Volunteering in Ho Chi Minh

One of my aims for our big trip was to spend some time in the one spot volunteering. I chose Vietnam simply because I enjoyed my short trip there in 2008, knew it would be a good place to be for a month and I thought Rob would enjoy it too. (We were also very lucky to have kind friends living in Ho Chi Minh that put up with us for the month! Thanks again Tim and Steph!)

Prior to organising my volunteering and even leading up to it, I was not sure what I wanted to do exactly. I didn’t set out to work at an orphanage and was not sure what I could offer. Now that I have finished my volunteering, I really hope I provided something of value to the children, teenagers and young adults I worked with.

I organised to volunteer at an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh after corresponding with a Professor at one of the city’s universities. I had gotten in contact with him after discussing volunteering with a Vietnamese attendee of the International Social Work Conference I attended in 2014. The Professor knew the Director of the Orphanage and arranged a meeting with her for a few days after my arrival in HCMC.

After the meeting I was still not sure what I would be helping with but the next day I turned up and was led to the church next door to the orphanage. I was not clear on why I was going there. It turned out that by being led from place to place by one of the teenagers was how I to figure out what the routine of the orphanage would be.

Most mornings I would go straight over to the pavement in front of the church where the children would play. Sometimes they would just stand at the fence and watch the world outside go by. (They do have excursions outside the orphanage but aside from these they spend all their time inside the orphanage’s walls.) After this they would have a drink and some of the teenagers/young adults would head upstairs for school.

The classroom was where I found myself at 8:30am on my first day. Apparently I was going to be teaching English to student’s aged 13-21! Not something I have trained in or felt like I would necessarily be very good at. “That’s okay,” I thought, “I must be here with a teacher who speaks Vietnamese or how else will I communicate?” I was wrong in two ways! A teacher with some English would be there most days (but not my first days) and I did find many ways to communicate. On a few occasions, I was lucky to have the assistance of an older student.

Initially I thought, “They have made a terrible mistake! Do they think I am a teacher?” However, I decided to give it a go for a few days and then I could always ask to assist with something else. A few days passed and I felt I could rise to the challenge and hope that my students would get something out of my classes. At first it was difficult to tell what each student already knew and they varied so much in age, maturity, attention spans and capability. They were a little bit shy at the beginning and mainly just stared at me but I think I grew on them! If nothing else, they enjoyed the games I made for them and loved singing songs. It was a challenge making up educational games with limited resources. (One problem was that the fan would blow away most of what we tried to use. However, if we turned it off it got far too hot.)

Making a shapes game

After the morning class the students had lunch at 10:30. Staff and volunteers had lunch from 11:30-12:30. Then it was time to rest until 2pm! (A wise move due to the heat.) Every day I walked past the cats and kittens that lived at the orphanage. They got the leftovers from lunch.

 

Cats in their usual hangout

At first I accompanied my students to lunch, unsure what I was really meant to be doing. I did this a few times and although they were happy to see me there, I felt I could be more use somewhere else. It was then that I started to visit one of the rooms upstairs that some of the other volunteers were in. It was a room for the babies and young children mostly confined to a cot due to some form of illness, disability or special need. There were a few babies with hydrocephalus (fluid build-up in the brain), some with cerebral palsy, some with epilepsy and other things. I came here for 1-2 hours on most days and played, sung and cuddled the babies and children. I discovered one boy who was completely blind was in desperate need of some sort of audio stimulation and really enjoyed more upbeat songs like Mario Kart, The Simpsons and Postman Pat! A typical day of volunteering involved singing Twinkle twinkle, Insy Winsy Spider, Open shut them, Five little ducks and the Rainbow song multiple times a day with babies aged 6 months to adults 21 years.

In the afternoon I took two teenage boys aged 13 and one 21 year-old woman for reading class. These three, it appears, were chosen because they showed the most aptitude for reading English.

