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Published: September 24th 2009
Marcia's VIP Interview
Marcia, from GCSF, is interviewed by the Quang Tri TV station. Tam’s Café
During our first trip to Dong Ha we were invited to English Club. English Club was a pretty informal meeting of people who want to practice their English. It was usually held at a café, and earlier this year, they rotated which café it would be at. There were not many members of English Club, but it highlighted the focus people in Dong Ha have on learning and practicing English. A lot can change in less than 5 months.
Mr. Tam, from Global Community Service Foundation (“GCSF”), the organization that arranged our volunteer experience, opened a new café on one of the back roads in Dong Ha. Tam’s Café is staffed by young people who are deaf or deaf and mute. A portion of the proceeds from the café go to benefit the deaf community in Dong Ha. Tam is doing a wonderful job with the café, which has a room upstairs for people to play music and a wall on which people can write inspiring quotes. Most important, Tam now hosts English Club there twice a week, and many of the students at Le Quy Don now participate.
During our first trip to
Tam's Cafe
Me and two of the servers from Tam's Cafe. English Club it was an atypical night. Tam’s boss, Marcia, from GCSF was in town visiting. She lives outside of Washington, D.C., but travels to Dong Ha several times a year to administer projects throughout Quang Tri, and other areas in Vietnam. She usually tries to spend her birthday in Vietnam, so, English Club that night became Marcia’s birthday. We met her and her husband, Rich, and tried to learn some Vietnamese sign language, with much difficulty.
Tam’s Café had a laminated card at some of the tables showing people the Vietnamese sign language alphabet. I learned to sign the alphabet when I was younger but was woefully out of practice. And, some of the letters just seemed different from what I remembered in the US. Also, there were two “d” letters, one to represent the Vietnamese “d” with a line through it. The alphabet also did not have f, j, w, z, etc. Despite that, one of the servers tried to teach me the alphabet, and I was doing pretty well. Then, she signed her name and I signed mine. Then, we hit a brick wall despite how hard she was trying. Even if I could follow along
Standing Room Only
We were packed into the outdoor balcony for the contest at Tam's Cafe. with the letters she used, pointing to the letters on the card to make sure I was understanding her, she was signing Vietnamese words to me. I had two barriers to being able to understand her and I felt awful. I hoped that I made it up to her at the end by signing “cam on” or thank you in Vietnamese. She certainly did not hold a grudge. Every one of the girls working there lit up like a Christmas tree every time we entered the café, even remembering what I ordered and bringing it automatically.
Tam is doing such a good job at the café, that he introduced an English contest while we were in town. On Sunday night, ten teams competed in a singing contest. They had to sing English songs and were judged on the difficulty of the song and the meaningfulness of the lyrics. Many of them sang very well, and one group took a Vietnamese song, used the music, but wrote their own English lyrics, and played the music on a guitar and keyboard while singing. It was quite impressive. On Thursday, the teams competed in an oratory contest. They prepared three topics and
Eric and Hai Hamming it Up
Pretending to sing at Tam's Cafe. They should have left it to the contestants. chose one of the three topics two minutes before they went on stage. The topics were friends, family, and youth and volunteering. The scores from the oratory contest were added to the singing contest for the final score. The singing contest was very popular - standing room only. The oratory contest was still fairly popular, and I was happy I was feeling better from my illness to join. And, Eric and I were two of the three esteemed judges, along with Mr. Hai. For the oratory contest we needed to ask questions of the speakers to test their responses and whether they could think on their feet. Most of them did pretty well and responded just as we hoped. I stumped one student, though, who spoke about volunteering.
Most of the volunteering speeches focused on large projects, i.e. what can you do over the summer to volunteer, or during a weekend off of school. Mr. Hai had asked one group if it was possible to volunteer when you did not have a lot of money. He said, he is not Bill Gates and is not rich, but he wanted to travel to a province far from Dong Ha to
volunteer there. How can he volunteer if he does not have the money to travel? The student answered perfectly; you do not need to spend money to travel to volunteer; you can volunteer to help people in your own town and province. I asked another group whether it was possible to volunteer every day? I stumped them. After some thought, the student responded no because people are very busy with school and jobs, so it is impossible. I was disappointed. I then addressed the group to point out that not all volunteering needs to be something formal like Eric and me coming to teach at Le Quy Don. Volunteering can mean simply helping someone in need, a neighbor who needs help, or an elderly person that needs help crossing the street. You can find a way to help someone every day without taking time from a busy schedule. I was proud of myself and the students seemed to respond to my ideas. As gifts for the winners, Mr. Hai donated three of his favorite English language books to the students. It was so successful, that Tam plans on holding the contests every two months, which means more English speakers are
needed in Dong Ha to act as celebrity judges!
You Haven’t Seen Rain Until . . .
