Vietnam 2001

1. Vietnam 2001 Krista Tainter Colette Skundberg Amy Lund

2. •Quang Tri •Quang Ngai Our trip began in Ho Chi Minh City. We flew from there to Da Nang, and drove from Da Nang to Hue. We also drove from Hue to Quang Tri, and again back to Hue. From Hue we drove back to Da Nang, and then south to Quang Ngai. From Quang Ngai we drove back to Da Nang, and then flew to Hanoi.

3. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) We arrived in Vietnam after some very long flights (from LA to Hong Kong was 15 hours). Our plane landed in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. It is the largest city in Vietnam, home to around 7 million people. One of the first things we noticed about the city was how busy and crazy the streets were! They were full of cars, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, and people pushing carts, carrying baskets, or just walking. Right: A parking lot in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. It is packed with motorbikes. These were a very common sight throughout the country.

4. THE SCENERY One of the best things about Vietnam was the beautiful scenery. Everything was so green and lush and vibrant. These are views we had on our way from Da Nang to Hue, driving along Highway One. There are no real driving rules, even on the highway. No one drives very fast, since the road is still filled with motorbikes, bicycles, and people walking. It took us 4 hours to travel about 70 miles!

5. MORE SCENERY Right: View of the South China Sea from a mountain pass along Highway One. Left: An old man fishing in the South China Sea right from the beach. He had a pole made of bamboo and a hand-woven basket to hold the fish in.

6. Farming Farming in Vietnam is much the same as it has been for thousands of years. The main crop is rice, and people plow the rice paddies using either a cow or water buffalo and a hand-held plow. If people are lucky, they can grow three crops of rice per year.

7. H O U S I N G Vietnam is a very poor country. The people who live in the cities are usually better off than those in the country, but not by much. This is an example of a typical house we saw while traveling through the countryside. It is in the middle of a rice paddy, and is made of tin, cardboard, woven mats, and bamboo. Up to three generations of one family could live there.

8. Many things were a lot different in Vietnam. Bathrooms were one of them. In our hotels, the bathrooms were just like at home. But in other places, this is what a typical one looked like. You put your feet on either side of the hole, and when you are finished, you take a scoop of water and pour it down to “flush.” Most of the bathrooms had some form of toilet paper, but it was a lot different than ours. This bathroom was nicer than some of the ones we saw—there weren’t any lizards or bugs in it! BATHROOMS

9. ROAD CONSTRUCTION Roads are built mostly by hand in Vietnam. We saw very few machines to help with the hard work. While roads are being worked on, instead of plastic orange cones, stones are placed across it so people don’t walk or drive on it.

10. Pigs are an important part of Vietnamese life. They are raised by families to be sold at market. Pork is eaten more often than chicken or beef. This man is bringing his live pig to market on the back of his motorcycle. It is being carried in a woven basket. This was a common sight along the highway. Sometimes, pigs in baskets would be stacked one on top of the other and loaded into the back of a truck. “Pig in a Blanket”

11. RELIGION There are three main religions in Vietnam: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. The majority of people are Buddhist. At the Buddhist temple we visited in Ho Chi Minh City, incense coils can be purchased for 5,000 VND (about $0.33). People light the coils and they are hung from the ceiling. They believe that as the incense burns, their prayers are carried to the gods. Most Vietnamese also believe in honoring the memory of their ancestors, and build special memorials to them. These can be seen throughout the country, even in the middle of the rice paddies! Families burn incense and leave presents for their members who have passed away. Above: Incense coils hanging from the ceiling at a Buddhist Temple in Ho Chi Minh City. Below: Ancestral grave sites along the highway.

12. LE LOI HIGH SCHOOL While we were in Quang Tri town, we had the opportunity to visit Le Loi High School and meet the principal. Education in Vietnam is highly valued, but it is not free. Everyone must pay to go to school, even elementary students! The government does not have enough money to provide a free education to everyone. This is a typical Vietnamese classroom. There are usually 45-50 students in a room, with three students sitting at each desk. The walls are very bare, except for a picture of Ho Chi Minh.

13. PROJECT RENEW Project Renew is a world-wide organization that works to remove old landmines. We were lucky enough to attend a seminar they were holding to teach town leaders how to spot landmines in their area, and what to do next. Top left: Krista and Ms. Lund outside Project Renew’s offices. Far left: Bob, the head of Project Renew in Vietnam, holding some landmines designed to attract children. Left: Krista and Jan Scruggs, the head of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation (VVMF), holding an unexploded bomb.

14. Groundbreaking Ceremony for Library #3 We attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the third library in the Library of Vietnam Project. It is being built in Dakrong District, in Quang Tri Province, slightly northeast of Hue. Most of the village was there, including students in their school uniforms (photo at left). The library is being funded by the VVMF, so members of that group were also present to take part in the ceremony. The ceremony consisted of two students singing, speeches, and the actual groundbreaking (even though they didn’t really dig in the ground). Krista was able to pass out calendars with the photo she took on them to some members of the local people’s committee.

