viet nam

i spent a winter "service" term in northern viet nam with warren wilson college. the group was hosted by the ymca of viet nam, a christian organization in a majority buddhist country. we spent a week or so assisting in the building of a elementary school in a small village outside phong. the educational components were a little lacking as we were supposed to be studying the economic, social, and psychological effects of the "american war" on the people but it being a communist country (government suppression) it felt much more like a tour of disneyland. it seemed to be more of a sightseeing vacation. we were hustled from one westernized attraction to next n restaurant by our ymca hosts. nevertheless i have never felt as genuinely welcomed or interested in as by the people of viet nam, i know it sounds cliche but i was amazed.


the crew in front of a museum dedicated to the viet namese struggle for independence


street barbershop: notice the barbers mask; many viet namese wear masks outside for one reason or another (pollution i suppose)


typical view of the countryside outside of thanh hai; where we did our service project


mixing concrete with the women


the girls painting doors for the school


can you find the professor in this picture? dr. kusujiarti with the ladies


the local men would sit all day in the child size chairs and watch us. one day roasted corn was brought by a family for a snack. notice the pith helmet, a remnant of french rule. although the men sat, the women would work alongside us, in fact the hired laborers were some of the hardest working women i had ever seen. dressed in nice clothes, the typical conical hat, and a mask the women were strangely mysterious.


thanh hai pagoda in the village's center


wowing the children with my high school skills

lunchtime break in thanh hai in the village center playing soccer with the kids


at the dedication ceremony for the school


two worlds collide; in sapa in the northern highlands, native hmong women and some of the girls in the group. sapa has turned into a tourist town for buying hmong goods and jump-off town for trekking through mountains


the group hiking in the northern highlands among the terraced rice fields



for a nation to have survived so many atrocities at the hands of americans and in one generations time seem to forgive their antagonists is beyond me. before leaving i thought about what the peoples reactions would be like and i almost welcomed some hostility, i felt that if someone would yell at me i would take it as an apology for my country but surprisingly i never encountered the least bit of harassment.