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

Many of the mountainous areas of Vietnam are vulnerable to flash floods and landslides. The people most affected by these natural disasters are usually the poorest of the poor and/or ethnic minorities. Much work has been done recently to assist these communities prepare for disaster mitigation, however, clear cutting in some of these areas has increased the frequency and gravity of these disasters. Even though these currently happenings are in the north, the low laying areas of Da Nang are also very vulnerable.

See below an article from the BBC about recent flooding in Northern Vietnam.

Dozens killed in Vietnam floods

At least 62 people in northern Vietnam have been killed by flash floods and landslides caused by a tropical storm.

Dozens of people are missing and entire villages have been cut off in Lao Cai, the worst-affected province.

A rescue effort led by the army is under way but is being hampered by the severe weather.

Tropical storm Kammuri, which came in from the Gulf of Tonkin and made landfall on Friday, hit China with rain and winds earlier in the week.

Officials in the mountainous province of Lao Cai, which borders China, told news agencies that tens of thousands of people had been stranded after roads were washed away.

Further landslides have been predicted, sparking fears that the death toll could rise.

Mud and water

The government said that more than 60 people were missing in several northern provinces, including Lao Cai. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed.

Red River in Lao Cai
Rivers in the worst-hit province of Lao Cai have risen

In Yen Bai, an official told Associated Press that some people were killed in their homes as they slept.

"The water and walls of mud came at night when everybody was sleeping," Luong Tuan Anh was quoted as saying. "They could not run to safety."

Kammuri is the ninth tropical storm of the year.

Earlier in the week, China evacuated nearly 400,000 people and called thousands of vessels back to port as the storm lashed its southern coast.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7551529.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7553797.stm

My Routine

2008-07-13T02:46:00.000-07:00

After seeing many apartments and much negociating I found an apartment after 2 weeks. Actually, I should say, Nhung found me an apartment....without her I would still be at the hotel!!

In the Vietnamese culture it is rare for children to move out of the family home until they are married. Often the newly married couple will move in with the husband's family or into a house that has been given to the newly weds by the husbands family. For this reason 'renting' an apartment as we are familiar with the Canada is not exactly common. Especially when you are looking for something furnished and for only 10 months.

My place is very comfortable, has everything I need including a cute little garden and a fish tank!! Very nice neighborhood, only 10 minutes on my bicycle to work and the beach, and just 2 blocks from the beautiful Han river.

Here is the Han Bridge just a few blocks from my house. Everyday at 2am the middle of the bridge swings 180 degrees to let the large boats through. At 4am the bridge turns back 180 degrees just in time to head to the beach!

I have now been here one month and things are settling quite nicely. I had a few things to get used to once I moved into my apartment such as: 1 - the whole city seems to wake up at 5am, which is fine by me however it is also the time of day that the 2 dogs at the neighbours to my right, the song bird at the neighbour to my left, and the rooster behind my apartment all want make the neighbourhood aware that it is morning:-)

So I was talking to a Vietnamese girl who worked for CECI previously and she was saying that her badminton partner was out with a bad back and she was looking for a new partner to play badminton with her in the mornings at the beach. So now I play badminton as the sunrises....usually I am awake before the dogs, bird and rooster! Hey if you can't beat 'em join 'em!! Actually by not getting up at 5am, you really miss the best part of the day in Da Nang. It does get light here right around that time and the air is still cool. So everyone is out swimming, playing badminton, walking, doing little exercises, and Tai Chi (which I hope to start this week).

The view in the morning.

So far getting up at 5am hasn't really been a problem since the city is sound asleep by 10pm. And we get a 2 hour lunch when most everyone goes home for a midday siesta. Even if you go to the open markets, most everyone is asleep at their stand on a small mat!

I can't seem to get into the routine of napping everyday but having 2 hours for lunch is nice to be able to have lunch and maybe run a few errands. Staying at the office is not really looked upon well so I don't stay a work through lunch as I thought I would.

Well my Vietnamese is getting a bit better but I still don't have high hopes of fluency!! I can now ask the price of something at the market and understand numbers.....this is very helpful. Other useful phrases I have picked up are What is your name? Where are you from? Thank you. Please. and I can ask for coffee with ice.

So here is a run through a typical day for my in DaNang.

5am Trang picks me up on the scooter and we head to the beach for a game of badminton
7am Leave for work
7:15am Grab a refreshingly, addictive Vietnamese iced coffee at the cafe across from work
7:30am Work day starts. This may involve heading out to visit a cooperative or farm with Nhung.
11:30am Lunch and Siesta Time I usually grab lunch somehere and then head home for a break from the heat.
1:30pm Back to work
5pm Head home
6pm Vietnamese class
8pm Grab a juice with Ann, my British Classmate, and practice Vietnamese
10pm Time for bed!!

