Vietnam

I went to Vietnam in July, and the heat just about did me in (as you’ll see in my very sweaty pictures - click here to see the photos). I was really excited to go, as I had been wanted to spend more time in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is still a Communist country, but with a market economy, which makes for an interesting combination. The media still fairly controlled and the civil society tame but growing. Like many Asian countries, it has experienced good economic development over the past 20 years – consistent 8-10% growth – and it should become a middle income country in the next year.

However, because of its high dependency on exports (manufacturing, agriculture), the global economic downturn has greatly impacted its economic growth, slowing it to 4%. Many of my Vietnamese colleagues spoke about how many of those making a good living in the manufacturing industry have recently been forced to return to subsistence agriculture. Moreover, the country’s ethnic minorities have been left behind in the development process and haven’t benefitted from the economic growth. The majority ethnic group, the Khin, make up 70% of the population, and 45 other small local ethnic groups make up the rest. Most of CARE’s work is focused on reducing the marginalization and increasing economic development of these smaller ethnic groups, 50% of whom are extremely poor.

CARE also does a lot of climate change work in Vietnam, which is directly linked to economic development. Vietnam is one of the countries most affected by climate change, and as is the case globally, the poorest groups are the most vulnerable. The day before I traveled north to visit one of our projects, a mudslide killed 14 of the villagers, so there was a lot of discussion about the changes rural communities have witnessed in the past few decades. Increased droughts, flooding and landslides have undermined their ability to survive on agriculture and to rely on natural resources for their survival, as they have done in the past. Also, the seasons are changing, so their traditional knowledge that they rely on to survive about what crops to plant and when is being undermined.

I went a few days early on vacation and took an overnight Vietnamese wooden boat cruise out to Halong Bay off the coast of northern Vietnam, a UNESCO world heritage site of thousands of limestone islands and incredible biodiversity. It was incredibly beautiful and fascinating, and the boat was great – fresh seafood and juices for every meal, a lounging deck on top, manicures and pedicures – a real treat. We went visited some of the traditional floating villages, whole towns of small indigenous groups that are built to float on the water miles from land. Although their livelihoods of fishing and pearl harvesting have remained the same throughout the years, it was interesting to see signs of modernity even in these remote island-like communities with floating banks and schoolhouses.

I spent the next few days in our central office in Hanoi, a city of numerous lakes, food stalls on every block and temples. People are always outdoors, sitting and eating on the street and practicing t’ai chi around the lake. It’s an interesting blend of French colonial influence, a large Old Town that has been a center of commerce for 1,000 years and modern highrises. The religion, called Tam Giáo, or "triple religion, is quite the blend as well – a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism plus a strong culture of ancestor worship. While I was there all of the students were taking country-wide exams and the temples were full of families bringing their kids to pray for luck, which apparently included touching the head of a stone turtle. I visited several temples but couldn’t figure out the religion for the life of me, and when I asked a friend living in Vietnam about it he said that outsiders looking in have dubbed it “Confusionism,” so apparently I wasn’t the first to be a bit lost.

During the second half of my trip, two of our Vietnamese staff members and I spent a few days in Bac Kan, the northern mountainous area populated by ethnic minorities. The drive to and from Bac Kan was beautiful, with incredible greenery and mountains and rice fields. We went to visit a project focusing on women from the Tai ethnic group and spent time with about 55 women, all of whom were uneducated and extremely poor

The project helps form women’s groups in small rural villages and provides them support to improve their livelihoods, which includes technical support with agriculture and livestock and economic development activities such as establishing links to markets, teaching financial skills and offering microloans. The groups also gain awareness about their rights, such as land rights, access to education and domestic violence laws. This education has transformed the women’s perspective on their role in society, and when I visited the group they mentioned several examples of how they now know how to use the law for their good instead of being exploited by it, which was all too often the case in the past. All of the women also spoke of how important it was for them to be passing on this knowledge to their children, both the boys and the girls, to change traditional discriminatory practices for the future.

During the meeting, I attended, the weekly focus was on sharing experiences about peanut crops. CARE had helped the women research the local market and they had found a large demand for peanuts but no local supply, so they focused on developing peanut crops this past year and have had huge success in cultivating and selling the product. The women also went over how to estimate cost versus expenses and helped each other track their profit.

This type of group – called women’s village savings and loan group – is the microloan model that CARE has in place in numerous countries and that the World Bank has adopted as a best practice for reaching the very poorest in society and connecting them to the economic process. Besides the various support and educational activities, the group sets up a revolving fund and the women propose various loan options and pay small interest so that the fund grows over time. In this way the groups become self-sustaining, able to grown and continue on their own.

This group has been meeting for 2 years and is now self-sustaining, so CARE is withdrawing in 2011. So that support is available if future issues arise, CARE had brought in a local women’s organization from the beginning to help train them how to set up, facilitate and grow such groups. They will now provide ongoing support as needed, and CARE is helping them replicate the model in other surrounding villages.

After the group meeting I went and visited the homes of several women and saw ways the loans have been used, including for pig rearing, raising chickens, peanut crops and a small roadside store. I spoke with two men who admitted they were unhappy at first that their wives were a part of the group and spending time away from the home, but that now they are so happy they are contributing to improving the family’s livelihoods. Both mentioned that it has helped them respect their wives more. The women all spoke of their increased confidence and self-esteem through participating in the group, and it was exciting to see not only the project’s very tangible economic benefits but also the emotional and personal growth that it has fostered.

Vietnam is a country that Americans know of because of the ‘American War’ as it is known in Vietnam. So I had always been interested in visiting. In some ways it was what I expected – the rice fields, the lush vegetation, the street stalls, the hip clothing boutiques – but in other ways it was completely surprising – a diverse population of numerous ethnic groups with different cultures and a society with modern and traditional ways of life coexisting in a way that seemed less incongruous than in many other places I travel.

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