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Duke Student-Athletes Provide Blogs From Vietnam
3/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam ? Former Duke women's tennis player Parker Goyer and six current Blue Devil student-athletes are spending their spring break in Vietnam to conduct advance planning for Coach for College, a program designed by Goyer that will be piloting this summer.
Coach for College will bring American student-athletes to rural Vietnam to conduct athletic clinics, help build athletic facilities and teach sports-themed academic workshops. The goal is to enable student-athletes to use sports to bridge cultural divides and help program participants in Vietnam develop academic and life skills that will ultimately make higher education a more accessible option for them.
Joining Goyer, a 2007 Duke graduate, in Vietnam are six current undergraduate student-athletes: Tad Anderson (wrestling), Kendall Bradley (women's soccer), Jordan Charles (men's swimming), Andrea Crane (women's soccer), Pete Osterland (men's swimming) and Nick Tsipis (men's soccer).
Goyer, Bradley, Charles, Tsipis and Osterland have provided blogs for GoDuke.com.
Friday-Saturday March 7-8, 2008 ? Parker Goyer
The advance planning trip for Coach for College was scheduled to begin on Friday March 7. One of the girls on the soccer team, Kendall Bradley, lives in Durham, so she invited us all over to her house the night before. We ate dinner there as well as spent the night. At 4 in the morning on Friday we packed all of our luggage into Kendall's parents' cars and they drove us to RDU. Our flight was scheduled to leave a little after 6 a.m. Luckily it left on time, and we got to Washington Dulles a little after 7 a.m. Most of us were still groggy at this point, but since classes were technically still in session, some of the athletes still had work to do. Kendall, for example, had to post an assignment to Blackboard. We then flew to LA. This flight lasted about 5 hours, and we arrived at about 10:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. We had a short layover there, so many of us got something to eat at the LA airport. This was our last stop before Asia; no one, except Tad Anderson, a wrestler, had ever been to Asia before, so there was increasing excitement about seeing Vietnam. The plane from LA to Hong Kong was much bigger; a lot of us had 3-4 seats to ourselves and were able to sleep for much of the time. The flight was about 15 hours, over the Pacific Ocean, and covered some 7,548 miles. We left at about 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time and reached Hong Kong at about 3:30 in the morning Pacific Time. The same plane was going to Ho Chi Minh City but we had to go through security again once we got to Hong Kong. The flight to Ho Chi Minh City was about 3 hours and we arrived on Saturday March 8 at about 10 p.m. local time, or 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
After we got off the plane, we had to go through Passport Control ? luckily we all got through, but I think some people were pretty nervous once they saw the communist officials, who performed their duties like machines, examining visas and passports without saying a word in between suspicious glances at the passport holders. All in all the flight was relatively uneventful. None of our baggage was lost, and after collecting it from the baggage carousel, we went outside, where throngs of people were waiting. Scanning the sea of Vietnamese faces, I was initially unsure of where to go. Finally someone spotted a sign that said “YMCA ? Duke University”. We quickly went up to the person holding the sign, and when we did, we were also greeted by the two Peacework representatives who would be our guides for the trip, Thai, a bilingual Vietnamese staff member in the field, and Jenne, one of Peacework's managers of international programs who had come down from Prague for the week to help us. Xuan, the lady from the YMCA who was helping to arrange food, lodging, and transportation for our trip, gave Kendall, Andrea, and I a bouquet of roses and a card in recognition of National Women's Day. It was such a great feeling to be welcomed in this way after our long flight. It was also a nice change from what I was used to. When I went to Vietnam last summer, no one met me at the airport; instead I had to navigate the Vietnamese airports to find a taxi to take me to the place where I was staying.
Shortly after we had connected with the representatives from Peacework and the YMCA, our bus driver came and helped us load our luggage onto the bus. Once I saw the bus, I felt immediately reassured about the week ahead. Having our own bus to take us from place to place would be a huge benefit. Without it, we would have had to make do with taxis and riding on the back of motorbikes, which would be difficult with such a large group, and moreover would make traveling a long distance ? as I knew we would have to do to see both proposed sites for the program ? nearly impossible. During the bus ride, Thai, as a native of Vietnam, gave us an overview about what to expect for the week as well as some do's and don'ts with regard to Vietnam. What he said resonated with what I had personally experienced last summer during my time in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. After we got to the hotel and put our luggage in our rooms, we decided to go for a walk around the city. Thai, who has been stationed in Ho Chi Minh City since Jan. 1, led the way. It was about 11:30 at night and the streets were deserted ? things shut down in Vietnam pretty early, only to begin again around 5 a.m. We got to practice the art of crossing the street ? you have to just start walking, and the motorbikes will judge your speed and go around you. Everyone did pretty well, but it was definitely an adjustment. Along the way we saw many of Ho Chi Minh City's famous sites ? the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Ho Chi Minh Museum, the Reunification Palace, as well as the post office and city hall, which unlike in America, no non-government officials are allowed to enter. Walking around the city, I recognized many of the places I had visited during my explorations last July. Several people were hungry after the flight, so Thai led us to a Western bar to get something to eat. We finally got back to the hotel around 2 a.m. I went to sleep to the sounds of Vietnam, for which there is no comparison in America. I was glad to be back.
