tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14864009176327090672024-02-07T01:43:59.658-08:00VASF FellowsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09916132899454943042noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-68306250425511482502012-09-13T18:17:00.002-07:002012-09-13T18:17:36.019-07:00Compost Building CompetitionTo test the students ability to build a compost pile quickly and correctly, I held a compost competition. Four families competed at break-neck speeds over 30 minutes to win the prize: ice cream. Some words that the students are shouting include: "Nâu" which is the color brown - what they refer to as brown materials. "Nước" is water, the final ingredient to add to the compost pile.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-42928022191306952732012-09-13T18:07:00.002-07:002012-09-13T18:07:48.562-07:00How Do you Know a Topic Excites your Students?When it makes it to the dinner table!<br />
<br />
<strong>The context:</strong> I’ve been planning a classroom debate
for the last 3 weeks. In my head I envisioned 4 community stakeholders
for the kids to role-play: the community worker trained in environmental
health, the municipal government, the city developers, and the farmers.<br />
<strong>The scenario:</strong> a disputed 2 hectare plot of land
that’s prone to flooding during the monsoon season and is critical to
Hué’s ecosystem. Which group can justify their claim to it?<br />
<strong>The Debate</strong>: started off slow but once it gained momentum the kids couldn’t stop arguing.<br />
<blockquote>
- What about the farmers? If you take the land away, how will we make a living?<br />
- We’ll compensate you for the land and train you in construction. It’s a better career…<br />
- The farmers have a better proposal, let us us the land for growing rice. We’ll feed Huế and all the ethnic communities.<br />
- Do the ethnic communities eat rice as a main staple?<br />
- How will the developers protect the ecosystem?<br />
- It’ll be a green building. How do you propose Huế handle the huge influx of tourists every year?<br />
- Homestays to service tourism.</blockquote>
We went well into the lunch hour and during lunch, they were still
talking about how there were so many unresolved arguments! My work here is
complete…<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-37669815229072698542012-09-13T17:53:00.002-07:002012-09-13T17:53:14.957-07:00The Half Way Mark
<br />
<br />
<strong> <i>(As you can already tell, I'm posting my journal entries after the projects have ended.)</i></strong>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>1 month in and 1 month left<br />
</strong><br />
<blockquote>
How’s my work progressing? What sort of metrics am I
using to assess my progress? Is the glass half empty or half full? Am I
willing to find out if the liquid in the glass is potable?</blockquote>
Questions my higher ups would welcome answers to. I still need to
measure how much waste becomes compost – we’re at day 15 of composting
using a protocol that assures compost in 14-21 days. Judging by the look
of things and our frequent additions to the pile, we may need several
more days before we can declare the compost officially ready.<br />
<br />
The mushrooms have finally been delivered to the other site where I
sometimes work, an elderly home housed within a Buddhist nunnery. The
nuns have started growing the mushrooms, a practice which requires
muscle memory and some background knowledge. The process of scaling up
this enterprise uses up the most brain power and will most likely keep
us busy for the last leg of my time in Huế.<br />
<br />
<strong>The expectations I had are changing</strong><br />
The goals I set out to achieve have changed. I’ve been asked to come
up with a curriculum on climate change for the shelter kids in addition
to showing them how to compost. Now, I need to figure out how the nuns
can generate income from the mushrooms. Admittedly, I did not come into
these projects as prepared as I thought I was: I didn’t firmly grasp the
importance of building relationships and I underestimated the necessity
of mental flexibility. I’m working much harder on this front and making
time to abandon my plans and planning for a much less structured
experience. It’s not a stressful time but there are certain things which
nag at me to complete.<br />
<br />
On a more celebratory note, the students are accepting me into their family and – perhaps with some
reservation – the task of cutting grass and gathering materials for compost. I daresay some of them
even like me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-36307404462855343662012-09-13T17:44:00.000-07:002012-09-13T18:01:26.839-07:00We're on Youtube!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A re-post of a previous video but, it is worth a second watch.</div>
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I would like to thank Alan Do for putting this video together for our shelter's project. Notice: at the beginning of the video while I'm lecturing, there are several confused faces in the crowd!<br />
<br />
A video recording of the students turning and watering our compost pile, in Vietnamese:<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-20139319395551880692012-09-13T17:38:00.001-07:002012-09-13T17:41:44.623-07:00Teaching in Broken Vietnamese is a Funny Experience<br />
It was my first week teaching students at the Xuân Phú shelter about compost and waste management when I realized the reaction on my students’ faces portrayed a deep confusion. I had tried to make the material we were covering as accessible as possible but language was a difficult barrier to overcome.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, within the next few lectures I
picked up a technique: ask the students to find the word for me. Chi
Dung, my boss, defuses the situation through questions. “Các em, cái nài
là cái gì?” Or “Hôm nay các em làm gì?” (“Younger siblings, what is
this?” or “Today, what did you do younger siblings?”) <br />
<br />
Asking questions is great for another reason: it gives the students a chance to participate. There is one boy in the class who always has the
answers.<br />
<br />
“What in manure can be harmful to human beings?” I asked on one occasion. <br />
<br />
While most of the class maintained an air of silence, he replied most sensibly, “The smell.”<br />
<br />
I almost fell over with laughter.<br />
<br />
Mistakes have the property of providing
comedic relief if we let them. This one student was unafraid to try. So, the next time I am in discomfort over finding the right words, I’m
