jenniferlpaul

On Sunday, "Dr. Todd" from Omni-Med arrived and we finalized the details of the Village Health Team (VHT) training seminar that's happening this week. Nine villages in Ntenjeru were asked to each nominate 3-4 people from their community to attend the 5-day long session. Volunteers from VOLSET, Peace Corps and Omni-Med, along with community leaders are presenting topics ranging from treatment of diseases to caring for pregnant women and babies. Once the training is over, the attendees are expected to go back to their communities and act as a liaison between the community and the health centres. They will educate, champion projects that improve community health facilities and keep up to date records on the health issues faced by the community. At first I was doubtful that anyone would show up. The attendees aren't getting any ... read more

Earlier this week, Rose and Patricia, two young girls that are living at VOLSET's dorm, asked me to come with them to fetch water before dinner. I'd seen the sign in the bathing room that said "please use water sparingly as we need to carry it uphill." By uphill, I'd assumed that they meant the small slope of our backyard. We set out, each with two jerry cans in hand. After about 5 minutes of walking I asked the girl where the well was. They laughed, "it's in the forest!" I couldn't remember seeing a forest nearby, but I kept silent and we continued to walk. Eventually we came to a forest path that sloped steeply downward. "Why are you so slow?" the girls yelled back at me. When I told them I was terrified that ... read more

There isn't a train connecting Phnom Penh with Siem Reap so we were doomed to another long, hot and stinky bus ride. It was dark and raining when we arrived at the bus station and the ground was covered with mud. Tuk Tuk drivers fought with each other for our attention, some going as far as offering a free ride, hoping for a chance to be our driver for our entire stay. We decided to ride with a sweet little guy named Maury, who offered us a ride to the hotel for one dollar US. Cambodia does have it's own currency- the Riel- but US money is accepted in all of the major cities. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge eliminated all money and introduced a barter economy. Most people used rice as currency. After the Vietnamese ... read more

We noticed t-shirts with the words "same same" at almost every store when we first arrived in Hanoi. The longer you stay in Vietnam, the more this phrase rings true. While parts of the country are incredibly beautiful- there really isn't a lot of diversity from one city to the next. Every restaurant has the same menu, every store has the same things for sale, and the street vendors and taxi drivers lurking around every corner all have the same sales pitch. After three days of relaxing on the beach in Nha Trang, we took the overnight train to Saigon (otherwise known as Ho Chi Minh City). We'd heard that Saigon was completely different from everywhere else in Vietnam and that there was more of a Buddhist influence there. We were looking forward to the change. ... read more

After the craziness of Taiwan and China, I was really looking forward to a bit of quiet relaxation in Vietnam. This was definitely not in the cards for us in Hanoi. Hanoi is one of the most densely populated cities I've ever seen. Not only does everyone in Hanoi drive a scooter- they also use their scooters to transport everything from live pigs to giant talking scales. On our second day, Ryan was hit by a live fish that flew off the back of someone's scooter. The fifteen pound fish came out of nowhere and after smacking Ryan in the leg, it started to flop around on the street in front of us. We watched for about five minutes as the scooter driver tried to pick it up off the street with hundreds of other scooters ... read more