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The WUSC staff and long term volunteers in Vietnam are incredibly helpful and supportive. I have needed their support as there have been some challenges with the project. The Director's concept of capacity building is for me to do a workshop for ~ 100 teachers on best practices in Canada in needs assessments. It is a command performance for the teachers, whether they have any role in conducting a needs assessment or not. After asking lots of questions of my one colleague, from the relatively new department dealing with industrial relations, we decided that perhaps we would start with the basics: "Conducting needs assessments; why and how.

The real challenge was making the presentation as relevant (interesting) as possible - knowing the audience. My colleague's English rapidly improved the more we talked, but I found It pretty challenging having to pre-write all the script, knowing that you will not be able to 'ad-lib' while presenting. At this particular college, the management structure is extremely hierarchical and very little happens that doesn't first go through the Director. Good news was the draft workshop agenda was approved.

This college has 6000 students with two student campuses and one  administrative campus. I had fun on the Tuesday of the second week, and went over to the closest student campus (this entailed riding on the back of a scooter for about  20 minutes). The students were great, and the curriculum most  interesting. As Clive mentioned, there is a compulsory course for all  students on the "thoughts of Ho Chi Min" and I must admit, I wonder if  it would not be a good idea for Canadian students to have a compulsory  first year course on Canada's political system and democracy! Accounting (3 year diploma) is one of the programs in which the college has a very good reputation - women predominantly take this program, while the men tend to take IT training.

A few pictures from my campus visit.

Students at HPCC

HPCC students

HPCC students 

An update on my cycling....a video of me cycling in Hai Phong traffic!

Hi Everyone!

I know, I cannot believe it has taken me so long to post!  Vietnam really is incredible. It is so Asia. The food, the noise, the heat (and it actually not that hot compared to when the others were here). I had a great first day in Hanoi on Saturday (6th). I should of been jet lagged, but I seemed to just 'keep going'. 20 hours of straight travel, plus trying to figure out what day it is with the time change was simply beyond jet lag! Also, no luggage for the first 2 days - luckily I had packed a few supplies in my carry on. Everything Clive and Verne said about the traffic and crossing the road is so true. The first day, every time I stepped off the curb, I thought of Clive's techniques for crossing the road. Needless to say I attached myself to locals (especially the frail elderly) and tagged along beside them for the first while.

So, you may be surprised to learn that I am riding a bicycle to school each day! Everyday is an adventure. Hai Phong roads are busy, but compared to Hanoi the car traffic is less - scooters and bicycles rule the road. I watched the locals for the first couple of days and decided I could do it. It gives me a sense of freedom not being tied to taxis to get back and forth.  The key is to keep a steady pace, totally ignore the honking behind you and make no sudden moves!

Tomorrow I will head home. I am desperate to see Mike and the boys. I hope to return with them some day. I am sitting at my desk, decorated in bangles, a necklace, a special hairpin and a Teeka, all gifts from "DiDi" the cook. Despite a language barrier, we have developed a special friendship. She says she likes that I am soft. I like that she is always smiling and singing despite the difficult life she has endured. She is very grateful for her job at ANSAB and it has provided a better life for her and her son. Her happiness is genuine; you can see it in her eyes.

The ANSAB team is taking me to dinner tonight at a local organic restaurant. There is an impressive organic movement in Nepal despite the country's struggles to improve efficiency and grow enough quality food to be self sufficient. Agriculture accounts for 35% of the GDP and 78% of the labour force yet Nepal is a net importer of food and the majority of agriculture workers are ultra poor.

I am sad to leave but it is time to go. I miss my family, my friends, my work colleagues, and the comforts of home. I am excited to decorate for Halloween and to beat last year's honourable mention for best costume at College Idol!

Tomorrow I will leave Hotel Shakti to stay at the CECI house for the last three nights of my stay in Kathmandu. Hotel Shakti is in Thamel, the main tourist/trekker district. Thamel is outrageously awesome and exhausting at the same time and it can really wear on you after a while. It’s packed to the brim with tourists, locals, shops, guest houses, restaurants and bars and of course motorbikes, taxis, rickshaws, and stray dogs. It has a crazy energy and you can always spot the “newbies” who nervously clutch their bags and teeter on the edge of the road afraid to step into the mix. It takes a while, but now I stroll confidently around Thamel and have developed great skills like banging on the hoods of cars and glaring at the drivers to tell them they’d better not run me over, staring down rickshaw drivers (they think it’s funny to drive straight at you and stop at the very last second), getting sellers of flutes, mini chessboards and purses to leave me alone AND I’ve finally found a place to get small bottles of beer (I can’t seem to get through the giant ones that restaurants serve but I’ve put in a good effort). But alas, it is time to say goodbye to Thamel. I will miss the staff at Hotel Shakti and the rice pancakes and vegetable pakoras but I will not miss the gas spewing into my room each night from the generator, nor the live music exploding from the neighbouring House of Music (though they do get some talented bands), nor the stray dogs that bark along to the music. I am looking forward to staying at the CECI passage house and spending time with other volunteers.