going to channel his charisma and try my best to get a laugh out of the experience.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-45118824819845075332012-08-28T09:36:00.001-07:002012-08-28T09:36:22.185-07:00Help Support FHF<p>For the past years, VASF has partnered with Friends of Hue to create a fellowship program that sponsors university students and young professionals to go and work with under-served communities in Hue, Vietnam. The great work that our fellows do is just a portion of FHF's overall mission.</p><p>FHF is committed to providing award-winning programs to the most underserved and under-resourced community in Vietnam. FHF provides education and empowerment to disadvantaged youths; mobilize schools and communities around public health initiatives to build healthy communities; enable businesses with pay-it-forward equipment capital loans and engage them in rebuilding communities through philanthropic services.</p><p>To date, FHF's integrated and holistic development services have impacted over 79,000 lives in the provision of sheltering and education to orphans/victims of social unrests, health services to people in rural areas, scholarships to disadvantaged students, health education/prevention to students in impoverished schools, job training and placement, and loans to struggling businesses.</p><p>Please join VASF in supporting FHF's mission by visiting their iFoundation page: <a href="http://onevietnam.org/friends_of_hue">http://onevietnam.org/friends_of_hue</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09916132899454943042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-89029613110175218542012-08-28T09:26:00.000-07:002012-08-28T09:26:09.903-07:00Composting Project<p>Dan Huynh, one of VASF's Fellows in 2012, has been in Hue educating and working with children at the FHF shelter on composting practices to address regional issues on waste management and as a solution to replace deplete soil due to flooding. This composting project will be replicated at other shelters in Hue. Please watch her work with our children here.</p><iframe width="375" height="210" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tKkglBZHIm0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09916132899454943042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-66651290351535577682012-01-18T22:55:00.000-08:002012-01-18T22:55:05.338-08:00The Trials and Tribulation of Global Trade and Village Development<p>VASF Cultural Bridges Report by Rachael Carson</p>
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<p>As a VASF Cultural Bridges Fellow, I spent approximately 3 months working on the ThriiveCapital Loans project and the Mending Communities Initiative (MCI) in Hue, Vietnam. Prior to the Bridges Fellowship, I spent 9 months working with the Friends of Hue Foundation as a Development Analyst on the ThriiveCapital Loan project, and following the Fellowship I began working as a staff member of the Friends of Hue Foundation. Although my formal VASF Fellowship timeline was from mid June through mid September, this report will describe my work experiences through October 2011.</p>
<p>My project proposal for the Bridges Fellowship was largely focused on working with the MCI project to establish an Artisan Center. As soon as I started my fellowship in June, the ThriiveCapital Loan project took priority due to the imminent opening of applications for the ThriiveCapital Loans. For the next month and a half, my time was largely spent on Thriive contributing to the Biannual Report, drafting the Operational Guide, rewriting the Thriive Loan Application, Marketing Message, Marketing Flyer, surveying potential charity goods recipients, and developing survey’s to 1.) Examine growth within business and 2.) Evaluate the effectiveness of the vocational training programs with the other VASF Fellow, Traci Pham. Due to my experience with Thriive, I was able to contribute feedback based on last year’s success and failures and provide a critical take on how to further improve these different components. It was extremely beneficial for me as a team member and for the project in general to have Traci, an experienced lawyer who can transfer professional skills such as consistency, streamlining and operational efficiency into our project’s at FHF.</p>
<p>The second half of my Fellowship focused on a different component than planned of the MCI project. FHF partnered with the CEO of Fashion 4 Freedom, Lanvy Nguyen, to develop, manufacture and export abroad high quality goods from Thriive businesses and Village Co-operatives based in Hue. Due to a host of reasons- such as Hue’s inhospitable climate and the conservative local government- the central region of Vietnam has fallen behind socioeconomically and missed out on all the manufacturing opportunities which have brought development to the other regions on the country. The political capital in the North and the fast paced international hub in the South have fostered an environment for international investment and development, while the central region has stayed stagnant and it’s small and medium enterprises and village co-operatives have felt the price.</p>
<p>An opportunity arose to provide promotional gift bags at the TEDx Sanjoaquin Conference, which was being organized by a Board member of FHF. LanVy Nguyen was invited to speak, organize and design the promotional gift bags at the TEDx Conference. This provided a great occasion to experiment wit the Village Co-ops and Thriive businesses to design and manufacture their products to test on an international market. So for the next month and half, I worked directly with LanVy through email and Skype to manage the product development and manufacturing of product’s for the TEDx Conference.</p>
<p>The original plan was to capitalize on our network of Hue Thriive businesses. We first approached Lin’s Tailor, one of our most developed Thriive businesses, and requested them to make a sample canvas bag. The owner was hesitant since he specializes in suit making and custom dress clothes orders. Then, we realized how difficult it would be to source the canvas material in Hue. Although this material is plentiful in Saigon and Hanoi, one of the many challenges of working in Hue is finding the right materials locally. The idea of this project is to promote all local businesses and local materials, so we moved on to another idea. While meeting with another Thriive business, a young lacquer artist who runs Then Studio, we discussed the idea of creating lacquer pins with a ‘techy’ theme for the participants of the TEDx Conference. We presented him with small j-peg images of a keyboard, computer mouse, floppy disc, clock, a hand and a bicycle. He worked with a carpenter to carve the images into thin wooden objects, then placed thin stickers on each pin to design the inside content, which was finally covered by a lacquer enamel, darkening the wood.</p>
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<p>While working with Tuan, the lacquer artist, he showed us a bamboo pillow he designed with another one of the Thriive businesses, Bao La Village Bamboo Co-operative. This pillow sparked the idea to create bamboo promotional gift bags for the TEDx Conference. LanVy then designed a bag based on the bamboo pillow, but gave the team in Hue creative freedom to change whatever was logistically necessary. There turned out to be quite a few changes!</p>
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<p>Working with Bao La became the most frustrating part of this project, yet taught me a tremendous amount about global trade and village development. We primarily worked with the designer of Bao La, Chu Hong, a 60 year old, High School graduate, with no formal design education, but who has carried Bao La Village to win prestigious awards at Handicraft Festivals all over the country and to the well-respected reputation Bao La has today.</p>
