General Vo Nguyen Giap Memorialized and a time for thought and consideration of today and yesterday

As I sit here in Ho Chi Minh City as a volunteer worker in a land that is new to me but where I feel very at home,  I am moved to consider the meaning of the passing of a world recognized General and a courageous leader of the people of Vietnam.  Of course I am writing of General Vo Nguyen Giap who died this past week at the age of 102 years.  

Reading stories in the world press the past few days I read of the same old divisions that seemed so stark back when I was in my early 20s.  The government of the USA was pressing for war and I was of draft age back then.  I had no thought of serving after I  asked myself, "Why would I want to kill Vietnamese, they have done nothing to me nor my neighborhood?" And I pointed out to friends and colleagues, "Vietnam is no threat to the US.  They lack an air force and a navy so they can't reach here.  We are being lied to to scare us of "the Red Menace".”    My answer came down to I will not kill Vietnamese, whether from the North or the South.  At the UofA I had been forced against my will to take ROTC and maybe that was good because I had picked up literature on the concepts of people's war as it had been practiced against the French in Vietnam as well as by Mao in China and by other leaders across Africa, Asia and South America including Cuba. (I feel impelled to clarify that ROTC did not supply me with these materials.)  I even considered that when my great, great, great .... grandfather fought the “stinking British” in the War of Independence, he and others used concepts of peoples war (perhaps they learned from the indigenous peoples of North America?). In other words, we in the US shared the tradition of anti-colonialism with the Vietnamese.  Our own shared experiences should have resulted in support for Vietnam instead of invading and attempting to re-colonize it. It is one of the paradoxes of history that false patriotism and propaganda can deceive people like us in the USA to follow leaders who have no concern for the best interests of our country.  Instead these “leaders” wage warfare to steal oil fields, rubber plantations and the like from countries weakened by such warfare --- killing other peoples and our own young in the process.

In fact General Vo Nguyen Giap like his comrade in arms and politics Ho Chi Minh was an internationalist, a person who believes that we are all sisters and brothers in the world.  Internationalists believe though we live in separately defined nations that our needs and desires are much the same and that through the organization of the working class and peasants who produce the wealth on an international basis we can achieve a world of  peace and plenty with harmonious relations unrestricted by the jealousy, greed and other fetters of capitalism that come between people and nations and lead to destruction, hatred, and war.  I am proudly an internationalist.  On the other hand, capitalism is based on the brute dominance of the small class of the rich and super rich who always work to divide and conquer and winner take all whether in the purely personal or in international relations.

This is why so many of us continue to organize and mobilize around many issues so that we as a people in the US rise up and say no more!  We will not invade other countries for resources, for intimidation, or in an effort to force our ways upon others.  The Constitution says it is a duty of government to defend the nation.  All it takes is a much smaller defensive force to easily do just that without the invasion of other countries, without nuclear missile threats, without nuclear bombs, without chemical and biological weapons, without drones or other weapons of genocide.  We have the capacity to be an independent nation, a very resourceful nation taking care of the needs of our people and living in equality, freedom and happiness if we will just re-distribute the wealth away from the 1% who take advantage of us.  Then the rich cannot use our government for their corporate interests of profit through the inhumane (and usually illegal) invasion of other countries.  It is up to us, the people of the United States of (North) America to do this.  That is what I believe and that is what I put my life to achieving.  For all my friends for all these years, not one step back -- the future is ours.  We must seize the time. For ourselves, for our children, our grandchildren and theirs.  Ho Chi Min, General Giap, Live Like them.  Dare to Struggle.  Dare to Win.

A fine day with Union leaders from Binh Thuan who have just completed a Labor Studies regimen.

An important community education program of TDTU is the training of local, provincial, and upper union leadership in the theory and practice of Labor Relations, Collective Bargaining, Conflict Resolution and other key skills necessary to the function and strengthening of workers organizations in Vietnam. On 10-4-2013 our Vietnam experience took a honored turn with an invitation to join a large group of recent union graduates of TDT’s training from Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City.

 Workers were from local, industrial-park based, and the provincial unions as well as an organizer for the VGCL who works for the unions in the area. The conduct of training in far flung areas – in time if not in distance – requires the professors and lecturers who do the training to travel by motor bike to the union locations located across southern Vietnam from the Mekong Delta to the Central Highlands and east along the Coast.  The courses last several months and are conducted at the best possible times and locations convenient for the worker students: the students are from the working class and work their regular jobs and have families and all that.  Three of our good friends and advisers for our teaching in VN are central instructors in these training program.  One of the TDT Professors was the former Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Council and the others have been instructing Labor Relations for several years (one of whom has a long career in Human Resources before becoming a Professor in labor studies).  They each are highly capable leaders who have a mountain of experience that they contribute to their teaching.

The focus for the visit of these union members was two fold.  First there was a visit to the POUYUEN VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED, a FDI wholly owned by its foreign investors the POU CHEN GROUP of Taiwan, in the industrial park to the west and north of downtown Ho Chi Minh City followed by a tour and dinner at the TDT University campus for the graduates.  The Union at the plant represents 80,000 workers and the plant is enormous to say the least.  It was explained that the company has a fleet of 550 buses and provides transport to and from work for  their employees.  When our caravan of TDT Labor Relations students and the bus of union leaders from Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City arrived at the factory and Union Offices, we were met by the President and Vice Presidents of the Local Union of the workers of the POUYUEN plant and a worker delegation.  As we were being met and greeted by the plant employees, we were also meeting the union graduates who were our hosts and guests at the same time.  Within a few minutes we all made our way upstairs to a beautiful union room where the meeting took place.  The total delegation numbered about 50: 35 unionists from Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City, 5 staff members from the Labor Relations and Trade Union Department, and 8 students from the University.  What a day of labor and workplace lessons!