15. QUANG TRI LIBRARY One of the main purposes of our trip was to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the second library opened by the Library Project of Vietnam. It is in Quang Tri town in Quang Tri Province. The project eventually hopes to open a library in each of Vietnam’s 63 different provinces (or states). The ceremony included speeches, a local school’s band, and the ribbon cutting. Above: The new library at Quang Tri. Left: Members of the People’s Committee and representatives from the VVMF and Global Service Projects, Inc., cut the ribbon to officially open the library.

16. We were all wearing our ao dais, the traditional dresses of Vietnamese women, for the library opening ceremony. Afterwards, we had our picture taken with Jan Scruggs and the head of the local people’s committee. Mr. Scruggs also signed a copy of his book for Krista.

17. Left: People who lived near the new library used the cement parking lot to dry vegetables. After they are dried, they will be pickled and eaten like relish. Below: After the ceremony, lunch was served. One of the most interesting things served was an entire cooked chicken. The black circle is around its head! No one at our table ate it.

18. THE CITADEL AT HUE We spent a few days with Hue as our home-base. We often drove by The Citadel, which was the site of a famous siege during the Vietnam War. There is a museum there today.

19. Shopping in Da Nang. They sold everything at this market from canned goods (below) to dried beef (right) to more shoes than you could ever imagine (below right).

20. The Silk-Making Process These are 24-day-old silk worms on beds of leaves. Each bowl of leaves is about 3 feet in diameter. It will be another week or so before they begin to encase themselves in a cocoon. After they encase themselves in cocoons, they are stored on racks until they are about to emerge as butterflies. When that happens, they are then removed from the racks and placed into boiling water. The water softens them, allowing the cocoon to be slowly spun into silk thread. The threads are spun onto large wheels. The threads are then taken from the wheels to a loom, where they are woven into silk cloth.

21. Silk Embroidery If the silk is not woven into cloth, the thread is used for embroidery. It can take a person up to 9 months to finish one project, but most take around 4-6 weeks. The shop we visited had women embroidering pictures to hang on the wall, but they also embroidered on bags, tablecloths and napkins.

22. The My Lai Massacre Memorial My Lai was a small village near Quang Ngai town, about 40 miles south of Da Nang. In 1968, during the Vietnam War, US military personnel attacked and killed 170 elderly, women and children. They were led by Lieutenant William Calley, who ordered his troops to leave no survivors. Four people did survive the attack, but the village had been completely destroyed. The memorial is full of statues, carved from photos taken during the massacre. Left: A woman shot while trying to protect her baby. Right: The main statue at the memorial, it contains elements from many different photos.

23. Above Left: A marker has been placed on the foundation of the homes of the village. The marker lists the members of the family who were killed in the massacre and their age. Left: This is a reconstructed bomb shelter. The original was destroyed in the massacre by a hand grenade, but it was rebuilt in 1992. Above: This is the trench where the villagers were lined up and shot. Later, people from another village came and buried the bodies somewhere else.

24. VILLAGE OF HOPE ORPHANAGE Da Nang “It’s A Wonderful Life” Christmas Party On December 8, 2001, we threw a Christmas Party at Village of Hope Orphanage in Da Nang. The orphanage is home to around 200 orphans, ranging in age from babies to college students. The theme was “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Santa was there, along with his helpers, to deliver presents to each of the children.

25. Each child received a t-shirt, pencil, erasers, coloring book, bubble gum, and a rubber ball that lights up when it is bounced. Santa and his helpers also visited each dorm room to spend time with the children.

26. Hanoi: The Capital of Vietnam Hanoi is the governmental center of Vietnam. This is the Presidential Residence, even though no one really lives there. It is mainly used for ceremonies. It was built by the French during their occupation of Vietnam (1887-1940 and 1946-1954). Many buildings in Vietnam reflect a French style of architecture and are painted in traditional French colors.

27. Hoa Lo Prison was called the “Hanoi Hilton” by American prisoners of war. It was also used by the French to imprison the Vietnamese Communists during the occupation of their country. The top photo is a carved sculpture showing the Vietnamese prisoners. The near right photo is of a sign that describes (in a very biased way) how the American POWs were treated when they were imprisoned here. The far right picture is of Ms. Lund in one of the individual cells. The rooms were tiny, unheated, unfurnished, and the floor slanted backwards to make them uncomfortable. Hoa Lo Prison

28. HO CHI MINH Ho Chi Minh, or “Uncle Ho” as he is known, was the president of Vietnam from 1954 until his death in 1969. He was one of the founders of Vietnam’s Communist Party, and led North Vietnam during the war with the United States. His mausoleum (tomb) is located in Hanoi, and his embalmed body is usually on display. This is a very sacred place for most Vietnamese. People are not even allowed to walk on the sidewalk in front of the building!

29. Overall, our trip to Vietnam was a wonderful experience. The people we met were all so friendly. Many of them were very poor, but they were willing to share with us what little they had. We saw many beautiful things, and learned a lot about the history of Vietnam, as well. It is something we will never forget. One day while we were driving along Highway One, we saw this man walking with his water buffalo. We stopped and asked him if we could have our picture taken with him and his water buffalo. He didn’t speak English, but understood what we wanted, and was more than happy to let us take the picture. This attitude was typical of all the people we met.