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<p>After providing the design picture and describing in detail the best we could, the designer Chu Hong, seemed to understand the idea of the bag. We spent the next month driving the 20 km strip on the highway back and forth to Bao La village more times than I can remember. We set deadlines that were not met. We discussed fabric, bamboo weaving styles, dimensions and dealt with trials and tribulations of the harvest season. While being on a tight schedule and after many late deadlines, we learnt that the slow pace of work was due to a few reasons, but primarily the fact that the harvest season (September/October) takes priority over the work done at the bamboo co-op. All of the chairpersons, members and employees of Bao La Bamboo Co-op are farmers as well, and work in the bamboo co-op since due to the village tradition, extra source of income and can fill the time when the fields do not need to be attended to. Although Bao La was making strives and improvements to the bag we requested, we realized there was just not enough time to have 150 bags ready to be shipped to California by the beginning of November. We instead ordered 5 sample bags and moved on to Plan…C</p>
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<p>We began working with a straw village 50 km outside of Hue as soon as we realized the bamboo bags would not be done in time. Straw bags are simple, cheap and easy to make. Yet similar to Bao La, all the co-op members were preoccupied with finishing the harvest and working on the fields before they could complete the order with the straw co-op. Tuan, the lacquer artist, then got referred to a family friend who sells straw bags at the largest market in Hue, Dong Ba. We approached the woman requesting an order of 100 straw bags (which she sourced from the straw village) within 1 week. Due to the short time period, we paid 12,000 VND per bag instead of 8,000 VND ($0.60 cents vs $0.40 cents) but received them right on time. We then sent the straw bags to another Thriive business, Minh Thi Printing, to have the TEDx San Joaquin logo be printed on the bags. Within another few days, we had the finished product!</p>
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<p>Although the components of the MCI project are shifting based on the needs and situation on the ground, the philosophy behind the project stays the same; providing small and growing businesses with the knowledge and resources to produce high quality goods as well as expand their product line and clientele internationally. This project was a learning experience for the FHF staff and the small businesses and village co-operatives involved. The experience provided me with a thorough understanding of some of the operational obstacles that hold back village co-operatives with beautiful and easily marketable products: unmet deadlines, misunderstanding of a ‘finished’ product and lack of knowledge of the foreign market. In addition to the operational obstacles, the real trials and tribulations arise due to development and cultural issues such as heavily relaying on the harvest each year and the working culture which doesn’t stress taking creative risks, strict timelines, and thorough questioning when one doesn’t understand. Challenges aside, we managed to export a beautiful finished product to California in time to showcase the creative and well-crafted product’s Vietnam, and specifically Hue, has to offer the world.</p>
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<br /></div><div>Traci & Rachael</div></div>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-53387451694173954512011-08-21T20:29:00.000-07:002011-08-21T20:43:01.140-07:00Last Week!This is my last week in Hue, Vietnam for my fellowship! The past few weeks have gone past so quickly. I find myself stumbling upon the same feeling as I had when I first arrived in Hue all those weeks ago - feeling that its all so surreal that its actually the end of my fellowship.<div>
<br /></div><div>Over the last few days, I've been cramming in as much delicious Hue food as possible - where else would I get $0.40 USD coffee, and $0.30 che, and $1.00 USD meals? I try to hold onto the memories of all the places I visit - all the smells, sounds, sights that were once foreign to me, now almost second nature. I'm overcome by nostalgia and sentimentality every time visit a place. I wonder "when I will visit it again?", that this might be the last time I'll ever sit at this same cafe, have this bowl of noodle, see this street vendor... </div><div>
<br /></div><div>Ah, I will miss the street vendors, which are so ubiquitous and so unique to Vietnam. If you're ever hungry, you can just have a steaming bowl of noodle soup literally in front of your door step, and its made in seconds. There aren't that many places in the world that gives you that kind of efficient customer service and that delivers such quality fresh food. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>I love chatting to the little old ladies that serve me at these street vendors. In the beginning, I used to find these conversations really confronting as I don't usually chat to people/waiters/business owners at restaurants in Australia/USA, and don't like to respond to questions asked by strangers concerning my personal life. But, now, I enjoy nothing more than sitting down on the little plastic stools on the side walk to chit chat about my life in Australia, my level of Vietnamese (improving every day!), which then inevitably turns to my unmarried state which, by the way, they advise, needs to be rectified "pronto", and my advancing age - I am unmarried after all and no one wants an old maid ... </div><div>
<br /></div><div>I had wanted to come here to create personal impact within the community through my work. And now that I am leaving, I find that the greatest impact witnessed is the change within myself - a very significant form of "personal impact" indeed!</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Traci </div>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-78981380182318429952011-08-19T00:53:00.000-07:002011-08-19T01:42:23.622-07:00Charitable Giving Ceremonies: Part 2We held another Charitable Giving Ceremony today to donate 120 books to students of ethnic minority descent at a rural school outside of Hue City. The students were so excited to receive the donated books, but when we start taking pictures of them, that's when the excitement levels really peaked! <div>
<br /></div><div>All of a sudden, we were surrounded by squealing and laughing children making "peace" signs, giving us high-fives and squeezing our hands. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>It was so cute! Love this part of the fellowship! Some pictures below.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>- Traci</div><div>