In the meeting room the President of the Local began the meeting welcoming us all again and then launched into answering the questions that had been submitted beginning with the questions from the guest unionists from Binh Thuan Province, then the questions from our TDT students delegation and lastly the questions from the guest lecturers.  During the QandA the union leader invited people to come forward and sing a song for the meeting.  The performances were very good and added a “Maslow moment” to the gathering as the union members were able to receive the applause of their sisters and brothers.  Toward the end of the meeting the Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City delegation presented a gift to the POUYUEN Local Union.  Leanna and I presented the local union President with a bag of UE, Labor United Against the War and Labor United for Universal Health Care union buttons from the USA to be distributed to the officers of the local and a few members.  The meeting ended with picture taking.

Then it was time to have lunch at an excellent Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood.  Two women from the CSR (plant management) department joined us for lunch and conversation.  Besides eating a lot of good food we had fun doing a lot of traditional toasts with our beverages: mo, hai,  ba , YO and everyone drinks.  At first we performed our toasts at our table and then after a while we got up and moved around the room toasting the new graduates at every table.  Once we had finished lunch it was time to return to the University for the next part of the days activities.

At the University we met the delegation of labor studies graduates when they arrived on their bus, boarded their bus with them for a driving tour of the campus.  When we arrived at a spot over near our dorm room we invited everyone to come by and receive Union buttons from us as gifts from sisters and brothers in the USA.  Then we continued the tour on foot of the campus displaying the qualities of the different areas and the administration building, libraries and meeting rooms in particular.  On the 6th floor of the admin building we were invited to visit the President’s Room, named for Ton Duc Thang, the former President of Vietnam and the namesake of the University.  It was a picture opportunity and the VP of the University posed with several people who wanted to have a memoir of this wonderful day.  A special enthusiasm was generated when the workers spoke about the meaning of this university to them: A VGCL sponsored University supported by the working class and a place where they could hope their children would attend.

Two floors down we went to a beautiful conference room where we held a meeting of honor for the graduates with several speeches, three songs by different performers -- just a great time.  

Finally we all enjoyed  a catered dinner in one of the special large meeting rooms of the new Sports Arena facility.  One of the canteens catered the event with a delicious fish and seafood hot pot as the main course surrounded by lots of other goodies.  It was a very fine to sit here and have dinner with these new union friends and feel the warmth of the event.  Sometime after 8pm everyone said good bye, the workers got on their bus to go to their hotel and we retired to our room.  Picture with labor leaders from the Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City.

Days in Dalat: Dancing, Prancing, Elephant Riding and General Good Times.

      Last week was a memorable experience as we traveled to Da Lat a Vietnamese City in the Central Highlands northeast of HCMC. We left HCMC by bus at 11pm on Thursday night. [The highlands are at about 12 degrees north and HCMC is about 10 degrees north. A degree is equal to about 68 miles so go figure. Dalat is also about 2 degrees east of HCMH at 108 degrees east. That should help you calculate where we were.] Dalat is at about 1550 meters in altitude, or close to a mile high. The highest mountain in the province, Mt Liangbian, located very close to the city, is 2100 meters in altitude over 6500 foot. In other words these are not the Sierras or the Himalayas but they are some beautiful, rugged mountains forested with the gamut from pine trees to banana trees and all sorts of jungle plants. Every where you look is shades of green and the colors of the rainbow because of the multitudes of flowers and flowering plants.


Dalat is known for its floral gardens and it exports beautiful flowers as well as vegetables, milk, and other agricultural and forest products: lumber and wood products such as carved furniture and bamboo. This year Dalat is celebrating its 120^th Anniversary but the civilization of the area is older going back several thousands of years. There are various ethnic groups in the area with their unique farming techniques, music, arts, dance and languages. One of our thrills was going to a cultural presentation by a singing and dance troupe that performed Saturday night at the resort where we had our rooms. The group did not just sing and dance though that would have been enough but spoke to us about their history and their love of their Vietnam home. But more about that later.

     We arrived in Dalat on Friday morning of September 29^th at 5:30am and a van from the bus company transported us to our resort where we stowed our luggage and took a nap until about 9am when it was time to "get up and go."  We had a delicious breakfast at the dining room of the resort --- Soup for me and bun for the others. Then we toured the grounds of the resort which includes two performance pavilions, various museums highlighting the culture of the area from weaving to wine making, farming, flower production (we bought an exquisite orchid as a gift for our Dean), and lots of statues to do with the astrological signs.
Year of the Dragon catcher.

Here is a beautiful picture of two local ladies, Vinh and Leanna.  The women asked to have a picture with Leanna because they were all grandmothers!

     When we got to the big pavilion we found that the troupe was practicing their songs and performance materials so we watched and talked with them. They invited us to take a few licks on their instruments and we did. 

When the rain increased we went back to our rooms for a rest before heading for downtown Dalat which was about 6K away. As it turned out after we got up about 2pm we walked downtown passing all sorts of small businesses, a garment factory where we noticed the canteen run by the union for the workers, both new and old houses some with an art deco architecture from the last part of the French colonial period. As we approached Dalat University we came upon a family running their business on the street – they were preparing deep fried bananas, corn and sweet potatoes so we sat down and got a big platter of all three and enjoyed out lunch – delicious! After we finished our sidewalk lunch we continued our walk toward downtown passing Dalat University, some road construction, dormitories and a fancy golf course.


     Then we proceeded down a long hill and arrived at a large flower garden and across the street was a lovely little lake. As it turned out, the large flower garden was closed for the day, boo hoo. So we changed destinations and decided to head for the central market and do some shopping. To reach it we had to travel alongside the lake and to do that we rented a horse drawn quite fancy carriage that carried us to the south end of the Lake. The carriages are often rented by lovers or newly weds who come to Dalat and visit the Valley of Love. At the south end of the lake we had to start our walk again, another half mile or so to the Dalat Market where we enjoyed shopping and stopped and had atiso tea and coffee at a little coffee bar featuring a locally grown highland coffee. FYI Atiso tea is tea from dried artichoke and is reportedly a good natural medicine for your GI track, blood pressure, cholesterol, gall and other things. Then it was dark out and time to head home to our rooms to get some sleep.  



