Looking back, it’s hard to believe I’ve been in Vietnam for four days. Only last Friday, we were flying at about 3600 feet above Taiwan exhausted and with another 6 hours to go before I would set foot in Vietnam. The wait to get here seemed to last forever. Now, I am amazed at how much has been packed into such a short time in country, not even one fourth of our time here.
As soon as we landed, we were off to a fast pace, beginning with one of the most interesting and/or crazy taxi rides I have ever had. You would be surprised what a good cure for jetlag Hanoi traffic can be. There were motor scooters, cars, carts, trucks, and you name it flying at us from all directions. Vietnam seems to be without any clear method of traffic procedures, lanes, or rules of any kind. Needless to say, within a couple of minutes of leaving the airport I was fully awake!
We soon arrived at the volunteer center, where we ran into a great and diverse group of people. Some of the volunteers had been there for months, while others like us had just arrived. We made friends quickly and joined several of the volunteers from Australia, Germany, and Switzerland for one crazy weekend excursion.
Bright and early Monday morning we got to work, starting with our orientation. After lunch, the Volunteers for Peace Vietnam (VPV) program coordinator met with us to discussion the project. Our task will be serving as liaisons between VPV and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the Hanoi area. Our first job will be to help the NGOs draft business plans. The VPV coordinator gave us a list of 14 organizations involved in various areas related to economic development. Since she needed a couple of days to set up our initial appointments with the NGOs, we got to work doing background research on the NGOs and their functions. We spent yesterday and today using the Internet and talking with other volunteers to research the NGOS to identify the demand for their services, the possible challenges they face, and how they might be helped through the use of volunteers.
- Matthew Allen Stewart
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