Goodbye Vietnam

It has been a most interesting 6 days in the northern part of Vietnam. Hanoi for 2 days, Sapa and the ethnic minority villages 2 days, and finally, 2 days cruising on Halong Bay in a chinese junk.

Such a variety. There are many tourists in the area, European, Asian and a sprinkling of Americans. Everyone is welcomed and I felt very comfortable being here. My last evening (Sat) was spent at dinner with an American Maryknoll priest from the Bronx.!!

Here are a few more photos in the villages:

TWO HMONG MINORITY WOMEN AT WORK.
TYPICAL IN THE RURAL AREAS AND SMALL VILLAGES
WOMEN DO IT ALL, INCLUDING THRASHING
THE RICE AS WELL AS THEIR DOMESTIC CHORES

DAO MINORITY VILLAGE WOMAN WITH NANCY

Children have to walk long distances in the countryside to attend school. Classrooms look like any other: with desks, blackboard and books. But here, their books stay overnight in the schooldesks because the children's homes are very basic and families are still learning to respect books.

THIS SCHOOL WITH ITS STORYBOOK EXTERIOR WALLS
WAS BUILT WITH FUNDS FROM OXFAM..

CHILDREN BRING LUNCHPAIL
WITH RICE AND THE SCHOOL
TEACHER ADDS SOUP TO
MAKE NUTRITIOUS LUNCH

THIS CLASSROOM HAS ABOUT
15 STUDENTS WITH 1 TEACHER

Enroute to Cambodia

On the way to Cambodia, I planned some days in the north of Vietnam. Flying into Hanoi, then to the mountains for a couple days and finally, no surprise for me, two days on Halong Bay in a Chinese Junk.

I'm in Sapa after taking the night train from Hanoi. It was a sleepler compartment, shared between 4 people. Lucky me, my ticket assignment was for a lower berth. Toilet was down the hall. My companions were a German software guy from near Munich, a Dutch tax lawyer from Amsterdam and his girlfriend, a banker in human resources living in Rostoff, Poland. Dutch guy and Polish gal have a distance relationship. It was nice that the 4 of us all could speak English together and we had interesting conversation before settling down to sleep for the duration of the 9-hour trip.

LOVELY YOUNG HMONG GIRL
SELLS NATIVE CRAFTS TO TREKKERS

Today, my guide and I trekked down to the Hmong minority tribe village. The guide is a young man, pretty good English and very bright. I have him again tomorrow. He was born in a mountain minority village, where most of the children have only a dim future in store. But he had a benefactor from Canada who "adopted" him, sending money and paying for his university education. He has done well, and his success proves the benefit of this kind of aid. He is making his Canadian folks proud.

Leaving on a jet plane.......

It seemed last night that I wouldn't get to the airport this morning. The north-east was slammed with an early nor-easter. And in Oakland where I live, we had about 10 inches of wet, heavy snow. Of course, this brought done branches and even trees all over the region and I couldn't drive up the steep hill to my home last evening. Left my car in the parking lot of the nearby high school. No trees there to fall on toop of my car.
Leaving extra early this morning....a good thing as highways were intermittent blockages of accidents and downed trees on the roadways.....and I arrived at JFK about 3 hours early for my departure.
Routing for my flight, about 23 hours in all, includes a 4-hour layover in Seoul, Korea and then on to Hanoi arriving late eveing on Monday.
Happy wishes to all for Halloween. Bye for now.

Views from Cambodia

Two of our team members have traveled to Cambodia before and supplied these great photos from their visit in 2008. Linda and David Purcell are pleased to return to this friendly country and its wonderful folks.


FLYING INTO PHNOM PENH (TOP PHOTO)
 AND, (LOWER PHOTO), A LOCAL TEMPLE

 



FOUR PHOTOS ABOVE:   THE COUNTRYSIDE NEAR THE CAPITAL CITY



Meet our team leader, Bob Danbeck

This is Bob talking, "First, let me welcome everyone to our Cambodian adventure.  I’m sure we will be working hard, but we will also have the opportunity to experience a really wonderful country. This is my second trip to Cambodia, having participated in a build back in 2009. This is also my second opportunity as a team leader – I’m happy to say I did not lose a single person on my trip to Sri Lanka in February. I’ve also participated in HFHI builds in India, Vietnam, El Salvador, and South Carolina over the past several years. I’ve tremendously enjoyed the Habitat building experience and I’m becoming an expert in cinder block construction! 

I’m retired so I have plenty of time to travel. I spent 35 years with IBM and 6 years with the Federal Government – a double dipper. I also lived for many years in China and India and traveled extensively throughout Asia. I currently reside on Lake Norman in North Carolina with my faithful dog, Sam. On a personal note, I’ll be getting married on October 30th, so if anyone is in the Charlotte area at that time, let me know!"

Getting the site ready

Recent photos show major work already on side for the arrival of volunteers who will complete houses for 22 families. Neat stuff!

FOUNDATIONS IN PLACE



HOUSES LINED UP ALONG A DIRT ROADWAY



THIS IS WHY.......

THESE CHILDREN ARE
GETTING A NEW HOME

....We're going to Cambodia.
    Why we are willing to donate our time and effort.


Click on the link below to take a look at this video:
Why travel with Habitat to Cambodia

Our work in Cambodia in 2011 will allow people living in poor conditions to move out of makeshift housing and into better homes built with the new homeowners and our team of volunteers.



TYPICAL POVERTY  HOUSING