Finished week two at the Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bio resources (ANSAB). ANSAB builds capacity and creates economic incentives for the poorest of the poor to increase the benefit from and sustainably manage the ecosystems on which they so heavily depend. A huge focus is on providing training and technical assistance at the grassroots level (mainly for women and other marginalized groups) and they facilitate the development of community-based enterprises from entrepreneurship and business development to value-chain promotion and market linkages. They also pioneered Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in Nepal. In 2009 alone, its programs generated $6.82 M USD in total monetary benefitting 78,828 participants. Lots of information is at www.ansab.org. What feels right about ANSAB is that it is a local organization, headquartered in Nepal and run by Nepali people. It employs about 50 people, some at the head office here in Kathmandu and many in the field. I am in the company of excellent and extremely bright people, some have travelled abroad for post-secondary education (my office partner Sudarshan has studied at Yale as did a couple of others), and several are from remote rural areas and bring that knowledge and expertise to the table. It is a little intimidating and my assumptions have been messed with but I am learning many things and I actually managed to make a valuable contribution to their capacity to manage their programs. Phew! My favourite part? An incredible cook prepares outrageously good Nepali fare for lunch and the entire staff gathers in the boardroom at 1:00 pm each day for a relaxing meal. I love the sound of the lunch bell ringing!

ANSAB

View from CECI office

The airport is very small and easy to navigate.  Getting through customs and finding my driver was a breeze.  I was warned about the traffic and chaos of the airport and it was indeed nuts.  
The drive was terrifying and terribly exciting. I am getting more and more used to what I once thought was an insane free for all on the roads but now seems (?) more like an organized yet chaotic system of unwritten rules - I could be completely wrong but it makes me feel a bit safer.  Ten years ago the city had adequate infrastructure to support about 400,000 people.  Now that same crumbling infrastructure is trying to support over a million people.  The Maoist insurgency, political instability and a search for employment has led to several hundred thousand people migrating from rural areas to the city. The roads are mostly dirt and very narrow - as my driver pointed out - very few are designed for cars. Not so long ago,  primary transportation in the city was by foot.  Streets are indescribably crowded with motorcycles, cars, buses, pedestrians and animals. There is a road widening project underway across the city - and walls/homes/business that lined the roads too closely were torn/down - reduced to rubble.  Some were compensated by the government.  Others who were in violation of a previously unenforced bylaw are on their own. I will try to post pictures - if you didn't know any better you would assume that there has been a recent earthquake. All of the destruction/reconstruction is being done by manual labour.  Temporary workers were hired to rip up the streets/houses and property owners are slowly putting them back together. Others, I think will be left as is.  I have not seen a single machine - just men, women and children with a bag of cement mix and a bucket of water rebuilding walls one brick at a time.

Airplanes are like freezers to me. Despite my expert layering of coats and blankets I still froze and barely slept. It was a relief to get off the plane and into Heathrow airport for a hot cup of coffee.

The UK border official made fun of me for thinking I was going to go into the city for the day instead of sticking around the airport because the weather was so nasty. I told him not to worry because I had a raincoat and warm socks.

One can hop on the London express to Paddington Station without stepping outside the airport. At Paddington, it’s easy and cheap to take the “tube” to anywhere you want to go.

Just for fun, I chose Piccadilly Circus as my first stop. As soon as I stepped outside the station, I knew it wouldn’t be fun.

I promptly purchased an umbrella in my effort to suck it up. After about three miserable blocks I found a lovely and cheap diner, got my fish and chips and mushy peas fix. With my belly full, I immediately headed back to the airport, tired, soaked and freezing cold. Hopefully on tonight’s flight I will sleep soundly, dreaming of the 42 degrees heat that will greet me tomorrow in Qatar.

It was pretty crazy flying into Qatar – nothing but a cluster of buildings completely surrounded by desert.

Everything was the same colour, no variation in the sand or buildings. Very strange to not see anything green – nothing, literally. A few potted trees outside the airport. The heat was punishing and the wealth was extraordinarily obvious and kind of uncomfortable.

