Vietnam
In 2013, I was able to spend two weeks in southern Vietnam, teaching English and working with orphans in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life to date.
I'll never forget how hard many of the people I met work to experience things I take for granted. From students on the street approaching me about speaking English together, to children selling trinkets on the street in order to buy school supplies, the staunch pursuit of learning challenges me.
After I got home, I spent some time writing about what I learned in Vietnam.
To The Dreamers of saigoN
I found myself standing on my hotel room balcony and speaking the iconic words, “good morning, Vietnam.” On this first early morning, I was taking in the scene of a bustling Saigon street, trying to tell the vendors apart. It was a greeting to a country I didn’t know and a people I hadn’t met, but an exuberant one nonetheless.
Vietnam is what some of us call a “closed country.” Little information, particularly what is contrary to the government agenda, goes in or out. It is also a very poor country with a lot of social problems.
I was visiting the country with a team of twelve other people as part of a three-month mission trip. Turns out, when a group of mostly-Western people go to Saigon for two weeks with the expectation of “going with whatever happens,” crazy happens.
making life happen
In Vietnam, I met so many dreamers; young people who wanted a better life for themselves. I saw dreams for a country to become a better place. I saw dreams on behalf of others. But they didn’t stop with the dream — they did things to make it happen.
I can think of several occasions when I would go to the park and end up meeting some amazing new people. People in Vietnam are extremely hospitable, and they love practicing their English. So three hours after meeting someone, I’d be on a crazy and lethal motorbike ride on my way to a favorite pho place.
I met some incredible people in Vietnam. Nhu is a 14-year-old girl who works through the summer selling bracelets so that by the end of summer, she can buy one new book in English. This year it was “The Hunger Games.”
There was also Angie, a 28-year-old banker who had lost her job due to cutbacks. She chose to fill her time by watching — or really memorizing — the TV show “Friends” and teaching English several times a week as a volunteer.
Anne Marie is a young German girl who put her studies on hold so she could come serve the Vietnamese people. During her time in Saigon, she found a passion for teaching deaf people and she is now back in Germany studying sign language.
Finally, I met Mrs. Bao, a Vietnamese woman who emigrated to the US and married an American. After several decades in the U.S. they went back to Vietnam. Mrs. Bao takes in the children of unwed mothers while those mothers get their lives together, at which point she either continues to raise the child or — ideally — the mother comes to pick up her child. Abortion rates in Vietnam are through the roof, and 60-70 percent of the population between 15 and 19 years of age have had abortions. She told us, “my own children are adults now. The children here need me more.” This woman has taken in 10-20 infants and small children on a temporary or semi-permanent basis.
This elderly man got off his mat and saluted me as I walked past him. People of his generation still very much remember the war, and particularly in Southern Vietnam (where I was) many still sympathize with the American fight against communism. (Vung Tao, Vietnam)
Alleys in Saigon are an experience. Wide enough for one-and-a-half motorbike, they are a place for people to gather. This particular alley was a thoroughfare for street vendors, many of whom had moved from abject poverty in agricultural hillside districts to the city in search of a better life. (Saigon, Vietnam)
My experience in Vietnam changed me. It gave me courage. Because when people who face outrageous poverty and persecution can do so much for other people, I have no excuse.
None of the Vietnamese people I met acted like victims, even though by our standards they probably are. Instead, they rise above what the world has handed them. They resist fear, and act. These people are hardworking, and they know how to simply do what is in front of them. I never saw any of them procrastinate. I never saw an grumble about their lot in life.
I saw dreamers who worked their tail off to learn English. The oldest one was 64 years old — the youngest was 14. I saw those who ran a coffee shop to help disabled people find work. I saw others who went out and played with orphans and who talked to young women at an abortion clinic.
Dreamers who dream not at night, but in the light of day. People who dream with their actions foreshadow what their community and society might one day become. They were making their dreams go from imagination to reality. I want to follow their example.