Friday-Saturday March 7-8, 2008 ? Kendall Bradley
Fortunately the lack of luck that the women's soccer team typically has with travel did not follow us to Vietnam. The flights went surprisingly well, all arriving on time and our luggage made it to Vietnam. We arrived at the Vietnam airport and walked out of the airport into humidity that makes North Carolina summers seem dry. Andrea, Parker and I were greeted with roses and greeting cards. Apparently it was National Women's Day in Vietnam. This unexpected surprise made us feel so welcome and even more excited to finally be in Vietnam after traveling for over 24 hours. Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam, but it is like no big city I have ever visited. As we drove to our hotel, the streets were surprisingly quiet for it being a Saturday night at 11 p.m. When we arrived at the hotel we were pleased to find out that there was free wi-fi and so we were all able to contact our families to let them know that we had made it to Ho Chi Minh safely. Our sense of time was still out of sync and despite sleeping on the plane, we still felt as though we were on East Coast time.
We took a few minutes to unpack and then decided to go out and explore the city for a couple of hours. Thai, our Peacework representative, generously offered to be our guide. We began with a fifteen minute walk to downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Walking the streets in Ho Chi Minh is an experience in and of itself. Although the streets were not too busy, motorbikes were constantly passing by. When you cross a street in Vietnam, you do not stop. You have to walk at a constant pace despite headlights rushing towards you and the motorbikes will swerve around you. We walked past many of the famous sites in Ho Chi Minh including government buildings, a cathedral, a museum, the post office. Although Ho Chi Minh is one of the most Western cities in Vietnam, it is difficult to compare it to a New York or Durham. The buildings are not massive like in New York or crowded at night. Compared to Durham, the stores are compacted into a smaller space and I felt much more comfortable walking at night even though the place is totally foreign to me. We went to a Western bar to get a small taste of the nightlife. We walked in to American music being played by a DJ and passed the bar into the restaurant portion. We got something to eat and enjoyed the soccer match being played on the televisions. Nick described it as “Shooters with soccer.” We left the bar and walked back to the hotel at 2 a.m. We returned to our rooms to try to get some sleep so that we could leave at 8:30 the next morning. I am thrilled to see what is in store for us tomorrow and a chance to get to see Vietnam in the morning. We are going to meet with the YMCA here as well as tour the Mekong River. Maybe we will even get to catch highlights of the game. Go Duke!
Friday-Saturday March 7-8, 2008 ? Jordan Charles
The day began early, even for a varsity swimmer's standard, as we awoke to an alarm clock at 3:45 a.m. We then traveled to RDU airport for our first of four flights that would eventually (24 hours and a plethora of airplane food later) lead us to Vietnam. The flights were not too bad as I found out the wonders of sleeping pills which were able to knock me out for about half of the 15 hour flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. We arrived at Vietnam at about 10 p.m. on Saturday night (Vietnam time) and felt refreshed and ready to tackle the world (since it was 10 a.m. USA time).
We exited the airport to find our guides from Peacework (the organization that is aiding us in Vietnam) serenading the women in the group with flowers and being genuinely very friendly. It was an excellent greeting to start off the trip! We then boarded our very own bus and traversed the streets of Ho Chi Minh City on our way to the airport. During the bus ride it finally hit me; I was in VIETNAM... so cool! Ho Chi Minh City was quite different than I was expecting. The city appeared very vibrant with neon signs, hundreds of motorbikes whizzing through the streets, and Vietnamese people just hanging out everywhere. We got to our hotel and went up to our rooms. By this time it was about 11 p.m. and to the surprise of our Peacework host, Thai, we were ready to tackle the city. With Thai as our guide, we went out to explore this new and wondrous place. Our 15 minute walk took us into the center city, which by American standards is actually quite normal. There were glamorous shops such as Versace and Louis Vuitton, tall buildings, and a very beautiful streetscape. After snapping about 100 pictures of everything that I saw, (yes even the sidewalk and street signs were photographed) we decided to hit up the nightlife in Vietnam. I for one was under the impression that Vietnamese nightlife was a complete oxymoron so when Thai told us that the bar we were about to go to was “crazy” I chuckled a bit. I guess he got the last laugh though because the place we went to was indeed quite hopping. American music was playing to the sights of a packed dance floor (it even rivaled Saturday nights at Shooters if that is possible) and the back room was packed with people of all ages socializing and eating finger food. The sight was really cool and I felt like I had never even left America. After spending about an hour at the bar, we headed back to our hotel and promptly fell asleep.