     Saturday morning we were up early and took breakfast a little after 7am again at the dining room of the resort looking out over a beautiful farming and wooded valley. On the other side of the valley low clouds covered the hills swirling about the peaks. A very peaceful way to enjoy a breakfast soup. And by a little after 8am we were picked up by our tour bus for our day of exploring several sites around Delat. Thankfully, it was not raining and we got through most of the day without getting rained on although in the later afternoon the daily rain came along for a while. 

 The first stop on the tour was the Summer Palace of the last King of Vietnam, King Bao Dai who was the monarch in the 30s and 40s until the end of WW2 ended French colonial rule. The King soon took his family to France where he lived for many years. The palace was a fine specimen of French colonial architect built in the 30s with many art deco aspects. The King's first wife lived in this Summer Palace with her children and the other 7 wives had their own palaces --- he did not mix and match with his wives and children.

     After finishing at the Palace our tour guide and driver took us to a Buddhist Meditation Center designed by the same architect who designed the Unification Palace, the fortress built with US money for the right wing dictators installed after the partition of the nation in 1956 by the perfidy of the US and the Catholic Church and that stands now as a symbol of the liberation of the nation and the reunification after the defeat of the US military. The Meditation Center and gardens are a peaceful place even with hundreds of tourists there at the same time. One room contained a giant jade Buddha that is magnificent. 

 When we finished touring the Meditation Center we walked down to the edge of a lake where we boarded boat #19 to go out to an Island a few kilometers across lake. The lake waters were clean, fish jumped and birds and frogs were in evidence.


      The tour guide had said that on the Island that we were going to we could ride an elephant if we wanted to and like sure, why not ride an elephant? It had to be much like riding a horse or a merry-go -round, right. Well it was and it wasn't. You don't put your foot in a stirrup and swing yourself up on to your ride --- rather you climb a tower, the handler brings his elephant to the side of the tower and you climb into the box and you are ready to go. Now elephants can run quite fast but our handler, Pham, only let our elephant, Roc, walk while we were on board. When elephants walk slowly they rock and roll a lot but when I asked if Rock has fallen down the handler said that elephants don't fall down.



The view from an elephant is different than a horse, too. First you are close to higher limbs on trees and small trees and bushes are below you. Roc occasionally stopped to grab some plants he wanted to eat and the handler would have to tell him to get going. Incidentally, the handler who rode on the elephants neck did not hit or act abusive toward his friend. Whenever a trip would finish Roc got a reward of three stocks of sugar cane --- to get the cane he ran from the tower to the cane storage. When he ran he moved at a very smooth quick pace and as far as I could see the rock and roll pretty much disappeared. Rock carried his cane around in his trunk and with some in his mouth as he chomped away. When he finished one piece then he would deftly move another piece into his jaws and eat while walking along.
I don't believe that Leanna or I ever expected to ride an elephant but there you go. If you get a chance, don't pass it up! We boated back across the lake where we met our van and driver and went off to another temple to view the tallest Buddha in Dalat and the province at 22 meters. After this visit to the temple we had lunch at a cafe downtown by the central market and then visited the National Heritage Railroad Station. Our food included a nice pork and noodle preparation, atiso soup, cafe, and rice. Delicious. The picture above right is of one of the train engines from the period before the US destroyed the railroad with bombing during the American War.  Dalat still does not have rail service.

Then it was off to visit a flower shop at the site of a large flower grower. The flowers for sale were spread over several rooms and included paintings/tapestries made of dry flowers as well as the live flowers for sale. The dry flower art works were said to last for five or ten years but we decided not to try to carry such things in our luggage – we would get home with flower crumbs. When we finished at the flower shop we had one more stop on our tour but we had the guide drop us off at our near by resort since it was raining fairly hard and steady by this time.


It seemed like a wonderful time to catch some sleep and the three of us took a nap. After maybe an hour we were awoken by a booming drum and decided the concert by the dance and song troupe must be on even with the rain. Before 7pm we trooped down to the theatre and since we were early had our choice of seats and sat back for others to arrive and for the show to start.

The program opened after a short speech with two people being called out of the audience to light a bonfire, this is a pantheistic culture and fire is one of the gods, in the middle of the stage. To my astonishment I was called out and I looked around at first to make sure that this was true even after Leanna and Vinh said that I should go out on the stage. After we were standing on the stage for some time with the moderator or production director by the stacked wood that was seasoned with kerosene or some other burning fluid, two women brought out burning torches and shared them with the volunteers. The women held the torches with us and we stepped to the wood pile and lit it up. As the fire burned a dance started around it and people came down out of the audience to join us as we circled the blaze. There were more dances as the evening progressed and in almost every instance the audience was drawn into the performance --- a brand new caring community growing before our eyes and through our feet. Another dance that was wild and enjoyable was a dance of water buffalo. The picture below shows the performance area but was shot in the day time.  Unfortunately the night time pics didn't take well, it was dark and I didn't want to use flash.

Dancing as a buffalo I miscued a few times but the beauty of the dance was that no one called you to task, you just kept going. There were also dances centered around hunting, fishing, and getting water. I had a few swigs of wine from one of the traditional jugs you will notice in the pictures and it was a bit hard to keep up with all that was going on when the wine took effect. The program lasted a couple of hours by which time the audience as well as the troupe were happy, tired, and ready to call it an evening. Next morning we got packed, stored our bags at the resort office and went shopping, again. At 10am we boarded our bus and headed back to HCMC where we arrived at 5:30pm, caught a taxi to the University and collapsed about 9pm to get some sleep and be up at the classroom teaching at 6:50am.
QED

An Amazing Week of Friendship and Caring in Vietnam --- Love the Children

What a Week!
This past week your blogging friends shared three great events: Mid-Autumn Festival with the HCM City residents of Ward 10, District 8;  Graduation Ceremony with the latest TDT Graduates and Welcome New Students Day with all the TDT students.  Each event was memorable in its own way and continued our education and appreciation of the Vietnam people and culture.

