Evening dinner and show with the kids and families

This evening, we had our farewell dinner with the Vietnamese children and families. Each year, there is the Little Red Fairy contest which is a drawing competition where children compete for money which they can use for their families or for school scholarships. The US consulate and one of her team were at the event. From what I understand, she had heard about the work Catalyst was doing and wanted to come down from HCMC and check it out. She was friendly and praised Catalyst for the direct efforts of the organization.

The show included a song from each of our Catalyst teams which were written by the Frisch family. The songs are clever and in English so I don’t think the Vietnamese kids have any idea what they said, but the point was to put us all up on stage for the amusement of the children even if they couldn’t understand. There was also a “fashion show” by the young adult men and women which was a little odd as it didn’t seem like any of them actually wanted to be doing this. I think this must be some tradition as every year there has been a fashion show. Not sure I get this. The highlight of the show to me was some lovely dance performances by some of the Vietnamese school age children. Throughout the whole evening, the DJ had the music super, super loud. Caroline kept going up and turning it down to a reasonable loud level, but they just turned it back up. Several of the Catalyst adults went and sat way in the back of the school yard so that they could save their eardrums. Overall, it seemed like the Vietnamese families and children had a great time which was the point.

That night I found a cute little baby with his mom and gave him my Habitat bear. When you donate over a certain level to Habitat for Humanity, you get a cute little stuffed bear. I have several from my own donations and from friends and families who have donated. I like to give them to the children of the houses we have built. I didn’t have a chance to meet the children from the house this year and I heard there were several kids at the house and I only had one bear with me. When I saw this little baby, it seemed like a natural decision. The mom was very thankful and the baby seemed to respond well to the bear. I hope it brings good memories to both over time.

The New Garbage Dump

Catalyst provides financial support, school scholarships and food to a community in Rach Gia who has been living in the garbage dump. Caroline explained to us earlier in the week that the government had closed down the original dump which is near the school and housing we built for them (see my earlier blog on March 28). We visited the new dump today. It is more spread out and flat then the old dump and not as many family shacks were visible. We wandered around and took photos and talked to some of the individuals who were living there via our translators. Anna was with us and she shared a few of the stories of the families with us. There was a young couple (21 and 23) who were married a few years ago. She said she was living with her mom in Saigon but had moved to the south to get married. The couple had a young baby and said that this was the only work they could find. Anna didn’t want to pry too much so we don’t know how they fell on hard times. There was also a woman with another small baby who was on her own. While were there, the garbage truck arrived and dumped its load. The families went to work immediately sorting through the garbage and collecting any recyclables they could sell or food they could eat. It is hard to fathom that people have to live this way and there is not another option.

Games with the school kids

During the day today, our Catalyst children played games with the Vietnamese children. They played Tug O’ War which is always a favorite and despite the fact that our American children and physically larger than the Vietnamese children, we consistently lost. The Vietnamese children may look small but they are strong as they don’t spend their days sitting around playing video games.
We then joined them for a very funny (for the spectator) but humiliating (for the players) game of clay pot piñata. This works exactly like the piñata we know but you swing at a clay pot which has a prize in it. Our Catalyst kids were not good at this at all, but it was very amusing too watch. Somehow the Vietnamese kids were better. Maybe this is a game they play often?
And then came the next game, which we knew the American children would lose at…..catch the chicken….literally. We will definitely be hiding these photos from PETA. It was very chaotic as would be expected with a game of catch the chicken. I wondered how many of these chickens would become dinner after we played with them this afternoon. I would be reminded again as I filled out my international customs cards and declared I had not been on a form or had contact with any animals besides domestic dogs and cats. I didn’t catch the chicken (or even try) so I don’t think this is a lie.

Cooking Competition

When we arrived in the morning, there were about 12 Vietnamese women setting up the kitchen area for cooking. They spent the entire day preparing and cooking the meals. As this was right next to the playground construction area, we got to see the whole process. It started with deck ducks and chickens that needed to be plucked and gutted and cut up and then seasoned and cooked. This was quite a long process and we got front row seats to all the blood, guts, etc. I really do think I would be a vegetarian if I had to see my meat prepared. There was also pork mush and many vegetables and rice and noodles to be cooked. Sandy helped them prepare and cook for several hours and loved it. The whole time they used the water from the hose to clean and prepare the food and dishes. All of us made a mental note to not eat anything that was not fully cooked tonight as the unfiltered water in Vietnam is not safe to drink or wash your food. And not to mention all the meat and poultry that was left sitting around for hours outside before it was cooked. It made my stomach hurt just thinking about it. I didn’t eat lunch that day as I just couldn’t stomach anything. I had a cliff bar and almonds once I got back to the hotel.