Sunday March 9, 2008 ? Parker Goyer
We began the day by eating breakfast at the hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese do not seem to distinguish between meals in terms of the kind of food they serve ? there was some French bread and fruit, but also fried rice, some assorted meats, noodle dishes, and the famous Vietnamese pho, a noodle soup. Though it was a fairly typical breakfast buffet, it was definitely much better than what you would find at the Holiday Inn.
After breakfast we loaded all of our stuff into the bus and traveled for about 30 minutes throughout the city, until we finally got to the YMCA of Vietnam, the organization Peacework partners with to arrange logistics for groups it assists. This was our first meeting of the trip. We went up to the third floor and the General Secretary of the YMCA showed a PowerPoint with background on Vietnam and the YMCA's activities. I then explained the program I was trying to set up, with Jenne and Thai interjecting as needed. As we learned at this meeting, the YMCA of Vietnam uses the same acronym as in the U.S., but the government requires that it stand for “Youth Movement for Cooperative Activities” instead of “Young Men's Christian Association”. According to Thai and Loc, the General Secretary of the YMCA, the government does not support local (Vietnamese based) NGOs ? communist governments, as a rule, believe that they provide for all of the people's needs ? but requires that such organizations instead register as small businesses. Thus the YMCA in Vietnam does not receive funding from the government and is not allowed to do any fundraising on its own. I was surprised to hear this. When I was in Hanoi last July, I was sure that I had met with the directors of several non-governmental organizations. Nevertheless, the lack of government support for NGOs fit with what I knew about socialist systems of government. The hospitality in Vietnam was just as good as I remembered. At the end of the hour long meeting, representatives from the YMCA gave us hats and a bag with different goodies. We then went up one more floor and looked over the city from the balcony. Many of the athletes were surprised by how nice the houses seemed to be. Thai pointed out that we were looking at a particularly wealthy section of the city.
We then got back on the bus and drove two hours to the Mekong River Delta. I was excited to see this area of Vietnam ? I had heard so much about how beautiful it was. I was also glad that I would finally be able to see more of Vietnam's countryside ? my month long stay last summer had been confined to Vietnam's two major cities ? and that I would be able to draw more in depth comparisons between the north (where I spent three weeks last July) and the south of Vietnam, which are supposed to be very different. We ate at a nice restaurant overlooking the river. When we first got to our table, we found three fish on it, arranged vertically on three separate platters. The waitresses then showed us how to use rice paper to make a kind of spring roll with them, and these served as our first appetizer. After showing us how to prepare the spring rolls, the waitresses brought a variety of other foods, such as fried rice, sticky rice that looked like a giant circle of bread, and shrimp which they peeled directly at the table. For seasoning, they gave us a tray with soy sauce in one part and a lime and mixture of salt and pepper in the other, which quickly became our favorite seasoning. This meal was our first introduction to the Vietnamese style of dining ? course after course is brought, family style, and diners must use chopsticks to obtain their portion from the different dishes. At the end Nick tried his hand at cooking the sticky rice, which one of the cooks allowed him to do for a short time, before the need to salvage the food required that the cook take over. Back on the bus we were greeted with ice cream cones, which we finished before disembarking to have our scheduled boat tour of the Mekong River.
