Education in Vietnam

Visiting the ancient university of Van Mieu we are reminded of the respect and value given to education in Viet Nam. This earliest place of higher learning was founded by the Confusian school during the period that China ruled VietNam. Scholars who passed the rigorous exams had their names engraved on the stone stiles which rest on the backs of stone turtles. Families bring their children here on a Sunday afternoon and direct them to rub the turtles head for luck in studies. During the war these stone tablets, weighing tons, were removed to a safe place where they would not be bombed. These days, education is compulsory for children up to grade 10, but there are so many children that they can only go half day. The schools run two half-day sessions. After 10th grade, children take competative exams and only a fraction of children can go on to higher learning, others to trade schools. Once you are out of the "pipeline," it's hard to get back in. Still the ministry of Education is always trying to improve and reform schools to build a better education workfoce. Some times it seems that everyone in Hanoi (adults) is either teachgin English or taking English classes.

Cheeseburger meltdown

Well, we've been in Vietnam over 10 days and we collapsed when we saw a place for coffee and burgers near the waterfront of the Western Lake (where John McCain was shot down during the war). So we went for cheeseburgers and it was great. We followed this indulgence with a swan paddle boat on the lake, laughing and talking with other swan boat paddlers. We are having a couple of pure tourist days and it is fun. Yesterday we went to the Ethnic Museum where 5-6 of the over fifty ethnic groups of Vietnam have built an example of their traditional houses on the musuem grounds. wonderful-I hope to post pics soon (uploading takes time) . Today we went past the Ho Chi Minh park, museum and memorial. Literally thousands of Vietnamese people visit daily and lines are around several blocks. We visited the One Pillar Pagoda, a small exquiste wooden pagoda dating to 1049 (It's been renovated and replicated a few times)and sits on stilts on a little pond. On full moon nights Hanoi lovers circle it holding hands.From there we went to the Western Lake, Hanoi's largest and visited the Tran Quoc Pagoda, originally built in the 6th centurey. It sits on an island o the lake and has been home over the years to several famous monk-teachers and is a burial center for them too. The centeral courtyard holds a tree grown from a fragment of the original Boddhi tree under which the Buddha achieved Enlightenment. A small group of monks live there and carry out the necessary rituals. It is less of a tourist sight and more of religious center with several smaller alters to various teachers and a very large elaborate alter to Buddha. People pray, burn incense, bring flowers etc. It is a very beautiufl place. I really had a sense of a very deep centuries old holy place. I did not take many photos for that reason. Tomorrow we will go to the Van Mieu, a temple built in 1070 to worship the beliefs of Confucious. It is considered the first university of Vietnam, an elite institution of learning and holds the names on stelae (stone diplomas) of over 1,000 who managed to pass the rigerous exams between 1484 and 1780.

In between we are doing some business and visiting. Yesterday we had lunch with Phong who heads up an NGO that focuses on rural poverty and in particular AIDs education today. We also met with representatives of the Canadian NGO that helps spoonsor a scholarship program in Vietnam. Next week we will go to the Women's Union. I deeply appreciate these other opportunities to visit people in their workplaces and see their committment to building opportunity and social justice in Vietnam.

Cabbage for breakfast

Food is often a challenge when traveling, but I am really enjoying most foods-lots of veggies. We have cabbage for breakfast with different kinds of egg and noodles. I love pickled papya, dragon fruit (a kind of giant kiwi) good ole tofu, lots of green veggies, Pho soup, sweet green paste buns-yum. The only food I've regreted is fried chicken blood. I had to try... and I stay away from dog meat...too sad. I noticed in the country side that people like animals-dogs, pigs, cats, goats and they wander freely and enjoy affection and kind treatment--up to a point! Then they become puppy casserole...