<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYx2TyZqHLQIAfXA4UFN89Sy4HAjLN64hTR0zbOvCjuf6_v8E3PAn36w4saTP0RjnR9fzKS3jtV86qhFUrq_DDJXe4rX0udtxf_guqh3AutiacAPMUNlB5QP1K8VRb7JqQJGvfrvTjRD0/s1600/IMG_2463.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYx2TyZqHLQIAfXA4UFN89Sy4HAjLN64hTR0zbOvCjuf6_v8E3PAn36w4saTP0RjnR9fzKS3jtV86qhFUrq_DDJXe4rX0udtxf_guqh3AutiacAPMUNlB5QP1K8VRb7JqQJGvfrvTjRD0/s320/IMG_2463.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642484507734716162" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYx2TyZqHLQIAfXA4UFN89Sy4HAjLN64hTR0zbOvCjuf6_v8E3PAn36w4saTP0RjnR9fzKS3jtV86qhFUrq_DDJXe4rX0udtxf_guqh3AutiacAPMUNlB5QP1K8VRb7JqQJGvfrvTjRD0/s1600/IMG_2463.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_BaNXbAI6g34KaDXSPyT9fTD8KLcFlG8Bz3UGLygArE4aRZXRelvsfEJL8BAsABD_EMELEPTQZaBOj8Kd3nv7HUGs4CUdRQX-0HIrE02-rKAE86547IsJoeMJrj9bKAvE1GSa7vHmQo/s1600/IMG_2460.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_BaNXbAI6g34KaDXSPyT9fTD8KLcFlG8Bz3UGLygArE4aRZXRelvsfEJL8BAsABD_EMELEPTQZaBOj8Kd3nv7HUGs4CUdRQX-0HIrE02-rKAE86547IsJoeMJrj9bKAvE1GSa7vHmQo/s320/IMG_2460.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642484502833732098" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px; " /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_BaNXbAI6g34KaDXSPyT9fTD8KLcFlG8Bz3UGLygArE4aRZXRelvsfEJL8BAsABD_EMELEPTQZaBOj8Kd3nv7HUGs4CUdRQX-0HIrE02-rKAE86547IsJoeMJrj9bKAvE1GSa7vHmQo/s1600/IMG_2460.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZLfP1y1kwHFsK2tLqkw8zH-q5CDAeVjytRTxxclI1wPGDpf76jywFTmdSEE8GfsuZHkrvodVvIfv2vqjQpXERdF380RS6s9-X94HPXQiMUWSTusClJ-EYuqICSonSm4Kqx-FIurxgaI/s1600/IMG_2469.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZLfP1y1kwHFsK2tLqkw8zH-q5CDAeVjytRTxxclI1wPGDpf76jywFTmdSEE8GfsuZHkrvodVvIfv2vqjQpXERdF380RS6s9-X94HPXQiMUWSTusClJ-EYuqICSonSm4Kqx-FIurxgaI/s320/IMG_2469.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642484497136337666" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a>
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<br /></div></div>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-75516503515654170972011-08-16T22:04:00.000-07:002011-08-16T22:30:19.309-07:00Charitable Giving Ceremonies<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: ArialMT; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Summer break has ended and a new school year has begun in Hue city, Vietnam. All across the city, many students are equipped with clean, crisp uniforms and new notebooks that traditionally mark the start of a fresh school year. However, there are many students in Hue and the neighboring rural areas that do without these items. Such students, usually do not have the luxury of fresh uniforms every year, often wearing the same set of uniforms for a number of years, or wearing hand-me-downs from older siblings or donated uniforms of village/community members. Other students re-use school books, by erasing the existing text in the notebooks that they used the year before or those donated by community members, and then writing fresh text on top of the erased content.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: ArialMT; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: ArialMT; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Thriive Businessses are businesses that are the recipients of the ThriiveCapital Loan, which they repay by donating goods that they produce to Hue community members in need. This week, we held a number of Charitable Giving Ceremonies during which Thriive Businesses repaid their loan through donating new school uniforms and notebooks to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. We held Thriive Charitable Ceremonies at each of the schools and children shelters that were selected as Recipients of the donated goods. This week we will hold four Charitable Giving Ceremonies to schools/shelters, and donating a total of: 419 sets of uniforms, 4550 notebooks, 4 dinning tables, 1 First Aid cabinet, 2 filing cabinets, 4 book shelves, 6 large study tables, 4 sets of individual study tables and 2 chairs, 4 sets of individual round tables and 5 chairs.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: ArialMT; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The students at the ceremonies were really so cute (they loved the fact that we had cameras on hand and had no hesitation to pose for some adorable shots) and had huge smiles on their faces when they received their new supply of goodies! The Thriive Businesses and parents in attendance of the ceremonies were also very pleased. It is very rewarding to see the culmination of all our work and to see the concerted charitable giving of Hue businesses supporting Hue community members.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: ArialMT; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here are some pictures!</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: ArialMT; color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Traci & Rachael</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><div class="im" style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">
<br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWLr8FActd7Qlv-GG8gyNQVZXA3lhM37fTYubvrIpG4CmX42_xd_hyphenhyphenY53GArX1_gbFUP7ChZIAYvjXo7HhNE8xnGypMVex2gUHXJ6RMvCtMQQzV0wsDKMnVObp3TRHaaJwBfGNqD5Pxc/s1600/IMG_2417.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWLr8FActd7Qlv-GG8gyNQVZXA3lhM37fTYubvrIpG4CmX42_xd_hyphenhyphenY53GArX1_gbFUP7ChZIAYvjXo7HhNE8xnGypMVex2gUHXJ6RMvCtMQQzV0wsDKMnVObp3TRHaaJwBfGNqD5Pxc/s320/IMG_2417.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641689032811877154" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWLr8FActd7Qlv-GG8gyNQVZXA3lhM37fTYubvrIpG4CmX42_xd_hyphenhyphenY53GArX1_gbFUP7ChZIAYvjXo7HhNE8xnGypMVex2gUHXJ6RMvCtMQQzV0wsDKMnVObp3TRHaaJwBfGNqD5Pxc/s1600/IMG_2417.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMG4c2AlKLMq_SZlkyK3plQ0eqFOiw-zPL7o6LFXhIcV3vqUQ8qQcWkP5Tod37hG9vZG8-YA5UywcdYFpxCUjQMX4roYKNHRL3u0nO8BsawGjVLq9jQILyQajikFYQM3toqyZwabe5Qbs/s1600/IMG_2409.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMG4c2AlKLMq_SZlkyK3plQ0eqFOiw-zPL7o6LFXhIcV3vqUQ8qQcWkP5Tod37hG9vZG8-YA5UywcdYFpxCUjQMX4roYKNHRL3u0nO8BsawGjVLq9jQILyQajikFYQM3toqyZwabe5Qbs/s320/IMG_2409.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641689028616034306" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMG4c2AlKLMq_SZlkyK3plQ0eqFOiw-zPL7o6LFXhIcV3vqUQ8qQcWkP5Tod37hG9vZG8-YA5UywcdYFpxCUjQMX4roYKNHRL3u0nO8BsawGjVLq9jQILyQajikFYQM3toqyZwabe5Qbs/s1600/IMG_2409.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZZ14XJsD8mpwq0_YslQYG-9V6jleii9sfttVhZ3rWX2Qj38x10n6Toh_fNjQse7-f8AcFVBhAlVkmcfLI-zoopNil16ibxw5FV49jAvpI8wmx-9cNZ0zrahAYV7-aHXVgRYkvqF1WFE/s1600/IMG_2388.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZZ14XJsD8mpwq0_YslQYG-9V6jleii9sfttVhZ3rWX2Qj38x10n6Toh_fNjQse7-f8AcFVBhAlVkmcfLI-zoopNil16ibxw5FV49jAvpI8wmx-9cNZ0zrahAYV7-aHXVgRYkvqF1WFE/s320/IMG_2388.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641689021183162162" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZZ14XJsD8mpwq0_YslQYG-9V6jleii9sfttVhZ3rWX2Qj38x10n6Toh_fNjQse7-f8AcFVBhAlVkmcfLI-zoopNil16ibxw5FV49jAvpI8wmx-9cNZ0zrahAYV7-aHXVgRYkvqF1WFE/s1600/IMG_2388.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExwAcAFSB_3_yh3zlgfVQTggokkUC-n1HMf-B1VTbCk_6_cpaHECX_MO-WLqEcHAqli2W920J-9BjGwcculLmSuQvEWObFijamx31ZFy03WMEAdoA2yMGPIReXocR9UxS0OefreMk2Yg/s1600/IMG_2385.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExwAcAFSB_3_yh3zlgfVQTggokkUC-n1HMf-B1VTbCk_6_cpaHECX_MO-WLqEcHAqli2W920J-9BjGwcculLmSuQvEWObFijamx31ZFy03WMEAdoA2yMGPIReXocR9UxS0OefreMk2Yg/s320/IMG_2385.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641689016066625682" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExwAcAFSB_3_yh3zlgfVQTggokkUC-n1HMf-B1VTbCk_6_cpaHECX_MO-WLqEcHAqli2W920J-9BjGwcculLmSuQvEWObFijamx31ZFy03WMEAdoA2yMGPIReXocR9UxS0OefreMk2Yg/s1600/IMG_2385.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoIdWwxQreQ3dEhEEHYKPrxd2kKRINiUlCYk__edZvjWOQhZdepT11boWLl9XhTF3I4MGLo9Nw3I3uYt49HNkrpoI42SyLW78a-41Gf6K1EBOzPPTgHgnAZxMeEpWm0Q4XDHDs_h6KVw/s1600/IMG_2427.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoIdWwxQreQ3dEhEEHYKPrxd2kKRINiUlCYk__edZvjWOQhZdepT11boWLl9XhTF3I4MGLo9Nw3I3uYt49HNkrpoI42SyLW78a-41Gf6K1EBOzPPTgHgnAZxMeEpWm0Q4XDHDs_h6KVw/s320/IMG_2427.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641691771826841234" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">