We found out later that night that there was a cooking contest between the teams of women. They won Catalyst money for their families. I am pretty sure we paid for the food for the evening too as they were serving us as well as all the Catalyst sponsored Vietnamese children. There was soooo much food and I felt so bad that I could not eat most of it. At dinner they sat us with the Vietnamese children and we made sure they ate as much as they wanted of everything. The food looked and smelled so good and there was so much food left over, but I am sure the families will eat it. I did try some sweet potato curry which was excellent, a small half bowl of rice and three small fried egg rolls (with ??? inside). Unfortunately, by focusing on eating the one thing which I knew had been cooked (the egg rolls), I ended up eating the one thing cooked in peanut oil!! This is why I carry benedryl. My throat was feeling tight and I was wheezing a little which clued me in to the fact that the egg rolls must have been cooked in peanut oil. I took one benedryl and felt ok after 5 mins so I did not panic. I told one of our doctors so she could keep an eye on me if things got worse. I do carry an Epipen with me at all times on this trip, but I have luckily never had to use it.

Final Playground Installation

Today’s project for the worksite was to put the playground in place and hang the remaining shade sails. We had requested the night before that some metal plates be welded to the base of the playground so that there would be a way to bolt the playground to the concrete. Luckily this actually happened and someone showed up mid morning with a cement drill to attach the playground to the cement. Sometimes, things work out as planned in Vietnam…..rarely, but it can happen. When we arrived at about 8:30 in the morning, there was already a large (15’ x 30’) stage set up for this evening’s event. The stage covered about a 3rd of the playground area, but was luckily far enough forward that we could still put in the playground and the sails. If it wasn’t for that sail pole we had in place, they surely would have put the stage right on top of where the playground belonged. We were able to complete the playground on time with all shade sails in place. Also, while he was out getting chain and bolts yesterday, Dwight saw a wood ships wheel and got the idea to put it on the play structure so the kids could spin it. This took some creative thinking as it needed to be attached to the play structure in a secure way that would not leave sharp bolts in the path of children. With the help of some of the Vietnamese helpers, his idea became reality and we were happy to see many kids playing with the wheel later that day. Dwight also searched the stores in town to find some type of padding to put at the bottom on the slides. He found rubber padding that is about 2-3” thick. Unfortunately, it will not last long with the weather, but at least it will be in place for a little while and may prevent some cracked heads or broken arms. Despite our nature to protect our children in America, it became pretty clear that safety is left to one self here. See other blog entry that mentions playing Tug o’ War on cement!

Market at the school

This year, the school team hosted a Market for the community we support. The market was set up outside at the school and included not only the donations of toys, clothes, toiletries, school supplies we had brought with us, but also kitchen cooking and serving items and other basic household goods. The prices we offered were below that which could have been found at the “real” market in town. Over the past months, families and the children that Catalyst supports have been earning vouchers for tasks such as good behavior in school for the kids, or helping out at school by the family members, etc. The vouchers represented Vietnamese money (Dong). Those with vouchers had first access to the market and could use their voucher money to choose whatever they wanted. Once the vouchers had been used, the general community was allowed in to make purchases with real Dong. Our Catalyst kids were the shop sellers. I heard that our kids were very strict about making sure that the right amount was being paid for in vouchers or Dong. Kristi was sharing with me that it became a madhouse once we put everything on “sale”. This was a creative idea which catalyst had not done in the past. It provided goods of their choice for free or discounted to the community and kids and raises some money for Catalyst. I learned later that there was a situation during the market where some of the Eurekez (Catatlyst hires them to be our translators) staff were taking the money received from market customers and spending it to buy things they wanted. Magali and Caroline had a talking to them of course as soon as they knew.

