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March 13, 2005
2:30 AM reflections
It's 2:30 in the morning in Seattle and I just woke up; wide awake from jet lag I guess. I went to bed at 11:00PM so it's not like I've slept a long time or anything- just wide awake.
I don't think I've slept more than six hours in a single night since I left for Vietnam. There, I tended to wake up at around 5 or 5:30 (even on the nights we closed down the karaoke bars).
Weird. Might as well make use of all this middle of the night silence and clarity. So I'll write:
The trip was the most amazing traveling I've ever done: every day was intense, active, interactive, and non-stop- an onslaught of sights, sounds, and smells (and smiles too!). Evenings, and on occasion early mornings, were spent laughing and singing off key with our new comrades.
I came away with my eyes wide open about a number of things: first, the work that Kids First is doing in central Vietnam is crucial, dynamic, and their story there is badly in need of telling. Oren and I and our friend TJ, whom we met on this trip, are going to be doing some writing, speaking, and web-design updating for them in order to get the word out. (Oren will do the web stuff; I can barely turn on my computer).
One in four children in Quang Tri province is born with a birth defect. I don't have any idea how that stacks up with the numbers here in the states but I'd be surprised if we were one in a hundred.
The reason for this is simple. During the war we dumped and sprayed tons of dioxins (agent orange) on this narrowest section of VN to defoliate the region in order to eradicate the cover for supply lines and NVA and VC troops. It failed as a strategy but it did leave a lasting legacy of pollution and misery for decades to come. The dioxins are in the ground. Vietnam is an agricultural country and people depend on the food they can grow for survival. The dioxins enter the food supply at the most basic level.
Another problem is land mines. A buddhist nun told us that her friend had been killed by an old land mine the day before we arrived. The mines which probably number in the thousands were left behind by the US, the French, the Japanese, and the Vietnamese. During the monsoons the mines "travel" as the wet ground shifts and a safe place to step yesterday may become lethal today.
Kids first is working hard to heal the damage. Roger Ferrell, the Executive Director for Kids First, lives in Saigon and met us at the KF Village in Dong Ha for a tour. They are nearing completion on the construction of a free medical and dental clinic, a bakery, and a wheelchair manufacturing factory. Roger's goal is to "get them in and get them healthy. Then we train them in a way that will make them able to go back to their communities and make a living".
He said that self sufficiency and sustainability are key to Kids First's survival and growth. He believes that the program must have ways to generate income so that every year isn't spent seeking grants and soliciting donations. With that in mind Roger intends to develop the capacity for manufacturing pig food for the KF pig farm and even plans to build a hotel in the Village where visting medical professionals, travellers, and I suspect, tired bike riders can stay for a reasonable fee. The staff, of course, would be the Kids First young people who would receive great training for Vietnam's burgeoning tourist industry.
Roger also spoke about his vision of partnering with anybody who wants to help. He said that as long as someone is willing to take ona needed project (and will commit to follow through with it) he is absolutely willing to partner wit anyone. His only other proviso, and one that I was quite moved to hear, is that it all be the highest quality. "We want to give the Vietnamese the best that America has to offer", he said. "We don't want anybody's junk".
The other revelation was about myself. Karalee started each of our cycling days with a "Question of the Day"; something to contemplate as we cycled through this beautiful, impoverished, and damaged land.
I don't recall all six questions. They were good ones though and I will put them up here when I get them from Karalee. The theme though had to do with what we take for granted and what our priorities and responsibilities are.
There is no easy way to say this but I suspect most of you will understand. I felt really, really alive on this trip and it made me realize how closed off and guarded I've let myself become in many aspects of my life.
Seeing the bare bones existence of rural Vietnam does not leave one much space for the conceit of self-absorption. I found that I could only respond to it and the people I met there with spontaneity and honesty. I mentioned in an earlier post from VN that I felt "peeled". I guess that's what I was meaning.
Anyway, I have no doubt that these feelings will continue to settle and sort themselves out. I'll keep writing here as long as it seems somebody wants to read what I have to say. It's now almost 3:30AM and I'm starting to get tired again. I know I'm starting to ramble. Good night.
Posted by ed at March 13, 2005 02:13 AM