The kids and teens at the orphanage are incredible. It is amazing how they work together to get through their everyday routine. One teen whose legs are amputated at the upper limbs is helped up two flights of stairs in a wheelbarrow type fashion. Once at the classroom, all students are expected to make their way to their individual seats and desk. This is extremely physically challenging for at least half of the teens I taught. They are exhausted before the class starts and yet they are keen to learn and interact. Students that have difficulty with a cup of water are helped by another student. When I cannot communicate something to a particular teen or them to me, another usually came to my aid.

Some of the wondeful students and me

It was rewarding working out what each individual enjoys most. One of the older girls, really a young woman, loves “once I caught a fish alive” and another (I think slightly younger) loves to be twirled around in a dance. One of the younger boys who I was told had psychological problems, was enthusiastic about learning anything new and learnt very quickly. I wondered how much more he could do with the right supports in place. (Unfortunately, that is true of most children there. Although I have found there are a few good programs in place.)

I have also been fortunate to see the commitment by many of the staff members who work long hours with many more tasks they can fit into that time. Although it is clear that some are overworked and in serious need of a break, many still have a smile for a child or arrange something fun to keep them occupied.

Monday mornings were playtime for many kids at the orphanage. Firstly the group would sing songs and dance in a undercover outdoor area. The chicken dance was hugely popular and they also had eating contests (which maybe sounds odd, but it wasn’t). Then it was free-playtime. Every playtime was different; sometimes I would be hanging on the swing with a toddler or playing catch with a teenager or trying to stop a little girl from getting in the way of the plumbers.

One playtime sticks in my mind. I went to visit three children (perhaps aged around 8) who were positioned against the wall in their wheelchairs to watch the everyone else. A carer motioned that I should come closer to one particular girl. When I got there she didn’t react initially but soon we were dancing to the music. Shortly after that the boy behind her put up his leg in the air and waved it up and down, laughing. Nothing like a song to reach through numerous barriers at once.

Many of the children at the orphanage had special needs and of these several were affected by dioxin (see our previous related post). Two of older babies with hydrocephalus had shunts inserted into their heads but many others had not received the crucial medical treatment that could improve their lives. The prognosis for many was grim and this was very sad.  

During my month volunteering I tried to find out what the future possibilities were for those at the orphanage. I heard about a few of the toddlers getting adopted during the time I was there. Some of the other volunteers told me how there is policy change in the pipes that should mean that children with special needs and older children are more likely to get adopted than is currently the case. Some of the staff at the centre grew up themselves at the orphanage and have evidently worked hard to get where they are now. Unfortunately many of the children will not be able to find the support and opportunities they need to gain independence and an increased quality of life. From what I know, many will move to institutions for their adult lives.

There are a few positive social initiatives I heard about during my volunteering time. The best ones, in my opinion, teach skills that increase the opportunities available to someone. “Teach Me to Fish” run by Kids With No Borders is one such project. It provides scholarships to support orphans when they leave an orphanage at age 18. Scholarships support them with continued education, specifical vocational training, health care and other everyday living necessesities. Koto, another program, is based on the idea that learning should be passed on: "Know One, Teach One." It gives disadvantaged youth in Vietnam the chance to train in hospitality.

Colourful dress

Another aspect of my volunteering was meeting some great people. There were quite a few volunteers either living in Ho Chi Minh or those that regularly returned to the orphanage. Some split their time by their country of birth and Vietnam. Near the beginning of my time volunteering we took a lunch time trip to a nearby temple. It was a big celebration with lots of food, colourful dress, music, readings and many offerings. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we never found out what the festivities were about! 

Music and ceremony

I enjoyed my time volunteering and learnt a lot from everyone there. It was great to see the student’s progress. The month went by very quickly and I found it very hard to leave. I hope I made some sort of difference by volunteering. In a discussion with one of the other volunteers who had come back for a third year, she said that she thinks of her work there as planting a seed. For her, this involves spending time with a child and joining in a smile with them. I feel like the students gave me so much. Hopefully I too planted some sort of seed.