House Team

In the afternoon, I went over to the home team to see the progress. To get to the house you had to go down the road with the bridge and then turn right immediately after the bridge on to a small path along the river. The path led to a “monkey” bridge which is a hand-made bridge built out of tree branches, etc. It was pretty sturdy compared to some I have seen but I still decided to walk on the cross beam to make sure it would hold my American weight. The house we are building is tucked behind another house on the path. It is a brick house covered with stucco as is almost all the buildings in Vietnam. I guess this is because there is not a lot of wood available or it is too hot and humid for wood. Not sure what the reason is, but they are all made with hallow bricks and covered and secured with stucco. Our team had built up the walls about 4 feet over the past few days and they continued to build from unstable scaffolding (made of tree branches again). It is tedious work with little shade and only spaces for a few bodies as the rooms of the house are very small. There were also a few “skilled” locals who were directing our team and working on the window forms. It is unlikely that we will be able to finish the house in the time we have, but the donation money will provide the remaining funds to finish the house after we are gone. The house is being built for a woman and her two youngest children (age 2 and 4). Her husband left them a few years ago and although she has older children (17+) also, they are in Saigon trying to find work.

Mass Cement Production

We poured the cement for the last pole in the morning and then continued to pour cement through the yard. The Vietnamese students who are running the cement mixer decided they did not want to pour in sections anymore which meant no more forms. I finished forming the last row we had started and then we agreed to not frame the rest of the yard (about 50% remaining to complete). Once they started pouring a very large section, they realized they had poured too high. Now they understood the reason for the molds and the plumb lines. Sometimes you just have to let people do it their way and find the mistakes themselves. Once this happened, we began running plumb lines (but not frames) to make sure the cement was flat and/or slopped towards the drain we had designed in the back of the playground. A few hours later, when they were having problems with getting the cement the right thickness because it was not staying in place, they asked us to build to long forms for the remaining yard. The sections were still twice as large as the original ones we were building, but it was amusing to me to see the progression of thinking. We got the whole yard filled with cement today.

The concrete is a mixture of small rocks, sand, concrete mix and water. I shoveled rocks all day from the large pile into buckets which could be lifted to be dumped in to the cement mixer. It was not constant work, but it was labor intensive. Good thing I had all the practice from shoveling snow off the deck through the winter.

About 10 minutes after we finished pouring the last of the cement, the rain storm came through and it poured for about 10 minutes. Any chance we had of having smooth cement at this point was now ruined by the little dents made by the rain. Oh well, it was good enough for Vietnamese standards as the students didn’t seem to be bothered by the rain at all. We put up one shade sail before leaving the work site at 4pm. A nice luke warm shower was a nice reward for another day of hot, hard work. Dinner = same, same with fish heads and unidentifiable meat with noodles and rice. Once again, we headed to Yumi Café after dinner and this time Jack and I started off downstairs and then moved up top and met Dave Virgil and Dwight.

Medical Team - Pharmacy Concerns

I had a few minutes with Anna before dinner and shared today’s Medical team drama with me. Supposedly, someone who was at our clinic yesterday got sick (vomiting and diarrhea) from the drugs our Pharmacy provided and they called the police to claim that we were trying to poison the community. So some officials came and watched the Pharmacy for a while, not saying who they were or what was happening. Our team did not notice of course because there are always a ton of people standing around watching us anyway. Eventually they explained why they were there and the confiscated all the medicines that the Vietnamese doctors had brought with them yesterday. I guess it was one of those drugs that had been provided. Then they insisted that we give over all medications that had an expiration date in 2010 or earlier. That meant we lost the majority of our medications. Somehow the officials were talked in to giving back any medication which expired after June 2010. Caroline and Anna dealt with the officials on all of this. I thought about Delores (my sister) and how she would have reacted last year when she was the lead Pharmacist on the team. She would have had a fit! Of course without being able to speak Vietnamese she would not have been able to give the officials the “talking to” she would have in English. I am sure Delores would have been very, very upset and let them know it somehow as this would have drove her crazy! Anna was pretty annoyed about the situation too as should be expected.

Del - The Pharmacy was an open air section of the building this year. You would have appreciated that part. Jo and Christi worked in the Pharmacy again this year.