Sharing the Mid-Autumn Festival with the children and parents of District 8 and student volunteers from TDT was one of the most remarkable and spirit lifting of our Vietnam expeirences seeing the children have SO MUCH FUN!  Similar events take place all over Vietnam sponsored by all                                       types of organizations and volunteers.  Clown and students.

Above --  The Vice President of the
Peoples Committee for Ward 10

 Below -- the group of students from TDT
that worked so hard to create a wonderland for
the children of District 8., HCM

In preparation for the Festival each year the students of our department at TDT,  Khoa Lao Dong - Cong Doan, (Labor Relations and Trade Union Department) cut and assemble close to 200 traditional red star lanterns using bamboo sticks as the frame with red plastic as the star and a candle holder in the center to light up the star.  In addition goodies are collected to put into gift bags to be handed out to children at the Festival event.  The students also plan and perform skits, songs and games (traditional and not) to entertain the children and families.
 On the night of the September full moon (even though clouds and a little rain kept the moon out-of-sight), the street and sidewalk in front of the People's Committee District 8 Ward 10 offices were transformed into an outdoor theater with amazing lighting, stage and sound systems for the Mid Autumn Festival event.  We arrived just as the main part of the performances were beginning and thought we would blend into the crowd to watch but within moments the Vice President of the Peoples Committee had us escorted to a row of chairs at a table in front of the stage where we were honored guests seated next to the VP who made us very welcome while she took care of her duties (organizing last minute details, giving the welcoming address, etc).  We had not expected to be treated in such a welcome fashion by the elected government official and it was a very humbling moment as well as one of pride in being a guest of the people of Vietnam and the local Peoples Committee.  Every row behind us was filled with giggling and squirming children of all ages (mostly grade school age, of course) surrounded by a standing crowd of smiling parents, grandparents and older sisters and brothers.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated across Vietnam to recognize the nation's  children (what a GREAT IDEA!) with special sharing events arranged for poorer children so that they share in the wealth of the nation.  There are traditional stories, songs and games for the Mid Autumn Festival. The crowd as you will see in the pictures included folks of all ages from babies in mom's or dad's arms to teenagers and parents hanging out with the crowd.  The event was down-home non-professional and very heartfelt -- the audience LOVED IT ALL.  There was lots of humor and music and funny costumes.  The children hung on every scene with plenty of gasps and laughs as students acted-out traditional stories -- the man and beautiful woman of the moon, numerous animals being stalked by wolves, two fairy tale characters who constantly tricked each other.  A beautiful  traditional Angel dance by several women in white ai dai was performed using fans for wings to flutter about the stage and convey their story.   The last act was a  Clown who entertained and engaged children using Simple Simon and other games with his helpers the Man and Woman in the moon.  All contestants received a prize -- books.  Finally for the grand finale, children were called forward to climb up on the stage and receive their gifts of a Red Lantern and a bag of goodies.  Previously the People's Committee had distributed special invitations to the event for the children -- so they were the honored guests.  Impressive way to handle such a detail!  When the first group of children were called to the stage, the People's Committee VP (a woman probably in her 30s?) called Leanna and I up on stage.  When she pointed at us to come up we were surprised and taken a bit aback but we followed her instructions.  At first we were concerned that the students would see us as interrupting their role of distributing the lanterns and gifts to the children, but we were immediately included in the process and felt truly welcomed and honored.
THIS QUICKLY BECAME A MOMENT TO BE TREASURED FOR A LIFETIME --- WORKING THE STAGE WITH THE TDT STUDENTS, THE VP, AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS DELIVERING THE LANTERNS AND GIFT BAGS.  LEA AND I WERE GIVEN THE JOB OF HANDING THE PRESENTS TO THE CHILDREN ONE BY ONE AFTER THEY LINED UP ON STAGE ABOUT 30 OR SO AT A TIME.  When we finished gifting one contingent then they would leave stage while more youngsters climbed the ladder at the front of the stage.  Volunteers and parents made sure that the children safely navigated all stairs with their bags of goodies and their lanterns -- a lot to juggle if you are young!  It was quite a production for so many children to be on stage with all the stage lights and music and crazy adults.  Everyone did get ther lantern and gift bag and lots of loving attention.  We think everyone had fun -- we sure did and were honored to be invited to help share the fun and joy with the children.
[ NOTE]: The Peoples Committee Ward or District is the institution of local communist government and is very close to the people's lives --- the members are elected in neighborhoods and are accountable to the neighborhood.
The second great event took place less than 12 hours later when we attended the Graduation Ceremony for the latest graduating class of TDT - 2,000 students in total.  TDT pays a lot of personal attention to each student, so the ceremony is divided into 2 sessions on 2 different days.  This event was held in the TDT beautiful auditorium with all the pomp and circumstance we are used to at these events: speeches by the President and Department Chairs; special honors presentations for the highest achieving students; and the presentation of diplomas to the graduates with parents' and friends' applause (more respectful than at our USA ceremonies), as the graduates crossed to the center of the stage, received their degree, posed with the TDT President or Department Dean for a picture, and then exited as the next grad stepped forward.