Chitwan National Park (Travel Dream!)

Travel dreaming

Our second attempt at fulfilling a travel dream came off without a hitch! Rob had dreamt of visiting Chitwan National Park since 2008 when he lived in Kathmandu. Chitwan is in the south-central region of Nepal, near the border with India and covers approximately 900 square kilometres. The park has more than 700 species of wildlife. Rob had heard great things from friends and was most excited about the possibility of seeing a rhino.

Where to find the animals

First views of Chitwan National Park

Pokhara to Chitwan

The bus ride from Pokhara to Chitwan saw me transporting back and forth between Nepali towns in 2015 and a high school crime scene in Maryland 1999. I had finally taken up my sister, Sarah’s, recommendation to listen to the Serial podcast (you should too!). Problem was I couldn’t stop listening and went back-to-back through 4 episodes. Even during our road-side stop I kept listening as we treated ourselves to a Himalayan Beans coffee. (Yes, drive through's have arrived in Nepal.) I found the below sign a bit disturbing. 

Read the bottom line of the sign

On arrival at Chitwan we were pleased to be in a more temperate climate again. Our accommodation was luxurious because we had a discounted package from the Upper Mustang tour company.

The Mystery of the Brown Crack

Once we had lunch and settled in, we met Umesh, our guide for the evening. He showed us around the village and the town before we walked along the river. Umesh was an excellent guide, not only because he knew his stuff and had a hawk’s eye for spotting wildlife, but also because he spoke to me as well as Rob. (Often I have found that Rob is addressed in conversation.) Near the river that borders the national park, Umesh spotted some deer with antlers bigger than their bodies from a miraculous distance. He also pointed out a “brown crack” to us at one point. Rob searched for it but didn’t see it. The next day our second guide had indicated another “brown crack”, this time Rob spotted it and then revealed the day before he had been searching for a crack in the ground rather than a bird!

Rob searching for a brown crack!

After dinner we attended a cultural dance show in a local hall. There were some brilliant dances and odd audience behaviour. Our favourite involved a high level of coordination and rhythm sticks. We think it could have been interesting for Rob’s brother, Tim, who does and teaches stage combat. After the show we went to a Food Festival that had taken over the town. It felt a bit like that festival they do in Summer along the Yarra and sell the same food you can get in the CBD for half the price. However, it was nice to see how the town celebrated.

This is your breakfast! 

On our second day we were set to take part in a boat ride, jungle walk and jeep safari. Firstly we were greeted by the friendly waiter at our hotel who was present at every meal and always exceedingly cheerful. That morning when our food arrived at the table he dramatically declared, “This is your breakfast!” This amused us since many times whilst travelling in Nepal we often found ourselves not knowing basic things that were happening, for example how long a bus would be stopping for lunch (or was it a toilet break?). Anyway, whenever the waiter presented our meals I found myself saying “Wow” as some sort of unconscious reflex that attempted to match his cheer. (The food was fine but we had much better meals trekking in remote regions to be honest.)

Speaking of not knowing basic things, I think the confusion that sometimes result for the tourist in Nepal was well encapsulated by a scenario at Jomsom airport. Rob and I were waiting to go into separate male and female rooms to be searched by security before boarding our flight.  Two other tourists were ushered over to the queues by their guide. Soon they were laughing and I heard one of them say, “I thought we were being told to line up for the bathroom before our flight, not security.” (In the end the small airport did not manage to rustle up a woman to search the female travellers, so once all the men had been searched I was told to go through the male entry. Noone searched me because I suppose security is considered second priority in this instance.)