Before we got on the boat, all of the student-athletes, including the boys, bought the pointy triangle shaped hats that you see many peasants wearing in Vietnam to block the sun. With our new apparel in tow, we took a boat to the other side of the Mekong River and got off on what was called “Unicorn Island.” Our first stop was a station where some workers were making coconut candy; the guide showed us the various steps involved in making this, explaining along the way what was considered a “man's duty” and what was considered a “woman's duty.” Some of the boys tried their hand at breaking open the coconut. We then went a little further along the island and came to a station where we were offered honey, tea, and rice wine. The tables where we were sitting also had peanut brittle and some lemon candies. The honey in particular was incredible, like nothing I have ever tasted in America. Nick vowed that he would start drinking the honey tea during practice instead of Gatorade. The next station had an array of five fruits ? pineapple, grapefruit, dragonfruit, jackfruit and papaya, all of which were really good. In general, the fruits in Vietnam are much riper when you eat them than they are in America. As we ate the fruit some young Vietnamese girls sang in the background. Once we were done eating we got on canoes, four to a boat, each of which was paddled by two Vietnamese people. Our canoe passed others going in the opposite direction, as smoothly as fish flowing past each other. The canal was pretty narrow and there were a lot of trees and plants on either side. After we meandered along the waterways for awhile, we finally got back to our boat and sailed the remaining way across the river. During this last leg we cut open coconuts and drank out of them through a straw. The tour ended once we reached the other side of the river bank. Luckily, our bus had already been transported to the other side via a boat. We then got back on the bus and drove to our hotel in Ben Tre, where most of us took a nap for three hours, as the jetlag was really catching up to us. At 7 p.m. we had another feast, again with a variety of foods ? chicken, beef, fried rice, and noodles, among other things. The first appetizer was again unique, a pineapple with shrimp and pork spring rolls sticking out from it. I went to bed early - tomorrow we would begin the preparation for the summer program.
Monday March 10, 2008 ? Nick Tsipis
Following an interesting and informative Sunday where we visited the Vietnam branch of the YMCA and took a boat tour of the Mekong River, Monday promised to be quite different. We were scheduled to meet with local government officials and visit a school in the Mo Cay District where we could potentially run our sports clinics/build our all-sports court/teach our educational workshops. I'll admit it ? I was nervous and even a little bit scared to meet with the local government officials because our entire project pretty much depended on their approval. However, we immediately found them to be very welcoming (through a translator, of course) and, as they repeatedly expressed their support for our program, the meeting wound up actually being very pleasant. After the meeting and a very nice lunch at a local restaurant courtesy of the government officials, we visited the a secondary school in the Mo Cay District, and it was an incredible experience, to say the least. On our visit, it just so happened that the entire school was on a break in between classes when a certain busload of American students arrived. The result was pure mayhem, with all the young schoolchildren running around and screaming “Hello! Hello!” at the top of their lungs, and otherwise creating a scene of pandemonium on our behalf that I'm sure the Vietnamese teachers were slightly less than grateful for. For us, though, it was an amazing experience for those few minutes as we got to meet some of the children, take pictures with them, and even play a little bit of soccer in the school courtyard ? all to the wild cheers of delight of a group of students who had never seen foreigners before. Following a debriefing on the school and its surrounding community by the school principal (a purely joyful man who never stopped smiling ? definitely one of my favorite people on the trip so far) we drove down the road to check out the site where we would build the all-sports court if we chose to work with that school. I could definitely see the school and this land being the site of our future sports clinics, educational workshops and our all-sports court.
Our activities for the day finished with one of the most memorable moments ? at least for me ? of the trip thus far when we got the opportunity to play badminton with teachers of the physical education department of the secondary school and some of its students. For those of you who have never played competitive badminton, let me tell you: it is intense. This was not your typical backyard-game-at-your-grandma's-house badminton with your family; no, this was birdies-whizzing-at-your-face, running, jumping, overhead-spiking badminton like you've never seen. And despite the fact that I found myself sprawled out on the floor several times after tripping over my own feet, I had my Vietnamese partner convinced that I was just going all out, trying to hit that ever-elusive birdie. After we had finished playing, he called me “very enthusiastic” and said that I had all the physical tools to become a great badminton player, but that “my technique needed a little work.”
It was an incredible end to a fascinating day, and what's more, my 3-0 record in badminton matches on the day (thanks completely to my excellent choices in Vietnamese playing partners) gave me bragging rights all the way back to the hotel.