We planned to slip into a balcony seat to observe part of the ceremony knowing we had to leave early to teach a class.  BUT we were spotted and immediately invited to the main floor of the auditorium and seated in the front row with the  Department Deans.  Luckily Hollis had worn black trousers, a white shirt and tie and black shoes rather than his running shoes.  Following protocol Hollis did not shoot pictures until we were leaving so you won't find many photos of graduation unless I can find them elsewhere on facebook or a school website.  The picture with Leanna does illustrate the beautiful front of the auditorium but it does not show the balconies above and behind the main floor -- FULL of the families of the graduates.   We were really glad we got to see two of the Labor Relations students we know recognized for their special academic achievements.
We left the Graduation early to teach our simulation class on Labor Conflict mediation from 9 am to 12 noon back in our 5th floor classroom (that's 6 flights of stairs!).  In virtually each of our classes we practice "social dialog" with simulations covering issue bargaining, collective bargaining for contracts, grievance handling and other conflict resolution techniques.  This past week students studied and then practiced the role of mediators in a labor issue.  Leanna and I played the parts of Union and Employer while the students developed specific plans for talking with us to learn the facts, and process tactics to get us talking with the understanding that mediation is voluntary and non binding -- the Mediator is neutral and does not devise  solutions or make the final decision as in arbitration.  The class was a sparkling success but more about that in another blog.  We do have some pictures to share at some point.
The 3rd great event in three days started at 7 am on Saturday morning -- Welcome New Students Day.  The first event of the day was a 7:30 am a parade of the 13 departments and many student clubs/organizations into the football stadium.  Each group arranged or dressed themselves differently to give character to their group.  Our group of Lao Dong - Cong Doan looked great and marched smartly on the rain soaked field [We had one heck of a rain about 5  am with strong  winds, etc.].  Our fairly large contingent in the stands cheered our compatriots when they were announced at the reviewing stand and again as they passed by us -- we all wore special t-shirts.  Our group was lead by Professor La, an educator with a Labor Union background who was one of the VGCL founding persons of the TDT University and the head of our Department of Labor Relations and  Trade Union.  Just before our contingent took the field, we were invited to march with the contingent and/or sit with the other faculty in the reviewing stands.  We quickly decided we'd get better photos (plus we were not properly dressed -- our t-shirts!) if we just continued to hang out with the students.  We really appreciate the respect we're shown here as faculty.  It's a balance for us of honoring the role of faculty here in Vietnam and also figuring out how to hang-out with students.

After the parade and formation on the field event was finished we joined Professor La, lecturers Triet and Vinh and toured the booths set up on streets around the dorm area by the various student organizations: labor studies, environment and ecology, Youth Union, health sciences, engineering, and so on.  The groups were recruiting new members as well as raising funds to support their activities, so there were food, crafts and games aplenty to enjoy for a very small contribution.  The display for Labor Studies highlighted the programs for field placement of labor students with unions.  Naturally (we think we're now in the second HCMC season -- rain and hot), it started to rain as we trooped around participating and watching the activities.   One big attraction was a traditional "game" played by having bamboo poles arranged on the ground and then rhythmically clacked on the ground and together.  As they are moved the jumper tries to hop between the poles in the open areas and then move on before getting caught --- sort of like hop scotch or maybe jump rope with moving squares of bamboo that can catch your feet.  You will see a little video of that event which neither Leanna or I chose to take part in -- for once our common sense kicked in.  It was great fun to watch the students (and a few faculty) succeed.. or not!
In the afternoon the various student volunteers representing the departments, performed in an extravaganza in the new Arena.    Remember this is the NEW arena, so this was a first-time production for TDT students.  There were thousands of students in attendance and we sat with our students again --- we like being in their company and it gives them a chance to chat with us in English, or not.  I got some pictures of many of the performances including some video which we will display here or on Facebook.  When the Labor Relations group took the stage we cheered as loud as the loudest group in the house (maybe we were the loudest) and then we charged out of the stands to sit on the stadium floor in solidarity with our performers.  It is really fun to watch some of your Labor Principles and Conflict Resolution students strut their stuff signing and dancing.  There's a lot of performance talent in this student body -- and the students really appreciate and enjoy it all whether on stage or in the audience.
Bottom line...we had a great TDT week and are now exhausted!  Got to get some rest quick before we head to class Monday morning at 6:50 am!

Southern Vietnam Women's Museum --- A must check out Blog post!

MADAME NGUYEN THI BINH in her jungle office.  Madame Binh went on to lead Vietnam's diplomatic works and and negotiate peace to end the American War.

Too often when history is written it is all about him and herstory never gets told. But this isn't the case here in Vietnam and last week-end Leanna and Hollis toured the Southern Vietnam Women's Museum.  The museum is housed in an older building in District 3, near downtown Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon.  The museum tells the story of the women of southern Vietnam (the Vietnamese talk about the southern region, central region and northern regions of their country -- food varies and language accents vary) with different displays highlighting the civil life of southern Vietnam and many cultural groups that have flourished here for 4,000 years including stories about such heroes as the Trung sisters, warriors long ago who were adept at fighting for freedom using elephants.  On each floor of the museum there were gorgeous sculptures and art pieces celebrating southern Vietnam's women.
 Women's prison cell and items about the prison and prisoners.       

The first floor's displays focused on the technology used by women over the course of time to create such traditional fabrics and special clothing as cotton and silk.  The display of spinning machines and incredibly diverse looms with examples of work in progress also showing traditional and historic versions of clothing really helped explain the many different peoples who are Vietnam.  You were left with an understanding of the hard life of labor women lived and the critical role they
Women's personal items.
 played in sustaining family while also contributing significantly to the economic welfare of their family and village.  The top floor exhibits were about modern working class women in all facets of Vietnam's life: diplomats, the People's Assembly, government agencies, education, factories, etc. and was quite inspiring.  The importance of international solidarity was an on-going theme.  The hard work of Vietnam's women continues!   After carefully looking this are over with our two student guides, two women studying in the Labor Relations and Trade Union Department, we moved on to the second of the three floors of exhibits.
Confrontation of Women and soldiers.