Volunteers in Vietnam

We have 2-3 Vietnamese engineering students helping us this week. I heard that their professor asked for volunteers to skip school this week to help the US volunteers on this project. They have been the ones working the cement mixer and smoothing out the cement. They definitely know what they are doing. On the first day we also had about 10 other students come by for about 2 hours to help us dig up the yard. As we only had tools for about 8 people at a time, we took turns which worked out well in the heat. We have also had some random locals come by and help. Phan explained that the locals and students really like to help Catalyst as they can see the results of our work. The school and attached library were built in 2007 and the nearby housing was built with a joint agreement between Catalyst and Habitat for Humanity. Apparently most in country NGOs have to go through the government and about 50% of the fundraising goes to the government and not to those in needs. Also, he explained that most of the local help is in the form of money directly to families. Although this helps temporarily, the results are not visible for the community to see and the results are not sustainable. He used the analogy of giving someone fish vs. teaching someone to fish.

This is a picture of one of our captians, Dave Schweir. He was in charge of the playground site and all of us workers. No wonder he looks tired and hot in this photo. Thanks Dave for being an amazing leader!

Hi ho Hi ho its off to work we go

Another day at the work site. Load the bus at 7:30 for breakfast – “same, same” meaning same time, same restaurant, same breakfast. That is one of the few disadvantages of traveling with a large group instead of on my own as there are not that many restaurants that can fit 80 people and get everyone served in 30 mins. Therefore, there is not much variety.

Our job for the day was similar to the first day but more cement pouring then shoveling and grading. The team got 3 squares of cement poured the first day, but it was slow as we were mixing the cement by hand. The Vietnamese would mix the cement on the ground and then we would shovel it in to the wheelbarrows and pour it. We were able to get a cement mixer from somewhere but the town had a power outage for most of the afternoon so we could not get any electricity. We started the day off by laying out the shade sails again to figure out where to put the poles. Before we could pour more cement we needed to know where the poles needed to be placed. The poles are 5 meters high and will be used to tie off the sun shades. Hard to describe, but if all goes well there will be photos to explain in a few days. Funny thing was that they didn’t seem to fit the same way that they had the day before. Odd. So, we moved them around until we found a configuration that we thought would provide shade for the yard and leave an opening for the towers of the playground. Once we had the pole locations identified several team members dug 4-5 foot deep and 2 feet wide holes. That was tough work.

I got put to work building the forms for the cement sections. This involved a lot of measuring, plumb lines and hammers and my tendency to want perfection and precision was appreciated by Dave S who is one of our team leaders. He also strives for the best we can do. We got 2 and a half rows completed. With the cement mixer working today, it was a challenge to keep up the forms with the cement making team. We had a limited amount of material for forms so we would have to wait for a section of concrete to form enough to be able to pull out the used form and put the form in the next section. Besides building forms there was still a lot of digging, weeding and grading the rest of the yard to prepare for cement. Our team put in three of the four poles and angled them so that we would have the proper angle for tension of the shade sails.

Sometime during the day someone was instructed to go buy rope to attach the shade sails. They came back with rope that was about 2 inches in diameter. Humph….something did not translate well on that request. I think asking for strong rope without also clarifying that it needed to be thin rope to fit through the eye holes, was the mistake. So, we knew there would be a few more hardware store runs tomorrow. Of course there is nothing like a Home Depot or Lowe’s here. We have found some small shops that have supplies with the help of the Vietnamese local students.

We finished pouring concrete for two and a half rows of the yard, which is about 1/3 of the yard. We quit at about 4:30 so we would have time to go back to the hotel and shower before dinner. This time I was smarter and took my shoes off before I went in to the hotel so I did not dump sand and dirt all over the hotel room.

The hotel in Kien Giang

As previously mentioned, there are three of us that are staying at a hotel two doors down from the rest of the group. I guess it ended up being good for us as we are hearing about people not getting hot water, not having their rooms cleaned and not getting towels. Our room is pretty basic and the beds are ridiculously hard but the rooms are cleaned each day (even with my piles of playground sand everywhere) and we get clean towels each day and our laundry back each morning. Sounds like a 5 star hotel compared to the main hotel. Anna and I have kept the air conditioning on each night and by 3am each night I am freezing as there is only one very thin comforter and no other blankets. I am not sure why I don’t get up and turn down the AC. Perhaps it’s the hard bed which makes it nearly impossible to get up from bed as I am so sore……of course being sore from the work site isn’t making this hard bed any better. Oh well, at least I can sleep almost anywhere and the construction/home team doesn’t have to be on the bus until 7:30. Sorry medical team.