Tuesday March 11, 2008 ? Pete Osterland
Today was mostly a day of travel, as we left the Ben Tre province and headed for the city of Can Tho. We had to cross the Mekong and other rivers along the way, and although we saw a few bridges under construction, mostly the Vietnamese cross the river using ferries. That was a cool sight, as pedestrians we were in the upper deck, but the main portion of the ferry is packed with motorbikes, cars, and buses. When we arrived, Can Tho seemed like a pretty modernized city. There are lots of shops and restaurants everywhere, and the streets are laid out in a grid fashion, instead of the single linear road we have been accustomed to in most of Vietnam. Most of work with the local government and schools will happen tomorrow, so today we had the chance to do a bit of sightseeing. We went to a Buddhist pagoda; unfortunately we weren't able to get inside because it was the monks' naptime, but there was one monk outside the door who answered our questions and posed for a few photos. He was about half as tall as I was, so the photo probably looks a little awkward. Later, some of the others left to play tennis at a local court, but since I'm not a big tennis guy I went with Andrea to the Vietnamese market instead. Instead of having a fixed price, in Vietnam all prices are negotiable and you are supposed to barter the price way down. I got absolutely owned. I mean, it wasn't a big deal because everything here is way cheaper than you would pay in the U.S., it was more of a moral defeat. The stores are all clustered together and the market is very maze-like, so I ended up getting separated from Andrea and completely lost. In my flustered attempt to figure out where I was, I wandered into a store that sells hand-stitched pictures and bought one just because the lady wouldn't leave me alone. Maybe my mom will like it. The highlight of the day, however, was later that night, when we went to dinner with Dr. Ni, a Vietnamese researcher at Can Tho University. Earlier in the week, Jordan made the ridiculous claim that his hometown of Lebanon in Lancaster County, Pa., has the most fertile soil in the world, and could not be convinced otherwise. Fortunately, it just so happens that Dr. Ni specializes in soil, so we asked him his opinion of where the best soil is. First answer? Southern Russia. “Well, how about after that?” Kazakhstan. “Okay, how about in the US?” The South, stretching from New Orleans to Florida. Dr. Ni (and everyone else): 1, Jordan: 0.
Wednesday March 12, 2008 ? Parker Goyer
Wednesday was our second official day of meetings. We were now in the second proposed site for the program, and evaluating the site required the same process which we went through on Monday. This time, however, we had the pleasure of having Dr. Ni, the director of the Hoa An Research Station at Can Tho University, with us for the entire day, even on the bus traveling from place to place. His presence was pivotal to making progress in Can Tho. Because he is so well-respected ? he is one of the world's top experts in rural development and moreover all the projects he has done in Vietnam have worked, with clearly quantifiable results ? we were afforded a level of access in Can Tho that we would not have been able to receive in other areas of Vietnam. In the meeting held in the morning, at the District level, the Chairman of the People's Committee was present; back in Ben Tre, the same official had been too busy to meet with us. In the afternoon, again as a result of Dr. Ni, we were able to meet with the Deputy Director of Education for the entire Hau Giang Province (there are 64 provinces in Vietnam, which are roughly equivalent to states). He was very receptive to our proposal and at the end of the meeting talked about expanding the program to all of the middle schools in the province, should the pilot prove to be successful. This meeting was fairly formal, much more so than the others we had. The Deputy Director stood up and introduced the two colleagues with him, and then I stood up and introduced the student-athletes one by one. In this meeting, just like in others before it, I had to preface my introductions by explaining what a student-athlete was. The Vietnamese are very unfamiliar with the concept of studying for a university degree and playing a competitive sport simultaneously. In Vietnam, those who wish to play sports at a high level are separated early on ? and indeed even put on a completely different track ? than those who wish to study at university. In both meetings, the all-sports court we proposed was a topic of much interest. The Deputy Director wanted to see drawings of what it would look like, which Jordan, being a mechanical engineering major, was able to produce rather easily.
In between these meetings we were able to visit the (lower) secondary school with whom we would partner if we chose to work in this community. All of the government officials who had met with us in the morning accompanied us to the school. I think this was probably the law ? we would not have been allowed on school property without them. The children we met were much quieter and subdued than the ones in Ben Tre. I was told they had seen foreigners before ? as a result of the heavy traffic in and out of the Hoa An Research Station ? and also that they would not dare misbehave while the Director of Education for the whole district was present. As we walked around the school, we passed classrooms of Vietnamese children learning different subjects. Many middle school students in the United States would have been astonished at the furnishings ? in each room, there was only a chalkboard, with 8 or so wooden desks. However, the school was fairly big in size and was considered standard by Vietnamese regulations. In fact, it was because the school was deemed “standard” by the Vietnamese government that we were allowed to consider it for an all-sports court. On the way to seeing the piece of land where we would be allowed to build the all sports court, we passed by an English class. Coincidentally, the teacher happened to be covering sports. On the board she wrote the words “skateboarding, rollerblading” and “I like to play ...”, as she invited the students to call out sports that they enjoyed. The English lesson was a mini version of what we hope to do this summer in the English language academic module.
Walking back to the front of the school, we came to the center courtyard, where a group of children were having gym class. I asked Thai, the Vietnamese staff member from Peacework, if we could play with them, and he subsequently obtained permission from the gym teacher for us to do so. All of the student-athletes then began to play shuttlecock with the children, which is a pretty popular sport in Vietnam. The three soccer players in particular were able to catch on pretty quickly. At the end Jordan interviewed one of the girls who spoke some English, with Thai serving as translator. All of the children in the gym class gathered around as Jordan and the girl exchanged questions.
