Habita Work: Kien Giang

Everyone who knows about Habitat for Humanity-Vietnam, calls it Habita. Here are some pictures of my week in Kien Giang where Habita works.More on my week in Ha Noi soon.


motorcycle ferry on the Mekong Delta. I was too tall for the boat when I sat on the xe om. I'm too tall in Viet Nam!

Agent Orange

A Habitat staffer from Kien Giang encouraged me to meet the family with two children suffering from the consequences of the herbicide war during the American-Vietnam War. We may know it more commonly as "agent orange." This was a surreal experience.

Here's to another day in Vietnam. I've started to embark on a strange journey to understand the Vietnam War from a unique place: the countryside, Saigon and Hanoi. More soon.

all for a children's crusade

I sped past markets, rivers and bounced on top of bridges today as my translator driving our motorbike says to me: I would like to do something for these children.

In my journey to learn more about housing microfinance and hopefully provide something of use to Habitat for Humanity, we hopped on a boat to Rach Gia--the main city of Kien Giang province. KG is next to the Cambodian border and is HOT and HUMID.




So today, like yesterday, I interviewed various Khmer families in the Kien Giang province: two different communes. With the help of my fellow public policy intern, the Women's Union, a translator and a motorcycle helmet I got a small glimpse into a world few have access to and are unaware of.







I think we all tend to compare every moment to some experience of the past. The ones I have are minimal and I am taken back to the days I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in Philadelphia. One 5 PM was visually memorable--children marching back towards Girard Avenue in their ironed uniforms after my day on the construction site. I awaited the end of the day to go to NET, a juvenile detention center to talk to kids about staying in the law's boundaries. There's just something truly inspiring about children living fearlessly in the face of adversity. Yep, I'm hopeful!Today, two children returned from the hospital after being bitten by mosquitos and experiencing symptoms of dengue fever (I think from what they described).

http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=29197
They are due to recover but were sound asleep when I called on the house. Today was a day of joy for the children throughout the hamlet.



Here are some of the lovely ladies that made these housing loans possible in one commune.

Phu Quoc Part I: Napping

Ok, you asked for more!

Before Patrick and I ran away to Kien Giang to see what Habitat is all about on the ground, we escaped to the island of Phu Quoc. This island is marketed as the size of Singapore. The guidebook warns: get the chance to visit before resort development threatens to take it over.

Apparently, there is a lot to see and do: snorkeling, shopping for fish sauce (stinky) and exploring the jungle. We did none of the above and I was completely satisfied by the warm sand and good eats. I swam in the Bay of Thailand!







I also got an amazing 3 dollar massage which did me in for the rest of the day. The women were not bashful in stripping off my swimming suit top. Wow.

Birthday. Refocus. Travel to tiny islands.

These will be all the things I have accomplished in Week 2: Stylin it in Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh. My whopping 24th birthday consisted of delicious lotus salad and curry for our staff lunch, more nihon ryori and a night of hitting the teeny bopper scene. I always seem to be in a far off land on my birthday. What is up with that? Missed all of you out there in America world...



The lunch consisted of a big welcome back to Gail, Mark and Toan (staffers and country director who were previously trapped in Bangkok on a area wide Habitat meeting) and cake. During this time I was given the gift of the cutest face mask by fellow partner in crime. [See how face mask is used below]



After more battles with the printer and hunting down contacts, the celebration moved to Hana, a Japanese restaurant in the center of the city. I don't think I will ever run across 5 dollar, legit sashimi ever again. The evening gets better with a WILD TIME at Diamond Plaza (the ritzy mall) and its 4th floor bowling alley. Imagine cosmic bowling in anime world. Actualy, don't imagine. Look below.




We also recently welcomed back our supervisor Wesley, his wife and adorable kids! This is the refocus section of my week. We sat down with him and poof! We're on the right research track again. When I am more coherent with what this is, I'll let you know...


Now onto the traveling: By 6 am tomorrow, fellow partner and I will grace the island of Phu Quoc. By the end of Saturday, I hope to truly master the pronounciation of Phu Quoc. By Sunday of next wekk, I will have successfully mastered traveling by high speed boats and sitting still on bus rides. Being tall in Viet Nam gives me more perspective on some of my tall friends back at home. Our team will be traveling to Kien Giang for work---to understand Habitat for Humanity's operations in Kien Giang province.


Hopefully the pictures will tell that tale.

I heart Vietnamese food...

I will state plainly and clearly, this post does not compare to my partner in crime's post on yesterday evening. He got a true taste of Vietnamese male activities as the ladies in the office laughed at what our engineer and intern would go through that evening. True confirmation of my suspicions on gender roles in Vietnam.