Having read the blog posts of those who have gone before me, and chatting to Verne upon his return from Vietnam, I feel almost ready to go. I say almost, because I still have a week before departure and of course am scrambling to get things organized at work and home, so I can get on that plane without looking back.

There is a definite advantage to being almost the last to depart. It seems to me that whatever challenges I may experience with the marathon flying journey, the traffic (everyone talks about the traffic) and the heat in Vietnam – will clearly be offset by the incredibly helpful and very organized WUSC staff and volunteers in Hanoi. I have already received my first correspondence from the Hanoi office. Both Verne and Clive have painted such interesting pictures of their experiences that I am fighting to stay focussed on tasks here, and not let my mind keep leaping forward. So…time to get back to work! Until next week - stay tuned.

No old age hip joint surgery

I read a medical article somewhere explaining why Canadians have high incidence of hip joint surgery. The way we sit, walk and and use the toilet allows for the ball joint of the hips to wear one way only.  In countries using toilets like this in the picture, the required movement allows for ball joint rotation in a number of different dimensions and the ball joint wears more evenly in all directions...hence lower incidence of the need for surgery.

For the squeamish...there's yoga!

• Health break

Drying food In Kathmandu and surrounding area, there are so much places and things to see and do. The temples are so amazing. But I like plants and agri-food system activities. I will not mention that the ganja grows everwhere here and no one seems to be using it...it don't smell it.

I found it very smart that every avaibable space is mostly used to grow some food for human consumption. Old jugs on the roof to grow spinach. Loufah sponge ( which is edible when not hard) is climbing on almost every house. Items to dry, chili, corn, soybeans, garlic, onions, hang from houses.

Chilling center tourMy mandate was to study the existing milk production chain from production to consumer and to identify areas for improvements.

Seeing that tomorrow is my last day in Nepal, my postings are rather like synposis of the project.

To give you an idea of the existing state of affairs, I hope this sentence would suffice. Packaged, pasteurized milk sold in Nepal comes with the following information: boil before use, use within 48 hrs where as pasteurized milk is drunk from the bags and has a shelf life of about 18 days in Canada.

Thats a goal for Lalitpur dairy industry in Nepal.

Many challenges exist, geography, very hilly, big hills, where terracing is practiced and cattle cannot be pastured due to the risk of falling off( they are always tied up), farms are small, 2-9 animals, no refrigeration and awareness of sanitation and milk quality concerns need to get to all stakeholders in the production chain. Farms, collection centers, chilling centers, milk transporters, dairies, milk testing ,retailers and even the consumers.

All farmers practice subsistence agriculture growing corn, rice, garlic, peppers, pumpkins, ginger and a multitude of vegetables. Chickens, goat and pigs are also popular.

Agriculture practices are impressively sustainable. I saw corn, pumkins, cucumbers, pepper and ginger all planted in one field. Manure and compost are used on the farm and many frams have biogas facilities.

The National Dairy Development Board, NDDB has already compiled  comprehensive guide biiks and laboratory handbooks for this industry but identified lack of resources to get secure implementation.

With the innovation, optimism and stoic hard working ethics evident in the culture of the Nepalese people, with the proper sustainable tools, I see success.

It is the  hope that projects such as this would add momentum to the improvement efforts of this industry.

The last couple of weeks have been a mad whirlwind of activities, meetings, stakeholer visits, training sessions, meetings, reports ( Yeah, I know, not much blogging!) and more info gathering.

It should be the end of this assignment, but I feel as though, it really just started!

Well, I have been absent from this social place for a while, it's time to catch up.

I was dropped of by the team in Chapagaun on the 5th, about 30 km or so from the CECI passage house in Kathmandu. At first , I was rather perplexed as to why I would have to relocate to somewhere that close. But when one experiences Kathmandu traffic situation-vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, potholes, dogs, cows, chickens and bandhas..understanding comes quickly.

So leaving me alone at Chapagaun felt that when you are dropped off at school the first day...not really (I am a bit older now)

The the host family lived about 5 minutes walk from the Lalitpur District Milk Producer Cooperative Union (LDMPCU) office, the partner organization I will be working with. So this was an ideal arrangement.

The office works Sunday to Friday and shares the internet access with a bank. When the bank closes, we no longer have access. One evening i went searching for an internet cafe and came across about 200 people marching on the road holding bamboo sticks on fire and chanting. Shops were all quickly closing their doors, but people just stood by the roadside calmly watching. The group, congregated by the village circle, piled all the sticks into a heap to burn , threw pamphlets about and speeches were heard. I was told that this was to alert people that the bandha the next day will be strictly enforced. I stood by for a few minutes and then left, without looking for an internet cafe.