Immediately we were ushered into the history of the three long wars that Vietnam has had to endure during the last century and a half starting with the struggle to force the French colonialists out of Vietnam.  The women tended the home fires while the men were fighting --- like happens in most every society --- but went way beyond and became armed fighters, organizers and carried on propaganda and other activities including massive strikes and demonstrations demanding freedom for their peoples.  This experience provided some of the back bone for the resistance that eventually won against the French in 1945 when the Japanese who had occupied much of Indochina were defeated.
NOTE:  If you'd like a Hollis-review of the history of Vietnam from 1945 until late 1970s, feel free to read final paragraphs of this posting.
The remaining floors of the museum contained powerful displays of the stories of individual and groups of Vietnamese women illustrated with the personal belongings that had been donated by women and their families.  The stories which spanned the wars with first the French, then the Japanese occupation during WWII, continued war with France and finally the war with the USA were amazing testimonies to the power of women!  Stories included women fearlessly organizing for workplace and economic justice, directly confronting French and USA-puppet soldiers, hand-producing (with VERY BASIC printing and paper materials) leaflets and posters and then at risk-of-death distributing such literature, growing and harvesting and then transporting rice to soldiers fighting for Vietnam's freedom, hiding freedom fighters...on and on and on.  To read the names and stories, see pieces of clothing or shoes or water cans or eye glasses used by these women was moving.  These women were members of the "long hair army" and many of them sacrificed their lives for freedom.  In addition to these important roles, women also served in the military  and were important in shooting down USA aircraft carrying bombs and Agent Orange/napalm.  Women played an important role in many war battles actually fighting for Vietnam's independence.  Even young students (we saw photos of the women students) mobilized at great personal risk.
Although it was a painful part of the exhibit, we also saw displays of how the French and USA treated women prisoners -- horrible tortures, terrible prisons with little or no food (many women gave birth to children or had very young children with them while in prison).

Women at the Rubber Plantation  The exhibits both showed the horrible suffering and the inspiring strength and power of the women of Vietnam.
At this point of our viewing the museum, it really struck Leanna that these were the stories and lives of women who lived and worked with their families in the southern towns and villages of Vietnam.  What a counter to the myth that somehow Vietnam was a divided people!  Diverse, yes.  Divided, not!
The top floor of the museum was filled with a beautiful large mural as well as the displays of women actively building Vietnam society, culture and art, business, economy, science and technology today.  Again it was great to read and learn about individual women and their contributions.  This is a museum where you feel like you're meeting actual people.
As has been the case with other museum visits shared with our students, we had some great conversations about the lessons each of us was learning, what was emotional, what was inspiring.  The students explained to us that most of the students who grew up in HCMC had already seen the museum, but since our two "guides" were from other provinces much of what we saw at the museum was new for them as well as for us.
One other interesting note about this museum visit...at the ground floor level there was a rather large meeting room.  As we were entering the museum it was obvious that there was decorating going on for some kind of an event.  We asked and the students found out for us that a young couple was having part of their wedding celebration there at the museum.  Might not have been the hippest location in HCMC, but Leanna especially thought it was pretty great if you were going to get married that you also celebrate in some way the southern Vietnam woman!  
Here's Hollis's version/rant of key elements of recent VN history (the American War):
After the September 2, 1945 Declaration of Independence and the  establishment of  the new nation of Vietnam, the French tried to reassert their colonial hold on Vietnam with help from the US who supplied France with money, weapons, bombs and the other implements of war.  This US assistance allowed France to carry on their attempt at re-occupation untill 1954 when they were defeated at Dien Bien Phu by the successful Vietnam peoples war strategy.  As history records, the US decided with the support of the Roman Catholic Church to pick up the gauntlet and invade Vietnam after preventing the 1956 elections that were to re-unify the nation.  The Church had gotten involved because they wanted to maintain their power base under the dominion of western european power.  The Church did not send troops but rather supplied a religious cover for the atrocities of the SVN puppet government --- the Diem regime.
The South Vietnamese people who were organized over the years by the liberation movement [Lead by leaders such as Ton Duc Thang, Pham Van Dong,  Madame Nguyen Binh and Ho Chi Minh to mention only a  few, yes that is Madame Binh a revolutionary leader, organizer and the Provisional Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Liberated southern VN, and Vn representative at the Paris Peace Conference.] were an unbreakable force aligned against the most powerful military force the world has ever known.  These women leaders and woman-next-door-warriors were steel-minded fighters who refused to break under terrible treatment by the SVN government and their US allies who allowed and trained the torturers, troops of the SVN government.  Viet Cong liberation force women were not just the fighters who lived in the tunnels but also the women organizers in the hamlets, towns, and cities who organized and demonstrated against the puppet government and the US aggressor  forces  who killed with Agent Orange, napalm (both chemical weapons), daisy cutter bombs and other weapons of mass destruction --- the weaponry of a military who had no answer to the strategy of people's war and therefore undertook the use of weapons of mass destruction in an effort to gain an upper hand through terrorism and genocide --- a strategy devised by befuddled generals in the Pentagon and inept leaders in the White House directing a subservient officer corps in the field to prosecute a doomed strategy. This leadership and the intelligence agencies of the US destroyed the futures of 4,000,000 Vietnamese and about 55,000 young Americans whose lives were thrown away like trash, not counting the wounded on both sides.
  Women at the Barbed Wire

Part of this campaign was also the imprisonment of women, men, children and senior citizens in concentration camps referred to as "strategic hamlets" --- removing the sea in which the fish of the guerrilla warriors swam.  Of course this strategy didn't have a chance and those of us in the  peace movement knew by 1964 or so because we read and learned from Mao, Lin Piao, Ho Chi Minh, Nkrumah and others including Che, the theory and practice of people's war.  Looking back it is amazing to realize that  Presidents JFK, LBJ and Dirty Dick Nixon didn't do their homework,  declare victory and just get the hell out of Vietnam.  If any of them would have even read the book or watched the movie of  "the mouse that roared" they might have gotten a clue.

Pictures from the Mural.

Trip to Nha Trang ---

At 12 minutes to seven on the morning on August 28^th we loaded ourselves, Vinh, Leanna and I, into a van and headed for the train station to board the 8am train to Nha Trang. We were on our way to visit a second Ton Duc Thang University campus, enjoy a holiday, and experience and learn more about VN. Part of the adventure was the unexpected train trip. The original plan had been to travel to Nha Trang by van but there was a change of plan from six travelers to three so a nine passenger Van was superfluous.