To be honest, glad I didn't have to dance my night away. I'm still suffering from jet lag....

http://crossinghcm.blogspot.com/2007/06/pats-night-out.html

OK. Now about food.


I'm slowly adjusting to all the good food in Ho Chi Minh. After a day of eating only bread, I'm alive and well, ready to dig into the food again!

A few of my favorite things:

-Bahn mi trung (egg sandwhich, veggies with some type of spice and fish paste)
-Pho chay (vegetarian noodle soup)
-Ban Xeo (egg/flour omlet wrapped in lettuce--i.e. vietnamese crepes)
-buoi (pomelo--big grapefruit)
-mang cut (mangosteen
-soda chanh (soda, crushed lemon juice and sugar)
-cafe sua da (iced coffee with condensed milk)
-nuoc suoi (bottled water hehe)



I also found MILO, my favorite drink from those Japanese days...

As I explore other regions of Vietnam, there will be more posts on the food :)


p.s.

Nha Be Site Visit

We went to our first Habitat site visit where HFHI works with a government partner to give home improvement loans. There's a lot to reflect on here and most of it could not be captured in photos. Nha Be is on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City:

the girl in the picture

After I told our resident civil engineer the strange tales of my past (peruvian chica born in nippon), he recommended a nice Japanese cafe to visit. There I stumbled upon a book I saw during the "what I should know before I leave vietnam" stage.

The Girl in the Picture describes the events before and after the poweful shot of nine year old Kim Thi Phan Phuc running to escape a napalm attack on her village. This book details the way her life was saved by Nick Ut, the journalist who took the Pultizer Prize winning photo.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4517597.stm

I spent about two hours reading about atrocities throughout Southern Vietnam in the middle of bustling Saigon.

Some other key context builders:

1) The influx of tall Western tourists eager to gobble up cheap pho and live in luxury on less than 10 dollars a day at the Ben Thanh Market


2) The continual presence of the communist regime. I'm talking bold yellow stars, sea green walls and arranging my documents for HFHI site visits to rural communes.



and this:








I am truly at a crossroads.










Week 2: One would never say, "oh I think I'll watch Schindler's List today--that sounds like a good time." I don't think I would have ever said: "Visiting the War Crimes Museum would be great way to spend my Sunday afternoon."

But here I go.

We originally wanted one of you in Bangkok...

This is what the regional director of Habitat for Humanity-Southeast Asia tells us at a fancy Bavarian restaurant in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City. As we delve into our work more, I can't imagine adding yet another country to our study.

What am I exactly doing, you ask? I am currently hosted by the Habitat for Humanity Vietnam (HFHI-V) office studying the policy environment which affects HFHI's housing programs. In Vietnam, most of the work involves partnership with the Vietnamese government in housing microfinance programs. This will be my little area of expertise--which happens to be rather large.

My fellow partner in crime and I (interns) are up for the task. Project plan is set. Travel arrangements throughout Vietnam is pretty much done. Now it's all about replicating the study in Cambodia. So...originally they wanted us in Bangkok?

Say hi to my space
Amazing!

Day 1, 2 and 4: Learn to cross the street

I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC or Saigon) close to midnight on June 1st. After magically traveling through time during my 2 day journey I looked outside the taxi window only to find motorcycles.


Welcome to Vietnam. This is perhaps Ho Chi Minh's distinguishing characteristic. In Lima, Peru crossing the street is a test in your ability to weave through the traffic. Jump out of the way or find yourself squashed on the Avenue of the Americas. And no one cares. In Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, if you attempt to jump out of the way of an oncoming motorcyle--consider yourself doomed. Motorcyclists take into account your pace as pedestrians cross.

I can't seem to trust that motorcylists will smoothly pass me by. Here is the dominant piece of advice I get as a newbie: walk slowly, deliberately and just trust the drivers. What they don't tell you is that under no circumstances should you walk in front of a buse. Sure, motorcycles swim around you. Buses just take you out. This is for future reference Ho Chi Minh City visitors!


As I make my way carefully across every block, I can't shake away the image of the small girl who fell off her motorcycle in front of us on Hai Ba Trung (one of the major avenues). As other motorcyles weaved past her, her small group riding with her tried to bring her back to consciousness.


I didn't stick around for the ending , but in a city where no one stops, I was comforted by the abundant of people come out of the woodwork calling for help.


Tomorrow is Day 5. I hope to not only conquer crossing streets but make phone calls to NGOs and the Vietnamese government and do my best to not offend people with my silly mannerisms.

Good morning Vietnam...

What: Habitat for Humanity International-Vietnam/Cambodia
Where: Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh
When: June 1-August 30
How: Planes, lots of VND (dong currency) and buses throughout the Mekong Delta Region




As of June 1, 2007 I've flown to the other side of the world to say a big hello to Southeast Asia. Will update when I am more coherent!