The picture is a snap of the paddy fields behind the house I stayed at.

Rice paddies

Bandhas are like strike efforts by a particular group to garner support for a specific concern and all traffic and work are asked to close when this happens.

The Staff and members of the LDMPCU were very nice and welcoming. The Office manager, Uddhav spoke good enough English for us to communicate well and translate for me. The teenager kids of the host family, Usha, Manoj and their cousin Prakash were also excellent translators for me and certainly contributed to making my stay comfortable.

I did learn a few Nepalese words including, Ghar: house, namaste-good for greeting and byes, ramro: nice or good, meito: tasty, Dhere: very, tato: hot, pani: water or rain

On the Sat morning the kids took me up a hill for a hike. I cannot describe the view, except I can include a pic of the mountains here.

 I was mentally and physically ready to leave last June.  I'd organized home and work, had my shots, was mostly packed, had gone over details in my head a million times. While at L4C training in Toronto one week before my scheduled departure, I got a call that my mother-in-law had a critical health emergency while alone with my 8 year old son. He was truly a hero and got her the help she needed.  This was a scary time for the whole family and I postponed my trip.  I'm happy to report that mother-in-law is recovering beautifully.  My son has also recovered from this traumatic experience and is enjoying spending time with his grandma.  New departure date: September 22 - only 5 days away!!  

I am making final preparations and I am relieved to have hired a super UofG student to help out at home while I'm gone. My family has told me to stop fussing - they'll be fine.

I am now trying to focus less on logisical details (which I've covered over and over again) and more on my mandate, the people and places I will get to know, and THIS BLOG!  I've really enjoyed reading the posts by my fellow Leave for Change participants and I admit that I will have to work very very hard to be nearly as entertaining.  

Must get back to getting ready to get out of here!

• gettingouttahere

Buddist StupaWe arrived at Kathmandu airport at about 11:00 AM on the 3rd. The only plane arriving at that time, the exit time was speedy and nice. Navraj from CECI picked us up and took us to the passage house.

On the 4th, we were all oriented and briefed by the CECI staff. Everyone is very nice with warm welcomes and very well organized sessions. All three of us even visited the doctor for a health awareness chat. Linda said the it was bizarre that she only goes to the doctor alone and now here she was with 2 other guys!

On the 5th, the office organized a city tour with a guide. This was very insightful and helped us get bearings...however little. I know that I am not driving here!

We visited  2 other holy sites along with the Buddha Stupa. Check out this link for an excellent description

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/nepal/kathmandu-boudhanath-stupa.

Wind beneath my wings.

Hong Kong.....Well beneath the wings of the BOEING 7777-300ER from TO to HK anyways. 398 passengers! I was in row 60. Not really at the back, but close enough that when I looked up the aisle, it felt like I was looking down a long tunnel. Are you curious as to what kind of engine can haul a plane of such a size at about 500 km/hr for 15.3 hrs non stop thru the air? I am!

So, left TO at 1:40 AM, Sept 2nd, arrived at HK airport at 5am Sept 3rd.

Traveler’s tip 1: take an aisle seat so you can get up and walk around without disturbing anyone.

Traveler’s tip #1.1: Drink a lot of water so you have a compelling reason to get up and walk to A specific location.

Washrooms in this aircraft were neat. The mirror arrangement was excellent; I must tip the barber for a job nicely done.

Money sense tid bit #1: With the current prices of houses, hire aircraft lavatory designers to get you that special look within a budget.

Traveler’s question #1: What did people do before in flight movies?

I was able to meet up with John and Linda; two other leave for change volunteers from Canada. Since our next leg of the journey left at 6:00 pm that day, we decided to go into Hong Kong.

What a place, tall buildings, streets very clean and tidy, but......construction. You might think that down town was bad? Think again. The transit system is awesome, the high-speed train from the airport to Kowloon was so fast, my ears were popping.I found it interesting that in one of the malls one might feel as though you were in Eaton’s center. We did a bus tour, took the ferry to Hong Kong Island and went up the PEAK with a cable car. What a ride up the 1400 plus feet above sea level peak. The pic here shows the view from the top. Across the water is Kowloon and downtown Hong Kong is on the same side of the peak.

Isn’t Amazing?

 Isn’t it amazing that one can travel 8323 miles in 22 hours today?