Near the end of the day we went back to the research station to inspect the rooms where the student-athletes would stay during the summer. The rooms reminded me a lot of the rooms where you stay during summer camp in America ? basically bare bones, with six bunk beds lining the walls. It was fitting that we ended our day at the research station, the same place where we began. As Dr. Ni said in one of the meetings, “The research station and the community are one ? there are no boundaries between them.” If we are to have any influence on the local community here, the research station, and Dr. Ni, its director, will play a key role.
Wednesday March 12, 2008 ? Kendall Bradley
After a night of karaoke we woke up at 7:15 a.m. so that we could meet with Dr. Ni. Dr. Ni is in charge of a research facility for Can Tho University. The research facility is quite different then what one might expect at Duke. The main building was a two story building without air conditioning. The best comparison is to the facilities on the ABC television show Lost. Dr. Ni told us that the facility was a place to model ideal agriculture practices.
We were met by an official from the local People's Committee and officials from the local Department of Education. Parker and Jenne (the Director of International Programs for Peacework) presented our proposal to these influential men. Unlike our first meeting, the officials at this meeting were much more interested in discussing the sports court that we planned to build rather than the curriculum of Coach for College. They suggested that we could help build a sports court at the research facility, which would be open to the whole community or at a local middle school. They requested a more detailed proposal so that they could make a final decision although they were excited about the concept of the project.
We then took a short bus ride to view parts of the research facility. We saw the rice fields and fish farms and the place where they intended to build the sports court if we chose to build it at the research facility. It was a barren surface of sand where the locals played soccer. We left the research center and took a short trip to the middle school we would be working with. It was much larger than the school in the Ben Tre Province and we were told that it had just opened the day before. The space behind the school was very open and only had small brush that would need to be cleared before construction began. Dr. Ni said, however, that one of the reasons to build the court at the research facility was to prevent noise distraction at the school. After examining this space we returned to the main courtyard of the school where we played shuttlecock with seventh graders during their physical education time. Although none of us particularly had any talent at the game, the kids were very supportive and kept trying to help us improve. We were sad to leave the game but we had to go to lunch with the people from the morning meeting.
We returned to the research center for lunch and had another filling meal. This meal consisted of omelet looking concoctions filled with shrimp and pork. Although they were a yellow color, the food was not made from eggs, but actually rice. Some of the dogs that Nick and Tad befriended also got a nice meal out of it. We had some very delicious mango for dessert. This was one of 35 species of mango available in Vietnam. After lunch a few of us went on a walk back into the jungle while Parker and Jenne had another meeting with Dr. Ni.
We left the research center for the Department of Education of the Hau Giang Province for our last meeting of the day. The meeting was very similar to the first and at the end of it we climbed back on the bus for our journey back to Can Tho city. The six athletes then ventured into the market. After five days of Vietnamese food, our taste buds were looking for something a little more familiar. We found comfort in Ritz crackers and Oreos. We also were on a mission to find team jerseys for the next day's basketball showdown at Can Tho University. We had to bargain with the stubborn shopkeeper to get the price down from three dollars to two dollars a shirt. When we tried to go lower, she would not budge so we settled at this price. We returned to the hotel to get ready for yet another overwhelming meal.
Our dinner was more exotic than meals in the past. There was eel, rat and some other sort of fish that we had not encountered yet. We also had noodle soup, rice and plantains. We headed back to the hotel to rest a little before going out. I had been battling a cold the entire trip and so as soon as I hit my bed I fell asleep. Needless to say I did not wake up again but Pete, Jordan, Andrea, Nick, Tad and Thai went to a Vietnamese club. While I heard stories from the night I could not do it justice so if you want to know about Vietnamese club life in Can Tho, I defer to one of them. We have an early wake up time of 5:30 tomorrow so that we can go to the floating markets. We hope tomorrow is as productive as it was today.
Thursday March 13, 2008 ? Tad Anderson
The day started with a 5:30 a.m. trip to the local floating market for most of the group. Unfortunately I wasn't a part of the majority who enjoyed this experience. My day started at about 7 a.m. when I stumbled out on to my balcony to watch the long tail boats rush up and down the Mekong River, carrying passengers and produce to various destinations. After this I enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant consisting of eggs, pork, and bread....mmm. Breakfast was followed by a short bus ride to Can Tho University where we met with the Sports Department to discuss their possible role in the summer program. I thought the meeting turned out to be a success; the people from the Sports Department seemed to be very willing to help with our program through whatever means they had available to them. At the conclusion of the meeting we changed into our basketball uniforms purchased during the previous evening and began to prepare mentally for our encounter with the Can Tho University basketball team. Our game took place just outside of the meeting room and we were accompanied by about 200 spectators. The game actually started off very well for us with the Can Tho “Warriors” missing their first 18 attempts at a basket including about 10 lay-ups; unfortunately we also missed all of our initial attempts at scoring. The Can Tho team was composed of a wide range of players from a few that stood at about 5'4” and looked like the typical Vietnamese person to a man that stood about 6'7” and looked like Yao Ming's younger brother. The Can Tho team turned out to be fairly skilled and had little trouble defeating our team which was composed of three people who had played basketball at a high school level and three people who had never touched a basketball. The final score of the game which lasted 30 minutes was Can Tho 50, Duke 35. Overall the experience was humbling and a bit humiliating since we lost in one of our nation's most popular sports to a country that only has four basketball courts.