When the change was made 2 days before departure we were caught by surprise but excited by the idea of traveling by train as you sit up higher and can see a lot more of the country. Our expectations were fully fulfilled. We loved the train ride both going to Nha Trang (NT) and returning three days later to HCMC. One of our sponsors at the University Prof. Hoa met us at the Saigon train station to see us off. He wondered if we were used to train travel or that it would be perhaps uncomfortable for us, but we assured him that we were looking forward to the trip and that train travel was fine. Prof. Hoa commented that we were typical of foreign visitors to Vietnam with our interest in old trains. Our accommodation was a room with 4 bunk beds so we could sleep if we wanted or watch the scenery pass by.

     The trip to the train station was the first adventure. The main road to downtown HCMC was clogged with traffic because of a wreck somewhere ahead of us so our driver made a U turn after a few minutes and took us an alternate route through a working class neighborhood and then across two bridges that we hadn't been over before –- as time began to creep close to train departure time and we were still driving we had some moments of wonder –- would we make the train or not? The driver joked that if we missed the train then he would drive us to NT, no problem.

  

Of course the short cuts and alternate route worked out just fine (the driver clearly knows HCMC very well!) and we got to the station with 12 minutes or so to spare. Our train was called within minutes, we said goodby to Prof. Hoa, we boarded, and we were on our way through the city and out into the lush, green countryside with rice farms, industrial parks, rubber plantations, dragon fruit orchards and on and on. Crops included corn, scallions, sugar cane, lotus, bananas, coconuts, grapes. It really reinforced our knowledge that 70% of VN lives and works in the rural areas and produces not only food for the country but also provides major export income for the national VN economy. We got to see more of the traditional step-down roof houses, water buffalo hard at work plowing and pulling loaded carts, women carrying water, creative access to electricity – all the scenes of a developing country. We also noticed lots of craters amongst the fields – some filled with water, some just adding to the variable contour of the fields. We're not sure, but we suspect this may be a legacy of USA 1960-70s carpet bombing by B52s [Carpet bombing involved dropping massive amounts of daisy cutter and other very large bombs in carpets across the landscape to kill anything that moved: women, children, grand parents, water buffalo, cattle, goats. There are still thousands of tons of un-detonated ordinance.], a result of warmongering. The sleeper train cars on the trip north were from the French art deco era kept in very good shape with lots of wonderful design features.

     We reached NT only a few minutes late and the car from the campus was waiting for us. Since it was rush hour, our driver did not take us through downtown NT on the way to the University. Instead we got our first view of NT with the very modern tourist section right along the gorgeous, LONG beach. Besides tourists, fishing and construction industries are the key economic sectors for this city which is about 1/3rd of the way to Hanoi from HCMC. This is serious fishing – fisherman fish both daily as well as with 2 week journeys out into the deep sea. A major recent development has been the formation of fisherman unions both to improve ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications for weather safety and for sharing info about good fishing locations and coordinated fishing. This also unites the fishermen in dealing with markets and negotiating fair prices! The beach was spectacular and the fishing fleet was bobbing on emerald green and blue waters. The city is surrounded by mountains and itself is hilly and rocky. Lots of rocky islands scattered all around the HUGE bay – small and large islands with what seem to be fishing villages, one is a small pagoda and others are just beautiful. One of the larger islands is where VinPearl Land, an amusement park is located – more about VinPearl later.

     The TDT campus was impressive. Founded in 2008 there are already close to 2,000 students and the campus is a major training hub for the provincial VGCL union leaders and staff. We got to briefly speak with a VGCL class – they were in the midst of taking 2 exams for their class. The campus not only has modern classrooms and labs (computer and hospitality training) but also a activities/sports building, canteen and dormitory. Every Monday morning all the faculty and students gather in a big courtyard to salute the VN flag and hear about important political news and topics, review upcoming activities and school policies, recognize outstanding students and give not-outstanding students opportunity to take responsibility for their non-outstanding activities. 

     Mr. An, Assistant Rector, was not only generous with the complete tour of campus but also took us swimming at the beach and to breakfast one day. The bay is so clear and clean, the morning waves so gentle (afternoons can get windy) that you can really enjoy the WARM water and swimming. We didn't hit the beach until about 6:00am – when it was clear many VN had already had their swim and were headed back home and to work. NT is famous for snorkeling and diving.

VinPearl is reached by either ferry or the longest cable car over open sea. We made the cable car trip both during the day and then at night – breathtaking views. The park is a mix of scary rides (of course Hollis enjoyed every damn one of them), children-speed rides, arcade games, live performances, aquarium (really well done), delicious restaurants (we had the traditional VN dessert “che” which we loved), lots of shops and an outrageous laser water show choreographed to both traditional VN and classical music. The laser show was a highpoint. There was also a water park, but Hollis and I just couldn't move fast enough to fit that into all we did at VinPearl Land. Everything was translated into English, Russian, French and VN – so this is a real tourist attraction. While we were there on a Friday afternoon/evening, it was not particularly crowded, but we're told week-ends are really popular so the snaking-wait lines are a necessary feature. While there were some Russian tourists, most of the others sharing the fun were VN families.

     NT is a much more relaxed pace than HCMC – to which we quickly adjusted. The city feels like at least two cities – the modern city is spread out along the never-ending beach and bay with lots of hotels, restaurants, fancy shopping mall, bars, beach-front parks with plenty of sculptures and trees. The older NT has a great traditional VN market that has so many fresh and dried seafood stands I can't imagine how local shoppers decide where to buy. As a typical market you can buy everything from clothes to kitchen and household goods to spices to seafood. We missed the early morning crowds, but were still impressed at how busy the place was – but still not with the crowds, motorbikes and pace of HCMC. We often heard the comment that people who have moved to NT from the north (like Hanoi) do better financially than the local NT residents...VN from the central and southern parts of VN often see themselves as hardworking but not into saving for the future. Interesting conversations with taxi drivers and sales and wait staff.