Visiting the Agriculture Cooperatives

2008-07-12T02:56:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, the first few weeks at work were filled with research and developing a survey for the coop leaders to better understand their issues, stengths and weaknesses. We were able to survey 6 cooperatives, a group of rice and vegetable farmers, and several government officials & departments responsible for agriculture and rural development.

The majority of the cooperatives were formed in 1978 after the war to overcome the food stortage. Membership was mandatory and the cooperatives had little autonomy. In 2003, a new cooperative law was passed to give the cooperatives more power and to enable them to operate more like the international cooperative structure - similar to the way cooperatives are run in Canada and many other countries. Since the new law only a few of the cooperatives have taken initiative to become more service oriented to the members and run as an independent, profit generating entity.

The cooperatives offer services to members such as irrigation, fertilizer sales, supplying quality seeds, soil tiling, equipment rental and electricity. With both irrigation and electricity services the coops only act as intermediaries connecting the service provider with the coop memeber which only generates a small commission for the cooperative. Often the coops just break even or are operating in the red. Very few coops are successfully able to offer marketing services to members or have developed business plans.

Here is a tilling machine used to service members fields. This cooperative has 3 machine like this.

Many farmers have been cooperative members since 1978. They do not completely understand the role of the cooperatives or their benefits. All they know is, if it was a succesful year, they will recieve some of the profit in the form of dividends.

The majority of the farmers have rice paddies and grow some fruits and vegetables for their own consumption. Other farms include maise, peanuts, sesame, leafy vegetable produce, mushroom production, frog raising, and some pig farms.

Rice Paddy. Frog Farm. Seseame Field. Green Leafy Vegetables. Very important to the Vietnamese diet.

Some Major Issues

Human Resources
Many farmers and coop leaders are age 60 and over. Young people are finding jobs which pay better in local factories and construction projects so there is a lack of human resources to continue the agriculture lifestyle. With urbanization growing rapidly in the DaNang region farmers are loosing land to development and construction projects.

Lack of Marketing Knowledge or Developed Distribution Channels
Most farmers do not have a stable distibution channel for their products. Often they have the capacity to produce more but are satisfied with growing enough for their family needs and enough to exchange for some fertilizers.

Annual Natural Disasters
This region is prone to annual floods. Many of the farmers must deal with both thier homes and crops flooding to over 1.5m. If you look closely in the photo below of a coop leader and myself, you can see the water stain just behind our heads to where the flood waters rise every year. If the residents are lucky enough thier house is 2 levels and they move the family and all the valuables to the 2nd floor during the flood season. This coop office also moves up to the second floor during the floods which can last anywhere from several days to several weeks. CECI has worked previously in this area to assist with disaster mmitigation to reduce the affects of the flooding. (see links below)

These are just some of the issues the cooperatives and farmers are facing. My assignement is to help identify the issues and develop training sessions to help improve the leadership of the cooperatives. For the next 2 months I will be developing a marketing workshop for the coop leaders. The cooperatives would like to assist the members in developing their distribution channels and develop a brand for their coop which will be recognized in the markets. The problem is many of the leaders do not have any business planning or marketing experience. Ideally one of the employees from the bureau will assist me with the development and delivery of the workshop so that once I am gone they will be able to hold future training sessions and work with the members individually to help them develop their marketing strategies. Stay tuned for more updates - both successes and challenges!

Here is more information on CECI's projects in Vietnam http://www.uniterra.ca/uniterra/en/our_actions/countries/vietnam/in__agriculture_and_rural_development_in_vietnam.html http://publication.ceci.ca/common/dynamic/File/Diapo_reconstruction_Vietnam_ANG_small.pdf

This is a short video of Nhung and I driving through the rice paddies to meet with some local farmers.

Da Nang

2008-06-23T04:23:00.000-07:00

After one week in Da Nang things are coming together nicely.

I was given a warm and formal welcome by the Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau. They had the conference room laid out with fresh fruit and a beautiful flower arrangement with a sign that read Welcome Ms Amanda Doreen Hachey. This was our initial meeting where we would discuss my work assignment and my chance to ask them any initial questions. I will have to admit it was a bit intimidating to be the center of everyone's attention. We had a really good discussion about the needs of the agriculture service cooperatives in the Da Nang area and ways to help them improve their services to local farmers.

Afterward we all went out for dinner and had some excellent seafood. Then I learned the 100% tradition; it is when they fill a small glass with either rice wine or beer and everyone cheers and you must drink the whole thing in one gulp. It was a very nice evening and an excellent introduction to my colleagues. There are about 10 people in my office, a director, vice-director, two managers, and support staff. There are four men in the office and the rest are women, can you guess which positions the men hold? You are right if you guessed the 4 senior positions. Vietnam is a very hierarchical society and most management position are held by men. Most of the young girls in the office speak some degree of English and my national partner, Nhung, speaks very well English. Everyone else speaks only Vietnamese. The Director, Mr, Trung invited me out for dinner to meet some of the people I will be working with from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; Nhung couldn't make it to the dinner so off I went with my dictionary and expressions book. It turned out to be a great evening speaking through the dictionary! We all were talking by way of hand signals, drawing diagrams, whatever it took to get the point across and in any case there is no need to translate laughter, plus after a few 100% it got a bit easier! Mind you we didn't discuss anything to intellectual under the circumstances it was a really great bonding experience. In the Vietnamese culture it is very important to develop a solid friendship with your colleagues before your work relationship. They want to know your age, if you are married, your religion, etc.