 I am trying to get prepared and ready for departure at 01:40AM Sept 02 for Nepal from Toronto and my brain is constantly buzzing with must do’s, should do’s, might as well do’s, for work, house and family. Just imagine what the Vikings would have had to do for a fraction of such a journey.  I cannot! In comparison, my “to do’s” at hand is a piece of cake and I bet I will catch some beauty sleep enroute, at that!

 In Nepal, I will be partnering with the Lalitpur District Milk producer’s Cooperative Union in Lalitpur District, Chapagaun, outside of Kathmandu as a Dairy Quality Advisor.  This assignment is through the University of Guelph’s Leave for Change volunteer program through Uniterra. Uniterra is comprised of CECI, Center for International studies and Cooperation and WUSC, World University Service of Canada.

 Isn’t it amazing that people travel half way across the world to share, support and partner with others in development initiatives? Yes, the trip in itself is an adventure but the feeling of making a wee bit of a contribution towards helping others is important for me.

The distance around the earth at the equator is about 25,000 miles, travelling a mere 8,000 miles is a healthy reminder, just how much more is still achievable.

 Yes, it is amazing what we are able to do!

Many thanks for the help, training and support from the Leave for Change staff at Guelph and CECI office.

 Will keep you posted

I can't believe my time in Hanoi is almost over.  But, as I suspected, the time has flown by.  I had hoped to do many more blog entries than this but every day has been jammed full.  My mandate was very successful.  The workshop I presented was attended by 44 people from six different colleges.  We had planned on the session going for about an hour and a half which ended up to be two and a half hours.  The good people at North Thang Long College had studied my credentials thoroughly before I came and I ended up being put to good use on organizing several initiatives.   Everything from designing the layout of the new library, to colour schemes, lighting, and of course, proper installation of artwork and not only the library, but the conference/meeting room and the main office area, as well as including plans for exterior signage.  My days were filled with producing floor plans, schematics, concept drawings and accompanying documents and guidelines.  I had a wonderful room all to mine own with long tables to produce my rather large scale plans. 

The college has a large kitchen where lunch is prepared for the students and I was presented at 11:00 am precisely, each day, with a delicious variety of dishes.  I enjoyed grilled fish, eel and squid, pork in an infinite variety of variations (my favourite was thinly sliced pork wrapped around fresh shredded coconut) chicken and beef.  Soups, various cold teas, tofu in every shape and form, and a mind boggling variety of vegetables and of course rice.  So, while I laboured away, I had the opportunity to taste a different meal of traditional Vietnamese fare each day!  Then, my favourite part of the day, after lunch a quick jaunt over to a local cafe for a single cup drip coffee poured over ice.  Delicious beyond words.

Wednesday was a wrap up meeting with the college.  All parties were extremely pleased with what had been accomplished and promises went all around to stay in touch and follow the progress of the plans that have been made.

I have completed my reports.  There is a final debriefing tomorrow before a lunch with the amazing Hanoi WUSC crew and the gracious staff of the college.  It will be difficult to say good bye.

Just into week two.  It's Tuesday night and everything just keeps falling magically into place.  Sunday night I got a message that the driver that had been arranged to take me back and forth to the college was not going to be able to transport me and another driver had already been arranged.  Monday morning a taxi arrived at my hotel, and showed me my name on his cell phone so off we went.  My placement is north of Hanoi, about a 40 minute drive- so to answer  Patty's question, no, I can't walk, it is a bit of a journey and it seems a bit of a journey as well for taxi drivers who have never been there before.  So, I actually helped the taxi get me there.  A couple of wrong turns... but we made it.  At the end of the work day, there was another driver showing me my name on his cell phone as he explained that he was my driver but could not pick me up this morning so he had a friend come for me.  It would never occur to anyone here to just leave you hanging.

That said, car rides are almost as heart thumping as trying to cross the street on foot.  Rush hour, with all the motorcycles and cars and almost no stop signs or street lights, easily rivals any of the more thrilling rides at Disney World.  As an aside, my technique for crossing the street (equally heart thumping)  is to feign indifference, step off the curb and keep going until I reach the other side and start breathing again.   It's worked so far anyway.  Later, in my hotel room, solitary and contemplating poetically about the streets of Hanoi, I imagine the traffic as blood flowing through the veins of the city and if stopped, the city would cease to exist.

At the college, I am focused on preparing for a workshop where about 20 peolpe will be taking part from 4 different institutions.  We are going to try and tackle a wide variety issues everything from looking at on-line library management systems, to effective layout of library spaces, to making those spaces engaging places to be in -including my fail safe system for displaying objects (like artworks).