Of course NT is famous for seafood, so we filled up every chance we had! We tried a typical restaurant where you pick out your wriggling, fresh seafood (we enjoyed squid, octopus and shrimp), tell the staff how you want it cooked and then EAT! Great! We also tried banh xeo which is a type of VN pancake made with egg, sprouts, scallions, cilantro and SEAFOOD. Delicious. Typical little eatery with a shortlegged table, little plastic chairs and several hardworking women cooking by the street on two small, old cast iron ovens.

     Just across from the small eatery was the historic Cham temple. While we're not into religion, these 7-12^th century restored temples were impressive. The Cham lived all around VN and build the temples starting in 2^nd century. The VN government and private individuals all cooperated to restore and protect these ancient, historic structures and sites which sit on the top of a hill with a very strategic view of the harbor. I may be wrong about this, but the beautiful weaving and traditional clothing typical of the Cham people reminds me of Khmer people. The site in NT was an interesting mixture of worship, historic information and displays, cultural demonstrations and tourist sales – and an incredible view of the city and bay.

     We also got to visit the Oceanographic Museum which has been around for a long time (as has the Pasteur Institute which is famous for its public health work in VN) and combines important on-going scientific work –which is available to VN students – with a good aquarium. While the facilities are old, it is a great experience, well-maintained and very popular with VN tourists.

     Another unique NT experience for Hollis and Leanna was a fish pedicure...check-out the photo. Tourists are expected to be ridiculous, correct? It tickled, got us into a fun conversation with a young VN family and an Australian couple walking by us with our dangling, fish-covered feet. And we both had many less callouses! Anyway, you can now see we both are doing our best to well represent progressive USA folks here in VN (if you're worried, you can emphasize we're from CA).

     The train trip home to HCMC was part of the fun. This time we rode in a newer sleeper which had a higher ceiling with beautiful wood paneling. While we traveled at night, we stayed awake long enough to enjoy the design of sleeper night lights, comfortable but thin mattresses, quilts and pillows, TV (which did not work – thank goodness!), PA system with patriotic music (Independence Day is September 2), “European Water Closet” – very comfortable. Both our train and the train headed in the opposite direction further north to Hanoi were FULL as folks have a long week-end to celebrate Independence Day. We will never be able to fully express our gratitude to TDT for all the opportunities that they have honored us with as they share their country with us.  

First teaching days! We are now in the thick of it and loving it.

   August 19^th was the first day of classes for the new semester and Leanna and I jumped right into the “thick of things.” Our first Labor Relations class began at 6:50 am (yes that is six fifty am) and lasted till 9:35 (2 hours and 45 minutes, OMG!  This class time is referred to as the first shift rather than first period. There are four day shifts and a night or evening shift. Our second class is a 3^rd shift class on Tuesday from 12:30 pm till 2:55 pm and is in a VERY WARM classroom on the fifth floor. Though there are elevators we walk up. The height to ceilings in the rooms is about 15 foot so walking up five stories is at least a 75 foot elevation change. The student desks/benches are wood with two or three students sitting together at one desk, yet we didn't hear any complaints. 

The LR class has 108 students registered as of today (28-8-13) and registration is open for a few more days. The Conflict Resolution class has close to 60 students so we have a handful. In addition to the classes we will give faculty, staff, and students practice with English native speakers as well as conducting staff seminars on labor relations, collective bargaining, and so forth.  We're also conducting a series of popular education classes utilizing labor issues as topics so students experience popular education exercises and activities.  The campus is now FULL of students and lots of activities from early morning until mid-evening.  The weather does deserve mention. The hot temperature each day is about 93 to 95 degrees with humidity in the range of 90% to 100%.  Most days it rains for a bit and we often have a thunderstorm. In the evening/night it cools down to maybe 78 to 80 degrees so we get up at 5:15am almost every day and take a very brisk walk.  We really appreciate the air-conditioned apartment and office TDT provides us.  We've adjusted some to the heat (Leanna is known for her hand fan and handkerchief), but find the air-conditioning a welcome break. 

Our students are about 70% young and female and all seem very capable and committed to gaining a good education. They expect a lot and we intend to provide what they want. We are using a popular education model in our formal classroom instruction with lots of role playing and group activities utilizing simulations of working class culture in factories and other work places. The roles make people have to play the part of management as well as of workers and union leaders in collective bargaining, grievance handling, social dialog in Win/Win Conflict Resolution and Alternative Dispute Resolution. We also have groups of students undertake research on labor questions and then make a presentation to the class followed by critical analysis. 

    The popular method we are using is based on the work of Paolo Freire in Brazil and others who have found it a strong tool to create critical consciousness of economics, culture and the struggle of working people for a livable standard of living. A good number of the students plan to use their educate here to work in the union movement as organizers and staff and that is exciting! 

 It is a different world working in a developing socialist society rather than in a super developed, individualistic, alienated consumer society run by the .2% and Wall Street. In the long sessions on collective bargaining we will stress organizing tools as well as agitation in the movement and to use Conflict Resolution in a manner that resolves contradictions with gains for workers as well as for the profit making businesses that are bringing money into the nation through direct foreign investment businesses and other business activities. It is interesting to find that here in this developing economy that human resource majors are taught to think how they can use their position within a corporation or business as a platform to build a socialist society with more equity for the working people and the community within a market socialist economy that allows for capitalist enterprise.

In other words we are asked to stress the concept that human resources can be part of the process to serve the working people and the community not just the business owners who pay the wages. This exposes the contradiction offered by capitalism of “human resource as a tool of management” to control employees and to carry out business dictates that may have only the maximization of profits and is inadequate and against developing a society of harmony, stability and progress: the goal of human action.  Human resource can be used for benefit of workers and society!

These posted photos are from Open Day showing the engineering students demonstrating their inventions and Labor Relations Department students meeting with new students to help with orientation to the campus and academic work.