Tiny canoe chairs in the fog

Getting back to Chitwan, we soon found ourselves on tiny chairs in a narrow canoe (made from the trunk of a silk-cotton tree) that threatened to tip with every head turn. We were on a boat with three other tourists and three guides that liked to spot the same birds and make the same jokes! (As a visitor to the national park you must have a guide.) It was a foggy morning but were able to see a number of birds before landing for our jungle walk. During the walk we saw more birds, including a few woodpeckers and some deer. I was pretty chuffed when I spotted a sole deer about ten metres off right near our path, before our guide.

Did we mention it was foggy?

Cloaked in fog: our morning trek did not initially look promising

Soon the fog cleared up for this explorer

An elephant's life

A visit to the elephant nursery sanctuary was also a part of our program but I was not super keen. In fact, I was hesitant about visiting Chitwan at all because I had read negative reviews about the treatment of elephants. In the end, we decided to opt for a jeep safari rather than an elephant safari so that we were at least not supporting these practices directly. 

Elephant at his post 

This guy came directly over to me once unchained

Daily trip to the forest for the elephants to collect their food

The visit to the nursery was amazing because I had not been that close to an elephant before. It was interesting to seem them interact with the mahout who unchained them and took them to the jungle for feeding whilst we were there. It was also quite sad seeing these elephants with their front legs chained together and, more so, once I read about how they were trained. An elephant calf is initially isolated from its mother and food and water is restricted. The calf is chained as not to harm the trainers. The elephant is taught vocal and signal commands and may be injured during training. I have read they use punishment here rather than the positive reinforcement used to train elephants in other places. 

Commands taught to elephants

However, the flip side of the coin is that the trained elephants do some important work. I have since read that in the past few years, Chitwan has reduced the level of rhino poaching (rhino horns are falsely believed to have medicinal benefits by some and thus are very valuable and sought after). Elephants are used by the army to patrol the national park for poachers, rescuing people from flooded areas and counting wild animals. Unfortunately it seems they are also used in polo games. It really made me question how we see the training or domestication of some animals as okay but not others. I suppose I think that training elephants is okay as long they are treated well. I am not enthusiastic when they are trained purely to entertain tourists.

Jeep safari 

Our jeep safari started off slow as we entered the outskirts of the park. Though I had deliberately set myself low expectations for wildlife spotting, I started to wonder if we would see much at all. I remember saying to Rob that the dried coconut we were munching on was the highlight so far! Thankfully our luck improved. In 4 hours on the jeep we ended up seeing one rhino, one python and many crocodiles, deers and birds. We were very close to the rhino who did not seem to be perturbed by our presence. The poor guy had lost his horn. Our guide told us this was due to bats which confused us. We had read that if rhinos are poached for their horns they are usually killed in the process. We wondered if perhaps the park rangers had removed the horn to protect the rhino, but we were told they don’t do that at Chitwan. So we are not sure why the one-horned-rhino was in fact hornless, but we are pretty sure that bats had little to do with it. It was amazing to see both the rhino, deer and crocodiles up close.

We saw a rhino!

Oh Dear! Missing our camera and a phone camera did not cut it!

Crocodile Sanctuary

Mid-way through our jeep safari we stopped at a crocodile sanctuary. Initially I was most excited about a visit to the bathroom. Then I spotted a spider the size of my head next to the loo, and decided I could wait. At the sanctuary we learnt about the Gharial crocodile species that is critically endangered. The sanctuary is doing all it can to boost numbers but it sounds like it has a challenge ahead. The visit confirmed for me that crocodiles are such odd but fascinating creatures. I would pick one to watch and see how long before it moved an eyelid or went to close its open mouth. Most of them looked like statues at a theme park. 

Nothing sinister



Open mouth competition number 306

More alarming than the spider?

Sunset on our jeep tour

Living a dream! (well this was in the carpark but you get the idea.)

Back to Kathmandu

The bus to Kathmandu was rough. Amazingly it was Rob that felt motion sickness and not I. Nonetheless I still managed to lose half my lunch due to the toilet conditions at one of our stops. We were both relieved when we finally made it to Kathmandu in the middle of the afternoon. Our trekking guide, Krishna had invited us to dinner at his house that night to meet his sister, sister-in-law and baby niece.