After our defeat we rode the bus back home to our hotel with our heads hung low in shame. Upon entering the hotel I believe Jordan had the bright idea that we should go swimming in the mighty Mekong River. Just so everyone can get the picture, this part of the Mekong River runs through a very densely populated city and is equally inhabited by fish, long tail boats, and plastic bags. Our hotel was located on the edge of Can Tho city so that on the ebb tide our section of river is composed of clean water flowing in from the ocean, however during the flow tide much of the waste from the 1.6 million inhabitants of the city makes its way into the Mekong and eventually through our would be swimming area. Needless to say a few of us chose to go swimming during the less sanitary of the two conditions. I was very hesitant at first and probably would never have jumped in if it wasn't for Nick's compelling argument: “Hey, we're here to experience new things, and you can always go swimming in clean water back home”. Our entire swimming expedition lasted about 45 seconds and I thought that overall it turned out to be a major success apart from my skin complexion still having a slight green tinge.
After a morning full of swimming and playing basketball, I worked up an appetite only mangoes could stop and fortunately Dr. Ni had the remedy. Dr. Ni is one of the partners for the Coach for College program who also runs a research center focusing on agricultural production and consequently has access to a dangerously large stash of mangoes. At lunch we were served a mango and shrimp curry that was incredible. I never knew that mango and shrimp could form such a lethal combination of goodness; this was my favorite meal of the trip so far.
The remainder of the day consisted of a five hour bus ride back to Ho Chi Minh City during which I slept the majority of the time, only to wake up for the occasional Oreo and to listen to Jordan's tales of the most fertile soil in the world.
Friday March 14, 2008 ? Andrea Crane
Friday morning our group met with the administrators from the University of Education in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss our potential partnership for the summer camps. This partnership would entail ten students from the University helping the Duke (and UNC) students run the camps. Our meeting was conducted in a beautiful room furnished with hand crafted Vietnamese chairs. The administrators were very excited to hear our proposal and ensured us that the partnership would be a success. Following the meeting, our group received a tour of the University and a neighboring high school. Located in central Ho Chi Minh City, the campus was quite different than the gothic architecture and pedicured lawns of Duke.
After enjoying a traditional Vietnamese lunch with the administrators, we were challenged to a volleyball match against the University of Education students. Our egos were still a little hurt from our previous performance on the basketball court, which led us to split up and mix the teams. While the six of us Duke athletes don't speak Vietnamese, it was entertaining to watch our attempts to communicate with our Vietnamese teammates during the match. After three games, we called it a day and headed back to our hotel.
For the first time in our trip, Friday night we enjoyed American food: Pizza Hut. We definitely lived up to the fat-American stereotype and ordered enough food to feed a Vietnamese province... not only did we finish the pizza, we topped off the meal with several traditional American desserts.
Wanting to experience all Ho Chi Minh City has to offer, our group walked around the city Friday night. Tad showed us around the backpackers' area and the popular hangouts. The highlight of the night was probably our ride home. Instead of taking a cab, we rode motorbikes back to our hotel. This is a safe and popular option in Ho Chi Minh City. While our drivers were a little crazy, they showed us around the city and made it back to our hotel incredibly fast. After an exhausting day, we all headed to bed and looked forward to being tourists on Saturday.
Saturday March 15, 2008 ? Pete Osterland
Our goals going into this trip were to lay the framework for the summer group by meeting with some key people for the program, such as government officials and Vietnamese school staff, and also to gain enough cultural immersion so as to be useful as a reference for the athletes coming this summer. I think it was a successful trip and we accomplished those goals, and as such today was mostly a day for tourism.