The countryside

It was wonderful to get out of the chaos of Hanoi and see the deep green of rice fields and slower pace of life in small towns. They are just putting the bright green rice seedlings in the ground and plowing wet fields with water buffolo. Parts of the trip went through the hills and steep mountains looking like ancient Chinese scrolls. Everyone had gardens, small and large and rice fields small and large. I was impressed with the govt. program of building infrastructure in the rural areas. Good main roads went everywhere and secondary roads were passable, even dirt ones. There was till a lot of traffic but fewer motorbikes and more animals, ox carts and ponies, many more bikes loaded up.Everyone had electric service and some kind of water. Only waste disposable needed attention. There is a Vietnamese joke that westerners are opposite Vietnamese in that we kiss in public and piss indoors. There were many traditional houses, but they are quickly being replaced by the typical 2-3 story narrow home with an open public living room downstairs and sleeping private rooms upstairs. The front of the house is painted a bright color and sometimes the sides are painted as well if people have the money. The open room is very open and usually filled with family, neighboors etc. There is not a lot of privacy and I am sure a Vietnamese person would feel lonely in our country with its many closed doors. I finally hear birds for the first time. I miss hearing birds at home.

To the countryside

We left Hanoi on 2/16 to go North to the town of Tuyen Quang. Our goal was to visit with the family of "Mr Nam," the NVA cadre who was in charge of overseeing US POWs (including Marge) during the war. He had other duties I am sure, but one of his main ones was to help US soldiers see the error of the war. "Hoai Nam" was his nom de guerre and it means "Remember the South." He was very kind to Marge and she has tried (with many obstacles) to stay in touch with his family. He died in an ambush and his remains were never found (more on this significant fact later). Marge had visited the family last year and she was welcomed as a family member by Mr Nam's widow, daughter and many brothers and an elder sister. As friends of M., Tinh (our friend and translator) and I were also welcomed into people's homes. We were invited to tea, to lunch, to dinner, to tea again, to a family banquet, to tea again...At one point we were taken to a bedroom to sleep so we could then have energy for more food and talk! At each meal we were reassured that the vegetables were "pure" and not treated with chemicals. The government has done a good job of informaing people on this issue.

The entire family was eager to meet to meet Marge. Those who could not travel to see us, called to talk to her on the cell phone. Tinh helped translate cell messages. We were surrounded by relatives including those who traveled hours by train to look at us. We also traveled into the deeper countryside to visit his eldest sister, Thuan and her husband Thinh who stilled lived in the area that was traditional family land. On Tuesday we traveled with a family group to visit the "substitute grave" of Mr Nam who has a marker in the family's plot. This was a request of the widow and we felt honored to participate. There are still many, many MIA Vietnamese from the war and families are very disturbed to not know where their loved ones are buried. Mr Nam's family has gone on 3 expensive excursions to the south to find the location of his body which was buried hastily by comrades at his death in the mountains. They have had some luck finding comrades who were present and know the approximate area, but it is in a steep ravine and overgrown. They plan to go back and hire a spiritualist who may be able to talk to his spirit. They are very disturbed by not knowing. If they find the location the government will assist them to relocate the remains or they may bring back earth to the family plot.

Marge has tried to communicate with help from Tinh, about the scholarship she is setting up at Earlham, but it is a somewhat abstract concept. They do feel honored by her attention and tried to understand her scholarship gift, hoping maybe a family member could benefit. The family enjoyed trading stories about Nam and hearing from Marge about his kindness to her during her time in the mountains in captivity. Marge is feeling saturated with emotion and memories and I am just feeling honored and thrilled to be participating in experiences that would be impossible for me as a tourist.

One quite interesting fact about the province of Tuyen Quang is that it is recognized as the "birthplace" of Revoluntionary Vietnam and the place that Ho Chi Minh meet with the beginings of the People's Revolutionary Government in 1945 under a certain tree that still stands in the area.

Taffic! unbelievable. Scooters by the thousands, bikes by the hundred, women carrying poles laden with everything-fruit, nuts and eels...Like a swirling river. To cross the street, Marge and I hold hands and just venture out. No real traffic regs. Like Moses parting waters traffic flows around us and we calmly move forward...