Internship Familiarization

It's hard to believe that we have now been in Ho Chi Minh City for over a week. We have all slowly begun to adapt to living in the environment.

Molly and I have had some interesting experiences at our internship. We are working at the little rose shelter. It is very different from any equivalent shelter in the U.S. The shelter aims to provide a home for girls who are either at risk for sexual abuse, victims of sexual abuse, or victims of human trafficking. The girls range from ages 12-18 and appear to be from all walks of life. The center itself is located in District 7, an area nearer to the edge of the city that is known for prostitution. The center itself is tucked in an narrow ally that contains small stores (such as a small gaming cafe) as well as smaller homes.

One concept at the center that is difficult for the western sensibilities is that these girls are receiving education, yet they are also receiving vocational training. For example, one girl is living in the center and training to become a bartender. The center is also equipped with a sewing room as well as a "beauty salon" room where the girls learn to paint nails, fix hair, etc. In some ways, one might wish that these girls could be encouraged to strive to reach a higher level of education. Yet, perhaps it is a more realistic strategy to give these girls profitable skills that can keep them from having to turn to prostitution. These are the kinds of debates that require us to reexamine our philosophies as well as the concepts that have been ingrained in us from having grown up in the U.S. The girls at the center are also extremely self-sufficient. They do most of the cooking and the cleaning at the center.

Molly and I are working to create an updated website for the center. This is proving somewhat more difficult than expected, for there are many levels of bureaucracy. that we are unfamiliar with, especially given that the bureaucracy of Vietnam is very different from that of Vietnam. At the moment we are trying to determine basic details such as how the center is funded as well as which organizations help oversee the center. Hopefully as we become more familiar with the center we will be able to create a website which will provide a forum in which people can learn about and donate to the center.

To pack or not to pack...that is the truly tricky question

Chào ahn!.  My name is Kendra and I’m a rising junior.  I am majoring in psychology and French as well as pursuing a certificate in human development.  With this I hope to someday become a cross-cultural psychologist.  Enter my interest in engaging across cultures.

            In just over two days I will board a plane which will take me on a 20-some hour journey that will eventually lead me to Vietnam.  As the time has drawn closer to departure, the emails between my group members have grown from a trickle to a flurry.  As we prepare to leave, the queries have shifted from largely philosophical in nature to the minute pragmatic details necessary to prepare for a trip.  Packing can be an important way to process before a trip––to organize your thoughts and expectations as you organize the possessions that will keep you company during your trip.  This process is filled with elusive questions such as “to pack it or not to pack it.”  Will you truly need that second long sleeve shirt in case the first, which you might not even wear given the blissfully breezy temperature range of 80-85 degrees, has a tragic encounter with a precarious glass of punch?

            What might we be doing on this DukeEngage project you ask?  Well, over the course of this blog I hope to inform you of this, hopefully in not particularly painful detail.  But now for a bare bones overview: 7 other Duke students and I will be spending 9 weeks in Vietnam.  The first five or so weeks will be spent in Ho Chi Minh City, more commonly referred to as Saigon, a city in the Southern region of the country.  During this time each of us will engage in internships in three different tracks: the environment, children’s issues, and ESL.  I will be participating in the children’s issues portion.  As of now, I believe that the internship will be at a shelter for sexually abused girl. However, I’ve been told that things in Vietnam are often fluid, and that I should prepare myself for the possibility of an entirely unexpected project.  The final portion of our project will take place in Ben Tre province, in the Mekong delta, and we will be renovating schools and running camps for local children.

            As we prepare for departure, many questions swirl in our heads. Some of these questions are specific to the project while others are age old questions all volunteers as well as travelers to other countries ask themselves.  Yet, one thing is certain.  We will not be the same people after these 9 weeks.  Some may change in big ways while others in more subtle ways.  Regardless, each one of us will in someway be forced to examine ourselves, our own culture, Vietnamese culture, as well as our larger world-views. 

            Through this blog I hope you can follow our adventures and get a sense of what life is like on a day-to-day basis.  This blog will give you a chance to hear the voices of the others in the group as well as access more detailed entries.  If you wish to read blogs from other DukeEngagers go to http://dukeengage.duke.edu/blogs.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and decide whether or not to pack that second long-sleeve shirt.