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<br /></span></div></div>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-51205375625664000252011-07-29T23:00:00.000-07:002011-07-29T23:04:10.273-07:00Viet Kieu<span style="font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; " id="internal-source-marker_0.4601400896136383" >It’s quite a strange experience being a Vietnamese-American back in Vietnam for the first time. I was not expecting to have to deal with such complex identity issues. Just merely walking down the street, it is blatantly obvious that I am not a local or a native but I get the impression that I am not viewed in the same light as other Westerners here. It is as if I am held up to a different standard. I am expected to conform to Vietnamese culture and standards although it is quite apparent that I am a foreigner. So what am I? Vietnamese? Westerner? I am a viet-kieu. One who’s parents are of Vietnamese origin and is now returning back to the country. It’s a connection and an identity I have yet to explore and understand but there is still quite a bit of time left for me to figure it out. </span>Nathaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343529276484073065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-88941951715760368872011-07-28T23:26:00.000-07:002011-07-28T23:37:40.787-07:00VA NGO<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWhZTWhXuz95q1e-FOtmZfpnwARkYHAHbd6lDls5vdYXpT8dF2yJhbirFr-uNRXaeUGDfWUXuOt7jvA5kaier0O-mwD9pEu_ELmmN8nS-pXpM6cwEy0kZfIHONOXLzAFtgQmh6nM0NSg/s1600/DSC05630.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWhZTWhXuz95q1e-FOtmZfpnwARkYHAHbd6lDls5vdYXpT8dF2yJhbirFr-uNRXaeUGDfWUXuOt7jvA5kaier0O-mwD9pEu_ELmmN8nS-pXpM6cwEy0kZfIHONOXLzAFtgQmh6nM0NSg/s320/DSC05630.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634659074403807186" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnHAfdrh_My9YdiNKu6SEjHbiTmYKdcEhmPytS0ItB-CxrZ_ZETFge96nB9nUHYzLxXAkRWHw0w8mrRU3d1OVWSb3X2XQUCH3ZOKtgJjRgXSTfd1W5ANK-dCsNS3N8Vc-J8i-qFEgIHU/s1600/DSC05549.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnHAfdrh_My9YdiNKu6SEjHbiTmYKdcEhmPytS0ItB-CxrZ_ZETFge96nB9nUHYzLxXAkRWHw0w8mrRU3d1OVWSb3X2XQUCH3ZOKtgJjRgXSTfd1W5ANK-dCsNS3N8Vc-J8i-qFEgIHU/s320/DSC05549.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634659073761249506" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgglmfF8xSTcWDSpF51vE27uCCnjN2g6_GaMYc9wav8kUgGlKTOsE5FB031pjbMhyphenhyphenVqBoPz0VMS1ai7jsKTmkV6zB46hSyz-F22MQ5Pc2ZtJ1_zKSX6IaSgRSr9Vh_UX_GvK4cvgmFCKDY/s1600/DSC05571.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgglmfF8xSTcWDSpF51vE27uCCnjN2g6_GaMYc9wav8kUgGlKTOsE5FB031pjbMhyphenhyphenVqBoPz0VMS1ai7jsKTmkV6zB46hSyz-F22MQ5Pc2ZtJ1_zKSX6IaSgRSr9Vh_UX_GvK4cvgmFCKDY/s320/DSC05571.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634659066532740578" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X-CbzqtacMNw4j8UebcXAhDpIqvYevmfkXehuyVMqOi_HFE1O_RW8-zE3_04174AyvIp9aff4JfMOJS4qkguSiy9oo5qzc5APrkLh0o_nCJTNqRAdS_yXjMMs6PiKCJI96B5JCWszIo/s1600/DSC05616.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X-CbzqtacMNw4j8UebcXAhDpIqvYevmfkXehuyVMqOi_HFE1O_RW8-zE3_04174AyvIp9aff4JfMOJS4qkguSiy9oo5qzc5APrkLh0o_nCJTNqRAdS_yXjMMs6PiKCJI96B5JCWszIo/s320/DSC05616.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634659064635813394" /></a><br /><div style="background-color: transparent; "><div style="background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9832912045530975" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">In addition to working with Friends of Hue Foundation, I also work with the VA NGO network Capacity Building and PEDfacts workshops as part of the requirements of my fellowship. I spent all of last week attending VA NGO workshops in both Saigon and Hue. A majority of the people who attended were females and all of the attendees were members of the Vietnamese education system: principles, teachers and administrators </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">VA NGO is a network of numerous Vietnamese-American NGOs dedicated to development in Vietnam. What it really is, is an amazing network of women who have banded together all with similar goals, passions and ideals of helping people. They share their resources and expertise amongst each other and their organizations. It is very grassroots and very beautiful. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">As for the VA NGO workshops, topics that were covered included nutrition, arts and crafts, women’s well-being, early childhood to adolescent development, and basic first-aid. These conferences sought to empower women with knowledge and novel approaches to what they do on a daily basis in and outside of their profession, child development. The workshops were amazingly progressive yet also surprisingly, culturally sensitive. It was far from the typical, problematic situation of westerners coming in and imposing knowledge on people in a developing country but rather quite the opposite. It was a collaboration of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American women coming together in a beautiful exchange of information to produce a powerful product, one that has the potential for great change. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I could tell that the women who participated in the workshops thoroughly enjoyed learning new techniques and approaches to education and child development. This was conveyed by their enthusiasm during various group activities. These workshops were also beneficial in that it allowed these women in education to develop a network amongst their own peers</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Being involved in education is bittersweet because ideally it targets the root of many problems but its results and affects are sometimes difficult to measure. Regardless, this past week has given me much hope. </span></span></div></div>Nathaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343529276484073065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-74314069256303370862011-07-28T09:13:00.000-07:002011-08-01T19:16:58.523-07:00Thriive Applications Open<p class="MsoNormal">Today was a big day at the Thriive office! </p><p class="MsoNormal">We held the first information session for potential applicants to discuss about Thriive and the application process. Rachael and I are both working on the Thriive project. We just opened up applications for Thriive for 2011! Thriive is a unique Equipment Capital Loan program to benefit small growing businesses. In brief, ThriiveCapital Loans are loans that are delivered in the form of equipment (not money) to businesses. The businesses pay back the Loan in the form of either donating goods/services that the business produces, or providing vocational education training to those in need (referred to as the “Charitable Paybacks”). Further information about Thriive is set out below.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We had a great turn out to the information session and were thrilled to have such a diverse range of applicants in attendance – from bakeries to construction companies to farmers. It was great to see our marketing efforts paying off – some business owners had learned about Thriive through TV, others through the radio and the newspaper. It was not too long ago that the Hue Thriive Team were drafting the content of the marketing efforts and determining our marketing strategy!