When it rains, it pours in Dong Ha. You have not seen rain until you experienced in Dong Ha. October officially starts the wet season in most of Vietnam. When we arrived in Hanoi, Rad assured us it would rain every day - a hot, wet rain. It is not the kind of rain you hope for in a humid climate, where we hoped the weather would cool down after the rain. Eric loves the rain, and was sorely disappointed that it never rained during our week in Hanoi. We also prepped for rain in Sapa, but again, no rain. I was happy about that one because I did not want to road to get washed out, although of all places I would not mind being stuck at Topas Ecolodge. We were told, though, that a few years ago the road closed because of a landslide and did not open for two weeks. Some German tourists stuck it out for awhile before finally taking a moto to the closed area, walking through it, and hiring a moto on the
other side. So, thus far there was no rain in Hanoi and no rain in Sapa. In Dong Ha, Eric got his wish.
Our time in Dong Ha started with rain every day, at least once a day, even if only for a short time. Our first night was at Tam’s Café, when we rode our bicycles there and needed to hangout until the rain stopped enough to ride back. On Thursday during our first week we rode our bicycles to school and it poured at the end of the morning. We ended up calling a taxi just to take us to our hotel and back. At the end of the day we sucked it up and rode home in the rain. Thursday it rained so hard that the term “raining cats and dogs” did not give it justice. It also rained pretty wicked on Friday, when we had plans to head out of the city for a day. Then, it rained every day after. It became more than a mere nuisance when we were using bicycles for transportation. Eventually I had to ask Eric to stop hoping for rain just because he likes watching it; I was tired
A Hero's Welcome
Marcia was greeted as an honored guest at the Paccoh Community Center. of getting wet.
Da Krong District
One drawback of being in Dong Ha the weeks we were there were the number of days classes were cancelled during our first week. One of the benefits was that meant we had some days off to explore the area. When we confirmed there were no classes on Friday, we arranged to join Tam, Marcia, and Rich to tour Quang Tri province to see some of the projects GCSF has in the area. Marcia warned us, though, that if it was raining badly Friday morning, we might want to reconsider joining her because it would be no fun in the rain. When we woke on Friday, it was pouring, of course, but it did not discourage us. And, I am so glad we grabbed our rain jackets and went along for the ride. I learned so much about the province and the countryside that surrounds Dong Ha. I will never forget this experience.
We drove over an hour outside of Dong Ha, to the intersection of Highways 9 and 14, near the old Ho Chi Minh Trail. We crossed the Da Krong Bridge across the Dong Ha River, into
They Might Be Giants
Marcia's husband, Rich, and Eric demonstrate their size in comparison to the tiny Paccoh women. the Da Krong district of Quang Tri Province. We first stopped to pick up an expert on the culture, environment, and heritage of the area. We also picked up the Vice Chair of the People’s Committee of Da Krong. Marcia works closely with both of them to help administer GCSF projects. Once we crossed the bridge we entered into a national park. The Vice Chair was very interested in discussing the possibility of ecotourism in the area. The mountains were beautiful, with a large rushing river in the valley below. She hopes to establish some hiking trails and maybe some rafting or kayaking down the river. It is a lofty goal, but one I hope she succeeds with.
Our first real stop was at the Paccoh minority village in A Deng. GCSF built a community center and small kindergarten in A Deng. GCSF also sponsored a dental mission where dentists came to the village to perform basic dental work and cleanings. Marcia has been to the village many times and was greeted with a hero’s welcome. We were just along for the ride, but were also treated like royalty. Some of the elders performed a music and dance routine for
Eric Makes a Friend
Even though we did not speak the language, it was clear we were welcome. We actually had 2 translators, from English to Vietnamese to Paccoh. us to demonstrate that they are using the community center and to show their appreciation to Marcia.
The Paccoh are known for their traditional embroidery work, with detailed beading that they sew on by hand. The Paccoh tribe lives close to the Lao border and purchases much of their fabric from Lao. Apparently, there was a small factory that was used to weave the fabric and create the embroidery, but it was destroyed in the war. It has not been rebuilt. Some of the Hmong people in Vietnam still wear their traditional dress, but many times it seems it is more for the tourists than due to their tradition. In the Paccoh village they see virtually no tourists, so there is no reason to put on a show. It is just how they have dressed in the past and the traditional dress is still used. I noticed many of the children were wearing more modern clothing and I just hope that their handiwork does not go the way of the dodo bird. They also wear beautiful beaded jewelry. I wanted to ask if they sold some of the necklaces, but I learned my lesson in the Bat Trang ceramics
Khe Luoi Road
The road where I was left to amuse myself, with a view of the new school and community center. village - if I asked, they may give it to me, and I did not want to take anything from them. Marcia arranged for them to make me an embroidered skirt and a piece for her too. She will pick it up during her next visit to A Deng.