Useful information for visiting Chitwan:

Tour or go it alone?: Whilst you need a tour guide once inside the park, you can get to Chitwan independently - we would certainly recommend this. (NB: We didn't due to of our discounted package after the Upper Mustang saga but usually we probably would.) Getting a bus from Kathmandu or Pokhara to Chitwan is easy enough.

Elephant sanctuary: If you go, make sure you visit the museum here to learn about the life of the elephant. It was good to get this insight though it left me with many questions. Most people missed it and our guide did not mention it until I enquired about it. (This time I had done some pre-reading.)

Jeep safari: A lot of places may advise the elephant safari over the jeep tour because the engine will scare away the wildlife. However, I feel like we saw a number of animals for a safari and though I have no experience from atop a Chitwan elephant, I would recommend the jeep option.

Camera and binoculars: A good zoom comes in handy (i.e. make sure your camera doesn't break just prior to your trip to Chitwan like some people we know! (DOLPHIN SANDS ROAD! *Shakes fist!*). Our guides lent us their binoculars lots but, if practical, having your own might be nice too.

When to go: Apparently it was a good time to go because they do burning off  of the elephant grass around this time of year and you can see more wildlife with the grass cleared.

Recently burnt-off elephant grass

Life as in-betweeners

The storm before the cyclone

With only 10 days until we leave on our adventure, I seem to switch by the moment from a sense of disbelief, excitement, anxiety and anticipation. On the 15th of December 2014 we moved from our unit in the northern suburbs of Melbourne to live with my mum and sister to the east of the city. It has been a busy time with us selling many of our possessions, moving and storing what was left, preparations for the big trip, a range of Christmas and New Year celebrations, a trip to Toowoomba, (Queensland) to spend time with Rob’s family and friends and a short beach "holiday before a holiday”. Tomorrow we drive back to Brisbane for our final Queensland visit and then fly to Melbourne for one final week that includes my brother and his fiancee's wedding. 

2014: selling and moving phase!

Rob and I have talked about our adventure many times over the past year to many different friends, families and even strangers. It has been very odd as it has gotten closer and our story has changed from a trip that is starting in 50 days, to one beginning in a month, to only a fortnight and now just 10 days. As it draws nearer to us doing what we have both dreamt of doing for a long time I have felt more and more disbelief that the day will arrive. It is amazing that we have the opportunity to journey to other parts of the world. We both feel very lucky that we are able to take on such an adventure and do it together. At the same time, our trip has been a long time in the making and part of me is raring to go whilst the other anxiously questions if we are actually ready. One moment I think we have done a good level of planning whilst leaving a great deal of flexibility still in place, another part panics when I realise we still only have our first night of accommodation in our first stop: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and only a vague idea about going to the beach and seeing some wildlife. That, however, is what good travel is made of. Vague dreams and opportunities for spontaneous adventures with people and places. Additionally, making the best of every opportunity is a good travel mantra, which really is no different from daily life. Money helps, and hopefully our saving efforts will serve us well.

Getting into travel mode at Tabletop
Mountain, Toowoomba

In-betweeners and goals

It has been a fantastic holiday period seeing our family and friends but it is also a very in-between state for us. I feel like we are already travelling in some regards then something reminds me we are still in very familiar territory. I have had a few moments where I have thought about whether this is what I/we “should” be doing right now, but have then remembered that I don’t believe there are “should’s” in life. A timely news article that I read yesterday provided advice to what people should be doing in their 30’s. (You know, the kind that appear around this time of year.) It was probably confirmation bias but everything I read affirmed my ideas about travel, this stage of life and what I want from life in general. The key messages I took out of it were:

Don’t be afraid of taking risks.

Society tells us by 30 we should have things “figured out” but this isn’t true; all adults are   winging it.