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">An amazing thing happened in the information session today– in explaining the Charitable Paybacks, we mentioned how we had visited a school that had needed chairs for its students, but were unable to afford to purchase such chairs – such schools form the group of Recipients of the Charitable Paybacks. At the end of the information session, two businesses owners approached our team and said that they would like to donate money to the school, so that the school would finally have chairs it needs for its students. It’s really heart-warming to see the spirit of giving alive in Hue City, and to realize that we helped to make a connection between the school and businesses. In particular, it felt rewarding to see that we helped to make an impact on the school’s situation. Community empowerment and charitable giving/philanthropy are the ultimate goals of the Thriive program!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Everyday, we have applicants coming to our office to ask about Thriive, which is really motivating for us. Hopefully, by the time that the Applications close (22 August 2011), we will have a great and diverse candidate pool from which to choose the Thriive Businesses of 2011!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">P. S. More information on Thriive is set out below.</p><p class="MsoNormal">- Traci & Rachael</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OIkiWuGemHQkktd7uO2JzKFAIWCAENPJyur479X6Qg8qhwW3RMyshjozYY7mPIb8I5Av_WoUKYOj3sir0do-ciz3l65_TmkK9qRem4cU-TYd84tJxpeEa01O0skq9zeKWDrqAlt3HvU/s1600/IMG_0751.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OIkiWuGemHQkktd7uO2JzKFAIWCAENPJyur479X6Qg8qhwW3RMyshjozYY7mPIb8I5Av_WoUKYOj3sir0do-ciz3l65_TmkK9qRem4cU-TYd84tJxpeEa01O0skq9zeKWDrqAlt3HvU/s320/IMG_0751.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634437556618119954" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">[Linh kicking off the presentation at the information session]</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Thriive program:</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">FHF and Thriive Organization has partnered to launch the second year of Thriive in 2011. Thriive was first launched in Hue City, Vietnam in August 2010.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Thriive aims to support small and growing businesses by offering interest-free equipments based loans that are to be paid back with charitable repayments to the community up to the value of the ThriiveCapital Loan.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">The goal of Thriive is to: <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:48.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">- Increase the number of employees;<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:48.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">- Promote business growth; and<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:48.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">- Provide a meaningful charity payback to the community.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">ThriiveCapital Loans are paid back with charitable repayments, which may take the form of one or a combination of three methods:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:48.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">- Products – i.e., a tailor that obtains a new sewing machine valued at 2,000,000 VND repays the ThriiveCapital Loan in uniforms valued at 2,000,000 VND that are to be donated to the disadvantaged students of a local school.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:48.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">- Services – i.e., a dentist obtains a high-tech dental chair and x-ray equipment, he/she then repays the ThriiveCapital Loan with free dental exams and dental work to underprivileged women and children.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:48.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">- Job/vocational training – i.e., the owner of a tailoring business receives a new sewing machine and repays the ThriiveCapital Loan by providing vocational training on sewing skills for local youth and unemployed individuals with the potential to offer jobs to these individuals upon completion of the training.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">We use the retail value of the charitable goods, services and/or vocational training in order to calculate the repayments of the ThriiveCapital Loans. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-91462805007052264612011-07-24T00:30:00.000-07:002011-07-24T00:50:42.046-07:00Ba Na Mountains Trip<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:ArialMT;"> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On Friday, the kids from the Children’s Shelter, FHF staff and volunteers embarked on a day excursion to Ba Na Mountains. It was my first ‘school’ excursion in a long time, so I was pretty excited!</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We assembled onto the bus and took off from the Children’s Shelter at 6.30am, and drove for a couple of hours, past Da Nang before reaching Ba Na Mountains. Ba Na Mountains is located in the Truong Son mountain range 25 km to the SW of Da Nang at an altitude of 1487m. Upon arrival to Ba Na, we did a quick head count, formed two straight lines and marched into the tourist area. The main attraction there is the cable car ride up to the top of the mountain, which we rode for 15 minutes, with views of the lush green jungle and waterfalls along the way.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLQi7uq_rGK-07BHZS4dznJUb1PMJaJ06x5nHGLalHOmfQ3I5rvjrPF3y9YZm2syYJiHwcrGgtZKZF6HKx9AhnVsUrfVFMD34Bgt06uGgTE5Xk85DexwhLED43VubXYZUYegepnz0FwU/s1600/IMG_1958.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLQi7uq_rGK-07BHZS4dznJUb1PMJaJ06x5nHGLalHOmfQ3I5rvjrPF3y9YZm2syYJiHwcrGgtZKZF6HKx9AhnVsUrfVFMD34Bgt06uGgTE5Xk85DexwhLED43VubXYZUYegepnz0FwU/s320/IMG_1958.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632818651660248306" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:ArialMT;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Reaching the top of the mountain, it was refreshing to have a much cooler climate than we did at the foothills. The House Mothers of the Children’s Shelter had packed a delicious lunch of xoi (sticky rice) and braised chicken all wrapped in banana leaf, which the children and staff enjoyed over a picnic under some shady trees. With our bellies full, and with the much cooler climate, all the children and staff happily explored the area and hiked a few flights of stairs to Linh Ung Pagoda, which is symbolized by a 27m tall Buddha.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The children really enjoyed themselves. It was nice to hear squeals of delight and excitement, and to see lots of running around in awe. Ah, child-like wonder! With the children sufficiently tired, we packed them all into the bus and they napped for most of the ride back home. Playing is tiring business!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All in all, a nice day out for some sight seeing and great time spent playing with the children.