We left in the morning for the Cu Chi tunnels, an intricate system of underground tunnels developed by the Vietnamese for use during the war. We had fun trying to squeeze into the tunnels; in particular I enjoyed our trek through one that went two stories deep and twisted around for about 120 meters. As tight a fit as that was, apparently the tunnels were widened for tourists and were a lot smaller in the war. The site included the Vietnamese version of our Vietnam memorial, which, when combined with the War Remnants Museum I visited later that day, made for a pretty somber experience. As you might expect, their portrayal was a bit one-sided, but than again I guess ours probably is too. It was interesting to see how the other side remembers it. To celebrate our last night in Saigon, we went to a pretty nice Vietnamese restaurant; the food here is great, though a bit repetitive. If you offer me rice and shrimp when I get back to the U.S., I will probably punch you. Afterwards a few of us walked downtown and paid a few random locals to take us around the city on their motorbikes. If you ever visit here, you have to do that; those guys can really move on those bikes, and despite the chaotic appearance of the traffic here, Vietnamese drivers are very good.
Tomorrow we leave at 4:30 in the morning to fly back home; it's a long flight but it sounds worse than it is. I didn't mind it much on the way here. Fortunately they will be showing cinematic works of brilliance such as Enchanted on the flight, so I should be good to go. I'm definitely not looking forward to going to class on Monday at what would be 1:15 a.m. here however. In conclusion, overall I think this trip went well, and that the program can be a great success, both for the Vietnamese and the student-athletes who participate.
Sunday March 16, 2008 ? Parker Goyer
It is about 10 a.m. on Sunday and we just arrived at the Hong Kong airport, after taking the 7 a.m. flight from Ho Chi Minh City. We should get back to Durham around 10 p.m. on Sunday night, after stops in San Francisco and Washington D.C. Overall, I think the group had a productive week in Vietnam. We participated in a wide array of activities in preparation for the pilot Coach for College program to launch this summer in Vietnam during July and August. The most important parts of the trip were the meetings with government officials. Because Vietnam is a communist country, the Communist Party controls everything, and anyone who wants to do anything in the country must get approval from the government officials at the appropriate level (usually province, district, or commune, depending on the scope of the project). During the week we sought to explore two possible sites for the program. The first site was An Dinh Secondary School, a middle school in the Mo Cay District of the Ben Tre Province. For this site we met with the Director of the Department of Education for the Mo Cay District, along with several representatives from the district's People's Committee. We could not have arranged this meeting on our own ? we were able to meet with these officials largely because of Peacework's long and fruitful relationship with the district, where it has built several primary schools over the past 11 years.
Explorations of the second site, Hoa An Secondary School, were greatly facilitated by Dr. Ni, an internationally renowned rural development expert from Vietnam's Can Tho University. Because of his prestige and connections, we were actually able to meet with the Director of the Department of Education for the whole Hau Giang Province. As a result of this meeting, we may be able to eventually expand the program to middle schools throughout the province. All of the government officials were very welcoming of our proposal ? though they admitted it was a new concept for them ? and were particularly appreciative of our desire to build a multi function “all sports court” (a court with different lines and nets/goals for basketball, tennis, volleyball and badminton) next to middle schools in their community. They were extremely gracious in their hospitality ? all of the government officials from morning meetings accompanied us to lunch ? but they also kept a close eye on us, traveling with us as we toured the prospective partner middle school in their district. While in general our program received a good reception at each location, we have to submit a proposal in writing to the People's Committee of the two districts for final approval. Both middle schools will make great sites for a Coach for College program, but unfortunately, for the pilot program in the summer of 2008, we can only hold the program at one. If the pilot is successful, I aim to offer programs in both locations during the summer of 2009.
In addition to the meetings with government officials, we toured the two prospective partner middle schools, surveyed the land each had set aside for the “all-sports court,” and examined the available accommodations for student-athletes who will take part in the summer program. We participated in sports exchange with several different groups ? badminton with students and teachers from the An Dinh Secondary School, basketball with students studying in the Physical Education Department at Can Tho University, and volleyball with students studying Physical Education at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy. The Vietnamese students from the two universities we visited, the closest analogues Vietnam has to student-athletes, will play a key role in helping us effectively work with the youth in the programs this summer.
Throughout the week the Duke student-athletes, working in teams of two, examined each of the program's three components ? sports clinics taught by highly trained university athletes, the building of an all-sports court, and academic modules which emphasize applied learning through sports ? through the lens of the Vietnamese context and refined them. We learned a great deal about Vietnamese society ? the food, weather, societal and cultural norms, day-to-day living, educational system, and government ? which we hope to share with the summer program participants upon our return. In all, I think we came away with a good sense of the Vietnamese culture and the Vietnamese political, social, and economic environment, and are clear on what needs to happen over the next few months to enable the launch of a successful pilot program this summer in Vietnam.
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Celebrating 10 Years of ACE
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Thursday, March 13