By chance, I got "The World" in 

a Christmas White Elephant!

You must continue to grow and develop yourself.

and something I vividly remember pondering whilst travelling in Italy:

The biggest regrets are most likely to be things you did not do rather than those you did, i.e. try everything.

These messages will inform the goals and dreams of 2015 for me as we set out on our big adventure. 

Volunteering hopes

I found out today about a potential volunteer opportunity in Ho Chi Minh. We are both keen to volunteer in Vietnam somewhere if we can be of use and despite our lack of Vietnamese. This good news made me even more excited about our time there. I am sure Rob will find something too, either before or when we land. We were keen not to end up in a more “voluntourism” type role that can sometimes mean an experience for the tourist and very little for the community, often at a hefty price tag. Not that I am against putting money into good causes, but sometimes it is hard to ensure it is getting to the people that need it nor do I wish to pay for a “feel-good experience” if that is all it is. It will be interesting to see if my opinions on this change over the trip. Perhaps I am over-cynical. At the moment these kinds of views are what has prompted us to find volunteering roles through our connections and/or when we arrive in the country. 

2 Australians, 20 dreams, 17 countries

A year or so traveling initially seems like a lifetime. A year! A year of global roaming could fit so many amazing adventures! We soon realised the more you think about it, the more you research, the more you break down the time, the shorter a year seems. 

so when you want to go everywhere 
in only one year, how do you determine 
how many places to see and where 
to travel?  

Source: Eventbrite

Each with ideas from previous travel, and a year or two of dreaming together, Rob and I decided to make a list of travel dreams.

Our travel dreams were not to be limited. At this stage, we could choose 

anywhere in the world 

where there was something to see, an experience to be had or a place that inexplicably called upon us.  We each picked 10 dreams and listed the country or general area were it could be achieved. Some of our dreams could be done in multiple locations or involved more than one country. Some dreams were about simply setting foot inside a country we knew next to nothing about. What was important, was that this would frame our year of travel. Additionally, these experiences were MUSTS, that once on the road we would endeavour not to alter too much. 

We also thought it might be a good strategy to prevent the frequent (and tempting) trap of trying to do and see too much within the time you have. 

There was one further assumption. For a long while we have discussed shaping our trip by travelling on the Trans-Mongolian train route. We basically excluded this from our lists so we could each choose more dreams! This is what we came up with:

Travel dreams mapped (click to enlarge)

ROB'S 10 TRAVEL DREAMS

1. Nepal to Tibet through Mustang, mountain biking tour/rental

2. Russia: Visit the Kremlin, Moscow

3. Nepal: Chitwan National Park

4. Spain: El Camino de Santiago (Way of St James) Pilgrimage route

5. Mongolia: The Silk Road on a pony

6. Tibet: Be a Buddhist in Lhasa

7. Japan: Visit a Ryokan

8. Germany: Houseboat or stay on the Rhein

9. Germany: Eat bavarian sausages and beer

10. X-Stan?: Visit a Stan country!

KAT'S 10 TRAVEL DREAMS

1. Vietnam: Volunteer somewhere for awhile

2. Sri Lanka: Safari (was originally Tanzania)

3. Norway: Build an igloo

4. Switzerland: Go on the Glacier Express

5. Croatia: Go sailing somewhere

6. Tuscany: Cycling trip (Possibly revised to somewhere else: the Netherlands?)

7. Vietnam: Trek in Sapa

8. Turkey: Cappadocia

9. Scotland: Roadtrip through a country side

10. Norway: Try to see the Northern Lights

Originally some of our dreams (cycling trips, Nepal times) overlapped so we chose new dreams to make a total of 20. After making the lists we rules out Africa and I chose to relocate my Tanzania safari dream to Sri Lanka!

We plan to use these dreams to further shape our route whilst keeping some flexibility. It is already a lot to fit into just one year but who knows where each dream will actually lead us.