One of the projects Marcia is working on for the future is to provide volunteer opportunities on a shorter basis in the area, for people who do not have a full week or two to donate like Eric and me. Many volunteers want to help but can only spend one, two, or three days on a project. One thing that villages like A Deng need is toilets. The entire village of approximately 60 families has no toilet. They simply use the surrounding nature. The problem is that the waste mixes with the water supply and the soil. It can contaminate the food and water source. Worms and diseases can be spread because many of the villagers, particularly children, do not have shoes to wear. Marcia hopes to start a program where people can sponsor toilets that can be built and installed by volunteers in villages like A Deng. It is
a new project that she and Tam hope to roll out soon, currently called Adopt-a-Pot (I may be asking some of you in the future to help us sponsor toilets in the region surrounding Dong Ha; please help and Adopt-a-Pot!). Marcia also pointed out that many of the children had what looked like highlights in their hair. She explained that is a sign of malnutrition, and it broke my heart to see so many children there with “highlights.”
The Road in Khe Luoi
After A Deng, and a brief stop for lunch, we visited a remote village called Khe Luoi. Normally, Marcia and Tam take a small hand rowed boat to cross a river to reach the village. Because of all the rain, this thankfully stopped, the river moved at a pretty quick pace. Tam was able to arrange with the local community expert to hire a power boat to make the quick trip across the river. The local expert, Eric, and I were the first to cross. Then, it was a muddy walk up to the center of the village. The local expert found a moto to drive me up to the top of road.
Adopt a Village
As part of the adopt a village program this is the model of a GCSF community center. He told me to wait there while he went to get the rest. He did not speak a lot of English, but I understood him well enough. Then, he sped off while I waited as he instructed. I stood there in the middle of a dirt track between two small wood homes. In the distance were a new primary school and a community center, similar to the one at A Deng. Marcia said that generally GCSF offers to build the community center in exchange for the local government agreeing to build a school nearby, and a place for clean water. It is a way to help the community to help themselves. I could see the bright, shiny, and new buildings over a rice field at the end of the road, but I stood there and waited like I was told.
There were several children, one buck naked, in one of the two homes. They kept sticking their heads out of the window to see why there was a strange white woman standing in the middle of their village outside their window. I would wave to them, and they would giggle and run and hide. A minute or two later,
Rice Paddy
This is the paddy we walked through to get to the new community center in Khe Luoi. they would come back to the window again. I pretended I did not see them, and then I would wave again, and they would giggle and hide. It was a little game we played while I waited for the rest of the group, who ended up walking up the road, leaving me standing there for about twenty minutes, playing this little game.
While I waited, a little girl rode by on a bicycle that was way too big for her. My discussions through the day with Marcia were screaming at me in the back of my head. Marcia was educating us on many of the struggles and issues the people face in Quang Tri. The little girl’s clothes were old, dirty, and tattered, and falling off of her little body. She was not wearing shoes. I could tell by her hair that she was suffering from malnutrition. I looked back at the new school and community center and thought there had to be more done to help these kids. I have always believed in the importance of education, both in the US and internationally. I truly believe that education can break the cycle of poverty. But I looked at
Village Boy
It was like he was riding a horse. this little girl and started to cry. I thought of the issues of nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, clean water, clothes, and shoes. I wanted to drive straight to Dong Ha market to buy clothes and shoes for all the children in the village, along with numerous 20 kilo bags of rice, and whatever other non-perishable foods they could store and use to provide nutrition. I wanted to buy toothbrushes and toothpaste for the entire village. I want Marcia to build toilets. How can these children sit and learn in class with no shoes on their feet, with barely any clothes on their backs, and a perpetual growl in their stomachs. (You can bet I will be hitting up some of you in the future to help with some of these grassroots projects, maybe adopt a village.) I am not sure why this little girl in this village affected me the way she did. I have, unfortunately, seen many similar children in equally impoverished villages throughout our travels in Asia. But, this one tugged at my heart strings.
I just truly fell in love with the people in Dong Ha. The students at Le Quy Don are light years ahead of
Crossing the River
Marcia, Rich, and Tam crossing the river back from Khe Luoi. the children I saw in A Deng and Khe Luoi. Hopefully some of the students at Le Quy Don will devote their education and their future the way Tam has, and the other Le Quy Don grad who works with GCSF, Ms. Nguyet, to help the people in their community and the surrounding areas. Many of the students at Le Quy Don asked me what their major should be and what their career should be. Many are focused on finance and banking jobs because they pay the highest salary (they need to have lots of money to have lots of girlfriends after all) even if they are not good with numbers. Hopefully more will think more critically of how their education can be used on a local scale. Eric and I are now devoted to continuing to help the people of Quang Tri Province. If you are interested in donating directly to GCSF, please do so on their website:
Please take a closer look at the wonderful work Marcia and GCSF are doing in Vietnam, and in particular, in Quang Tri Province.
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Robert Danhi
non-member comment
Thanks for going, I am going again soon
Great post and story..I have been helping them out expand cafe..great people there. Have you seen new location and website? http://www.tamcafe.co.nr/ I go back in APril! Robert www.southeastasianflavors.com