Entrepreneurship is alive and well in Saigon

Saigon is a city that has seen its fair share of change.  At one time part of Cambodia, taken over by Vietnam, France and central to the battle of North vs South and America, its residents have to be used to change.

That's something that I found inspiring while left to wander the streets, coffee shops, parks and embassies while Kat was working at the orphanage.  The entrepreneurial spirit is certainly alive in this town.

Footpath salad

The three main stories I want to share where from a food tour, a simple bookshop and a group of enthusiastic first-year English students at the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City.

Local Motion
Tim and Steph promised that we could go with them on a local food tour, Vietnam style - on the back of a motorbike.  With Mum in town, being wined and dined by every colleague every night, she was keen to experience some street food Vietnam-style "as long as it is safe!"

Mum, staying safe with Bom

Local Motion are an amazing group of people, who came to pick us up from Mum's hotel, all 5 of them, dressed in black shirts with bright traffic light colours.  Ridiculously, less than 6 months ago, this same group took my brother Tim and his girlfriend Sal on a tour.  With Mum jumping on the back of Bom's bike, we joked that all we needed was Dad and they would have met our whole family.

Feeling comfortable the entire time (except for a brief mis-step where Kat's driver took a wrong turn) we enjoyed 4 meals at amazingly different locations.  Salad on the footpath by the park, ostrich, crocodile and squid barbecued on a roofing tile, Vietnamese pancakes at a street stall and coffee or ice-cream in an exquisitely up-market venue we were truly satisfied.  We traveled more of Ho Chi Minh City in 4 hours than we had throughout the entire day, and we were fit to bursting. 

Kat tries to avoid spitting oil and flames while Steph is hankering for some ostrich

Mai and her crew spoke fantastic English, to the point that we were arguing over the meaning of "splitting hairs", we loved being in their company and I can't think of a more welcoming or clever way to be introduced to Vietnam. 



It was so good to have a unique night out, not only with Tim & Steph in their adopted home, but with Mum visiting Saigon at the same time as us was like a free ticket to a show you didn't know you wanted to go to!

 






BOA Bookshop - The Book of Awesome
During a more-delightful-than-expected visit to a doctor, I was flipping through a magazine and found an article about a unique English bookstore in downtown Saigon.  Annoyed that I didn't get to finish it, I had to wait after my appointment for the lady who had since picked up the magazine to leave, so that I could finish reading it.  In all, I spent more than an hour hanging around the clinic.  One of the secretaries came up to me and said, "you know we are finished?  You can go now".  I actually wonder how long she had waited before coming up to say that.

To get anywhere by taxi or xe om in Vietnam, you need the address written down.  Don't even begin to believe that you might have a handle on how to pronounce Vietnamese words, let alone be able to explain them to your driver.  With the address copied from the article in order to show to random strangers should I become lost, I marched off immediately in the wrong direction, eager to find it before heading home.

Apparently they had started up simply as a box of books.  They left it out on the street, for anyone to drop off or pick up a book.  Like a communal library.  Until someone stole them all, but that's another story.

The Book of Awesome Bookstore is behind a restaurant, up two flights of stairs and down a blank hallway with encouraging signs telling you "...almost there..." on the way.  From the street, there is a half fallen down cardboard sign with "BOA bookshop" hanging in the window that you can see only if you are looking for it, and I certainly recommend you do.  The store was neat and tidy, with someone napping on the makeshift bunk above the door and another woman working behind the cash register.  As I was dripping with sweat from the walk and the stairs, she immediately turned on the fan and took my bag, while inquiring about what I was looking for.  Bizarrely, of the first two books she recommended, I had read one and Kat the other in the last 2 months ("Speaker for the Dead" and "The Giver" if you are interested). The story behind how they've started up this shop and the enthusiasm with which they run it were inspiring.  If you live in or are visiting Saigon and need a new book, check out BOA, they have new and used and will even do trades.

The English Club

While Kat was exploring the unknown: doing strange versions of the chicken dance, creating innovative new games to teach English and singing with the children at the orphanage, I was trying to find a productive way to spend my time besides drinking coffee and arranging visas.

Kat asked her colleague, Gene, a physio at the orphanage, about volunteering opportunities. He suggested that I could easily hang out at the university across the road and speak English with the students, who he said were always enthusiastic about learning, particular with a "real" English-speaker. He was actually able to rattle off some statistics about how much more successful university graduates can be if they have a good command of English.

As it happened, after sharing a lunch with Kat nearby the orphanage one day, a group approached us asking if they could talk to us for a little while.  Unknown to us, we had stumbled upon the Technical University's English club!  This was a committed group of students (many of whom majoring in English) who get together to study and speak English. I met up with them as many days as possible, we talked about politics, religion, how to meet women, local and Australian customs and travel.  Hanna, one of the women in attendance actually had the best advice in the relationships department, but I'm not sure how many of the guys took the advice to heart.
  

The group really seemed to get something from hanging out, just as I did. I really enjoyed spending time with a group of committed individuals while getting to learn more about them, where they were from and about their country.

While I guess this doesn't really fit into the category of entrepreneurship, I found their commitment to learn striking, and that they recognised how important a good command of English could be in their future careers despite the obstacles that organisations and other students might put in their way. I just wish I had met them earlier.

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.