Hanoi - Vietnam (month 2/3)

---

Hello,

Such a long time without writing... that's because it's not really holiday anymore... In fact, I am working in Hanoi within a Vietnamese association for disadvantaged children. This only one of four projects driven by the NGO.

On the Red River at the entrance of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, some families are "living" on floating things that we can call "houses". They are not allowed to live on the territory of Hanoi because they have no money and come from the country side. So, they generally collect and sell garbage (with their children for sometimes) during the night on the markets, and they try to survive. We welcome the children of these families everyday for giving them: a class in Vietnamese/maths, a lunch, some play time, a class in English... And maybe more important: some kind of structure or authority for them, who grow up in the streets without proper education. Some other children don't come from these houses but they live in very poor condition, get no education and have a terrible family history. They can be so sweet, they can be so hard!

The house where we sleep, live, cook and teach the children is in a poor district of Hanoi (Long Bien) close to the river.
There are 6 permanent Vietnamese working for the NGO, some international volunteers staying for weeks or months and many Vietnamese volunteers... some very good new friends for me.
Also, a Vietnamese style of working, planning, managing... it's a cultural chock after having worked with Germans for years 😊

The starting idea was to stay 2 weeks for a first experience, but it was going so well that I extended to 8 weeks. I could increase my participation in the association, with more meaningful involvement. Which is still very little, compared with my new Vietnamese friends' work.
So, it's difficult to write what I'm learning... it's just so much and so different from home.

Hanoi is a city where one feels good. There is some chaos, pollution, like in almost any big city in Asia but to me, it feels far better to live here than in Saigon. I rent a Motorbike and I now drive like a Vietnamese, so don't give me your vehicle when I'm back!
The daily life is completely different, hard to describe actually, I could imagine living here for a longer time but it's not in my plans for now.

In the week ends, there is free time to travel around... the Halong Bay (candidate for the 7 Marvels), Tam Coc (terrestrian Halong Bay), Cuc Phuong national park, various huge Pagodas and temples (Hoa Su, Parfume Pagoda, Den Hung)... plus so many parties, events with school or universities, hometown of my Vietnamese friends... just so many experiences.

Arrival in Berlin on May 16th. I will post one more entry before the end.

Xin Chao

---

Photos

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Ho Chi Minh, the local hyper hero was a humble person who liked discrete places... But a communist hero is a communist hero. The monuments are huge and massive.

Hmmm.. no dog meat today please.
I've tried dog meat once.

Houses where most of the children live
One "house", two families

Children from the blind school
Teaching at the blind school is another project of SJ Vietnam, I just visited it.

Week end in Halong Bay
One night on the boat and a dream outside

Parfume Pagoda
3 Month after Tet, famous pagodas are overcrowded... praying for money and success, giving fruits and small money...

Alone on a mountain
I was alone this week end and the night was coming... will I have time to ride the bike, climb by foot and go back to my hotel before the night falls? Yes!!!

Nice Jungle walk
See the video in the rescue center of Cuc Phuong

Comments

[Somar]

Dis moi juste que t'as pas bouffer du chien...c'est répugnant :p Profite de tes 15 jours et j'espere à bientot. PS : t'es ou sur la dernière photo ? :p

[Jens]

Unglaublich
Ben, endlich kommst du da an, wo ich bereits bin. Nicht geografisch, sondern inhaltlich vom Herzen. Das ist pure Nachhaltigkeit. Und sag wie man sich dabei fühlt, diesen Kindern zu helfen - traumhaft gut, oder? Freue mich schon auf deine ausführlichen Berichte hier wieder in Berlin! Mach viele Fotos, und wenn es hart auf hart kommt - das Robert-Koch-Institut ist hier um die Ecke. Jens

[irisbenji]

Hallo Jens, Wir reden in den naechsten Tage. Die Antwort ist "man fuelht sich nicht besonders gut". 2 Monate ist gut aber es ist nichts. Man fuehlt sich vielleicht nutzlich wenn man als Full Time Job solche Projekte durchfuehrt.