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- Traci</span></span></span></p></span><p></p> <!--EndFragment--></div>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-68069574414137895502011-07-18T01:32:00.000-07:002011-07-24T10:07:39.742-07:00Take-away coffee<p class="MsoNormal">During my corporate lawyer days in Sydney, my morning take-away coffee used to a double shot espresso soy extra hot latte. Now, it’s coffee in a plastic bag and straw attached with a rubber band.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Simplicity at its best. Just as delicious.</p><p class="MsoNormal">- Traci</p><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9xFnxpwdViwSnbmJmb0KY104RPuRZg2xYFVSDI9FDnKH0NajLIC7di0dMKoyhg-6mbL1Vr7IPLW713cK2s3X4gq8Id923UFpKr4YXm2QDCYwq952amq6JQPqiqkzVBoVLMAXcgNyZdI/s320/IMG_1710.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630607955412719810" /></div>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-1948444357695497992011-07-17T21:35:00.000-07:002011-07-17T22:57:29.175-07:00Café Môtê: eating out for a great cause<div><p class="MsoNormal">On 16<sup>th</sup> July 2011, we had the Grand Opening of Café M<span lang="EN-US">ô</span>tê. The café is owned by the Friends of Hue Foundation (FHF) and all proceeds go towards the Children’s Shelter operated by FHF.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The café is a lovelyand relaxed space. The café features menus and art pieces that have been beautifully designed by the children of the Children’s Shelter. There are also quaint and vintage pieces of furniture (some painted/restored by the children) and decorations artfully placed throughout the café.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The menu items are delicious. The café’s speciality drink is banana and coconut soy milk fruit smoothie. Personally, I loved the ice coffee and mango lemon fruit smoothie and devoured every last drop of these refreshing drinks.</p><p class="MsoNormal">From 16th July – 22<sup>nd</sup> July 2011, all drinks are 20% off the normal prices. All the more reason to eat out for a great cause!</p><p class="MsoNormal">Congratulations to the FHF team for their hard work, dedication and successful Grand Opening!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Café M<span lang="EN-US">ô</span>tê: 120 Le Loi Street, Hue City, Vietnam.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">More information on FHF: <a href="http://www.friendsofhue.org/">http://www.friendsofhue.org/</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">FHF Children's Shelter: </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.friendsofhue.org/projects/childrensshelter/">http://www.friendsofhue.org/projects/childrensshelter/</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">- Traci</p></div><div><br /><div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZwuDsQPd8ME1QOrHwHNi_3zElUu06JRZX2s_c5P4Y8aigLxrH4hq0xHJ4mjJt-Lms15X0BVAhlERIBbcUH2w6kmvurMTwdatEFofM0GHyDNi7ytV2SboqEzf5byFwdh2CfHhpLm9QxI/s320/IMG_1876.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630561413159901426" /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2b33JXawBdlwJ3g8boFeamUcTKa9KkxXKGw8a7dWcYlM0Jz4CZBJ5dSbRxE6J5J-fRceUwvSN6ZA4vfWi7veT1mbXH_jAZmtSHS08FazAZTgu0ThbErZk17WJdB3tGz2SVOHNwbFabcw/s320/IMG_1846.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630561424108229634" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40BmTSDWcfLPi4Eql3Q7yRHdxvxgIKTXQao6kKymftkFwaQNMv39tGu3LD_GfrUv4IT1zhOGcKEPkzGeqna9On-0lNNHY2pf38ilg-HavXZxUIP1-8sz87-UEkrC2x_UGkww8kvCnoIM/s320/IMG_1849.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630563490401298450" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2yvlbCNUW8fpErr5HqkvhNfOmXmDRuikNvZAouCupxkEzvtQyWDKlF4vv3BbJUt8a2FmD9I_2LVw-j5LANBBfWuvoIZc5c2ETRc6OiV5DIUrUIFfMwYMrWStmmbzTiYqkUZtA0dhei1g/s320/IMG_1856.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630561418046867858" /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--></div></div>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-6676726557318881382011-07-13T03:21:00.000-07:002011-07-13T03:45:06.432-07:00Introduction & new beginning in Hue<style>@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I reach Hue City, Vietnam in the morning of 27th June, one day before the start of my fellowship. Following multiple flight transfers and airport transits, it’s surreal to think that I’m actually here - after months of dreaming of working in Vietnam, researching fellowship opportunities and preparing for the trip.<br /></span></p> <span lang="EN-US"></span> <style>@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Walking off the plane in Hue Airport and into the terminal, I’m immediately struck by the heat and humidity. It’s hot. Really, really hot, and it’s not hard to immediately sweat from the sweltering and seemingly suffocating heat. Driving into the City, the streets are packed with “xic lo” and scooters zooming at dizzying speeds in every direction. I guess there’s an order to this madness, but for the uninitiated, I quietly wonder why there aren’t massive car pile-ups at every street corner. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The streets of Hue are a feast for the senses. Every passing minute in the City promises smells ranging from sweat and dirt, to delicious steaming bowls of noodles wafting from nearby street vendors, and fresh produce and fruit from the street markets. The horns of scooters and cars blare in quick succession narrowly avoiding one another, the sounds of machinery operating continues throughout the day on the numerous construction sites around the City, and xi loc and “xe om” drivers shrewdly persuade and heatedly negotiate fares with pedestrians. Visually, Hue City contrasts with the bigger cities of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Hanoi. To me, being in HCMC felt like I could have been in any other city in Asia, but Hue’s brown dusty dirt roads, ubiquitous street vendors, family-operated outdoor eateries lined with small plastic chairs and tables, and the absence of towering buildings and billboards gives Hue a quaint charm.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">After checking into my hotel, I make my way to the Friends of Hue Foundation (FHF) office to meet the FHF staff which includes Chi Nhi (FHF In-country Director), Linh (Volunteer and Thriive Coordinator) and Van Anh (Volunteer, HIPE and MCP Project Coordinator). I’m also glad to meet the other Vietnamese American Scholarship Foundation (VASA) Cultural Bridges Fellows: Rachael and Nathalie (their bios can be found <a href="http://fellows.vietscholarships.org/2011/06/congrats-2011-vasf-fellows.html">here</a>) both of whom are working on the various programs that are operated by FHF in Hue. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In addition, we have Lisa Vu, from Tennessee, U.S.A. Lisa is a Summer Volunteer who will be focusing on the HIPE (Health Initiative for Peer Learning). In particular, Lisa will be focusing on how FHF has operationalized HIPE. Lisa will work on developing a new curriculum for HIPE and will conduct key informant interviews to understand the new track for curriculum development. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">As a VASF Cultural Bridges Fellow, I will be focusing on FHF’s Thriive program over the next 9 weeks. The Thriive program is a unique Equipment Capital Loan program to benefit small growing businesses. I will aim to help develop the protocols and procedures of Thriive and FHF with a view to: strengthening the short-term and long-term evaluation frameworks for Hue-Thriive Businesses (recipients of the Thriive Equipment Capital Loan); and to promote the long-term growth of the Hue-Thriive Businesses via the establishment of a Hue-Thriive Business Association.<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Throughout my Fellowship, I will blog my adventures in Hue ranging from the work of the fellowship to my culinary discoveries in Hue, along with other insights and observations during my time in Vietnam. I’m thrilled to be here and can’t wait to hit the ground running and to get to know the FHF staff, volunteers, Thriive program, and Hue City better.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMRfbBIvgVWYi6FnzJ_iyEIZzCpa5QDn_ddY-6aDqcmF9bxKuryqGgX7pmQBlGXTomBFTpGeR46OJ4tg99oskhHe2E3KjyqKLVhTXs4cx11G0yfQPvpFZNHm-ZBg1gDv90UdtxvRAABO4/s1600/IMG_1357.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMRfbBIvgVWYi6FnzJ_iyEIZzCpa5QDn_ddY-6aDqcmF9bxKuryqGgX7pmQBlGXTomBFTpGeR46OJ4tg99oskhHe2E3KjyqKLVhTXs4cx11G0yfQPvpFZNHm-ZBg1gDv90UdtxvRAABO4/s320/IMG_1357.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628783297146493842" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdNdJdPDTmBTLvLW9crTjUdOa1B8RJztYiFvEOMW6knVwuIPUfh54ypS_ofNAq8DS1r7v_l_NQWNbrJ_ppa373XovxaaDeRlx22P4JV0JYgkMA7aEDjYKwDwcyHffSEaNIt4SyCJ87uU/s1600/IMG_1393.JPG"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br />Friends of Hue Foundation office<br /></p><span lang="EN-US"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdNdJdPDTmBTLvLW9crTjUdOa1B8RJztYiFvEOMW6knVwuIPUfh54ypS_ofNAq8DS1r7v_l_NQWNbrJ_ppa373XovxaaDeRlx22P4JV0JYgkMA7aEDjYKwDwcyHffSEaNIt4SyCJ87uU/s1600/IMG_1393.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdNdJdPDTmBTLvLW9crTjUdOa1B8RJztYiFvEOMW6knVwuIPUfh54ypS_ofNAq8DS1r7v_l_NQWNbrJ_ppa373XovxaaDeRlx22P4JV0JYgkMA7aEDjYKwDwcyHffSEaNIt4SyCJ87uU/s320/IMG_1393.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628783301173148594" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />FHF team (L-R): Van Anh, Linh, Nathalie,<br /> Ai (Children </span><span lang="EN-US">Shelter Director), Lisa and Rachael</span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQxq0VuWhxVrsdaV33oKSchW_t1cDSvHYIthSvCbQJJgMag7_DZ8vhubnEg9dqK3MOKx2iskq-fBflDv4BVkKqyLzPzJWPvR0_6hR4Mo4ZULI7fhexrNKv_Nykvzn5-8cfYP00w8brgk/s1600/IMG_1361.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQxq0VuWhxVrsdaV33oKSchW_t1cDSvHYIthSvCbQJJgMag7_DZ8vhubnEg9dqK3MOKx2iskq-fBflDv4BVkKqyLzPzJWPvR0_6hR4Mo4ZULI7fhexrNKv_Nykvzn5-8cfYP00w8brgk/s320/IMG_1361.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628783307374373810" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Street vendor selling noodle soup </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsnjMblFte1D4mQpVM0iPQcvtvDNcqjM2Lul_4CVINA7K9Ec0ub95bYUv2v7aXrnsR7YdVFWu0p83tEoKD9WEJFi0KcEljL9-schcDoopoeZXyoEs904gaaXvaUXmIqnhyphenhyphenIXX_zU9sfs/s1600/IMG_1359.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmsnjMblFte1D4mQpVM0iPQcvtvDNcqjM2Lul_4CVINA7K9Ec0ub95bYUv2v7aXrnsR7YdVFWu0p83tEoKD9WEJFi0KcEljL9-schcDoopoeZXyoEs904gaaXvaUXmIqnhyphenhyphenIXX_zU9sfs/s320/IMG_1359.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628783294527883090" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br />Xic lo driver<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">- Traci</span></p>thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05725942579281090653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-37166780967338846472011-07-12T01:45:00.000-07:002011-07-12T02:01:20.743-07:00Greetings From Hue<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span id="internal-source-marker_0.5957522601820529" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Being in Vietnam has been quite surreal. On the one hand some things seem so familiar, bun bo Hue, banh loc and banh beo are all staples of my childhood and Hue origins. While other things are bizarre and unfamiliar such as the stark contrast between rich and poor, the under-served and privileged. The difference that I’ve noticed in Vietnam, unlike in more Western countries, is that the rich and poor are not isolated in separate enclaves but rather they intermingle amongst each other throughout the city. The suburbs are nonexistent; five story mansions stand erect next to tin shacks. The disparities are much more visible here than in the US. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">However, the lack of Western influences allows for a level of purity in Hue that is quite refreshing. This particular region has less western influences than bigger metropolises such as Saigon, Ha Noi or Da Nang and thus, there is a level of pristine-ness to the area that I think is special to my experience. Being less distracted by modern technology allows me to connect more with the people and environment around me, such as meeting with friends for cafe sua da or che on the sidewalk. It is the simplicity of things that I find beautiful. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; " ><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-top: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; " >- Nathalie</span></span></div>Nathaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18343529276484073065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486400917632709067.post-18773946237634122442011-06-22T05:03:00.000-07:002011-06-22T05:03:24.000-07:00Congrats 2011 VASF Fellows!<p>VASF is pleased to announce our 2011 fellows! We're excited to have Traci Pham, Nathalie Chau, and Rachael Carson join us as our inaugural class of fellows. These three talented ladies will be working with Friends of Hue this summer implementing very exciting and meaningful projects.</p><p><b>Traci Pham</b> is a lawyer from Sydney, Australia and is currently enrolled in the Masters of Law Program at Stanford University. She has practiced law as a corporate associate in Sydney and Hong Kong, and will be starting in London after this fellowship. She has been involved in charities extensively, with a personal special interest in education. She has received the Order of Australia - the national award for significant contributions to community service in Australia. She hopes to focus her time on FHF's micro-finance programs.</p><p><b>Nathalie Chau</b> is currently in her junior year at Berkley University, studying biology. Natalie is deciding between a career in economics, public policy, and health and medicine. Her spare time is spent in outreaching to at-risk high school students. Her fellowship will focus on public health education in rural areas.</p><p><b>Rachael Carson</b> is a 2010 Union College graduate in International and Chinese Public Health. Rachael has a special interest in social entrepreneurship in developing countries. She has a lot experience in China (fluent in Mandarin) and has spent the last 9 months in Vietnam, much of it with FHF as a development analyst. She hopes to focus on the FHF's launch of an Artisan Center, which will offer entrepreneurial skill training and sales development to the underprivileged in Hue.</p><p>Stay tuned to this blog to hear more about their adventures and experiences in Viet Nam.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09916132899454943042noreply@blogger.com0