My national partner, Nhung, has been an amazing help for me both in and out of the office. She is a working under the Uniterra program as well and acts as my liaison. She translates documents for me, attends meetings with me, explains the Vietnamese culture, etc. She even shows me around the city, helps me negotiate at the market, takes me on trips with her family, anything you can imagine. She is extremely helpful and is really making a smooth transition process for me. Nhung - you are the best!!

So far at work we have been researching the laws, policies, organizational structures, and stakeholders of the agriculture cooperatives in the Da Nang region. Our bureau is responsible for assisting 25 cooperatives with the services they offer their members. Some of them are working quite well, while others are struggling to maintain good services and member participation. We are preparing a survey for the leaders of the cooperatives to access their strengths and weaknesses and once we have completed our initial research we will focus on 2 or 3 cooperatives to work with to help them develop a strategic plan and deliver workshops to help them improve their business practices. The Da Nang region includes 7 districts and the cooperative members are farming everything from rice to flowers to clay mining to shrimp farming.

Anyway enough about work - It is very interesting for me and I still have a lot to learn but so far things are moving along well.

Some Cultural Observations

The Vietnamese women go to great measures to protect their skin from the sun. They wear long gloves, face masks, hats, and socks with sandals while outside or riding on their motorbike to protect their skin from the sun. For them white skin is beautiful. One afternoon in the office I was explaining the concept of a tanning bed and how Canadian women loved their tans!!! They were appalled, just like I was when I found out about the sick day policy.

Sick days - If you work for the government department or agency there is a certain protocol for sick days which completely blew me away. One day last week everyone started to pack up early and explained to me that we were going to go visit Miss Ni at her house because she was home sick that day. So we hopped on the motorcycles, made a brief stop to get some small gifts for Miss Ni and proceeded to her house. There we were welcomed with chocolate and a drink while we chatted. We stayed for about 30 minutes and then left. I wasn't told the exact reasoning behind this ritual but I can come to some conclusions. Imagine having to entertain guests when you are home sick!!

Here is a great view of the City of Da Nang taken from the top floor of my hotel.

Here are the mountains you see in the distance in the picture above. Nhung was nice enough to invite me there for the weekend with her family. It is a great getaway from the noice and heat of the city. Only 1 hour away!

And of course the beautiful ocean...Only a 10 minute bike ride from downtown!! Can you guess where I have been spending my Sunday afternoons:-)

First Impressions!

2008-06-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

I arrived last Wednesday evening in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. I will be here until this Thursday morning, then I leave for Da Nang. Hanoi is really beautiful. Most of my days have been spent in orientation sessions learning about Vietnamese culture & customs, the language, and my work assignment. During the weekend, myself and another volunteer had the opportuntity to visit some of the attractions in Hanoi with 2 tourism students from the national university. They were excellent tour guides.

First Impressions.....

Immediately after leaving the airport you are emerged in the beauty and richness of the Vietnamese agriculture. With over 80% of the population living in rural areas and depending on agriculture for their livelihood, there are women working in rice paddies and cattle in fields just off the tarmac! It really is a beautiful site - the lush green paddies with a lone woman working tirelessly in her conical hat and long sleeve shirt to protect her skin.

Then seconds later you are on the middle of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetF3UTIwbc&feature=related The traffic is incredible......although the streets are packed it doesn’t seem to stop...everyone finds their place and flows through...it is like live Pacman! So there aren't really an traffic jams and doesn't take long to get from point A to B. In addition, there seems it be an unannounced competition on how much stuff/how many people can fit on one scooter!

The Language

I have completed 6 hours of Vietnamese lessons – 9 vowels sounds each with 6 different pitches, most of which I can barely hear the difference. And of course the slightest difference in pitch has a completely different meaning!! For example, I had a history lesson from an old man named Ngoc, his name means ‘precious gem’ but when said at a different tone, it means ‘idiot’!!! On a positive note, the verbs do not have to be conjugated and each word only has one syllable so once I get the pitches down, it will be no problem....right:-)

The Food

I would say a good way to explain the food here so far is....fresh...and delicious! Most dishes come with fresh greens and rice in many forms – paper, noodles, sticky, and of course grains. Many varieties of fruits and the coffee is intense – I love it:-) Small street canteens serve their fare on small child size plastic chairs and tables.

Well, that is it for now....I will post again next week about my first week on the job and life in Da Nang.