Author: Jessica Barney

People who know me in the UK and US are aware of my long-term commitment and support to Environmental and Ecological projects. This has included hands-on contributions and efforts to small-scale conservation and ecological activities over many years. It‘s no surprise therefore of my particular interest in the work my host community has been working on to promote sustainable tourism in a remote and un-spoilt part of Vietnam duringmy Teach Abroad program. There are many components towards its success but one important focus is retaining the natural beauty and un-spoilt ecology that will draw people to Vietnam in the first place. It is this aspect that Greenheart Travel has been supporting me by awarding me the Greenheart Travel Grant to assist my work with educational activities to maintain a state of natural beauty and protection of the natural environment, with An Lac Community in The Khe Ro Primitive Forest.

An Lac Community and The Khe Ro Primitive Forest are north of Hanoi by about 150Km/ 95miles or 4-5 hours in the car, the area is off the beaten track and has a wilderness feel about it. This detachment from the more main stream of life in Vietnam is both its strength and its weakness in terms of defending what it has and supporting its people. The people who live there are known as the An Lac community with a population of 3,424 residences. This is the Son Dong District, Bac Giang Province an area of 7,153 Ha of land including the natural forest itself of 5,092 Ha, which holds a diverse eco system that maintains the natural beauty of the area.  There are 12 villages in total holding 732 families with 5 different ethnic groups. These are Tay (53.9%), Kin (34.9%), San Chi (8.3%), Cao Lan (1.7%), and Dao (1.2%).

These individual groups still hold on to their own cultures, even though living in such close proximity to each other, revealed in dress and customs that live on. An area as remote and rural as this means that there is real low-income amongst its people, with the Son Dong District being part of the 61 poorest districts in Vietnam. Consequently there are said to be over 65% of families below the poverty line, with over 90% of economic activity being generated by agricultural activities. With economic disadvantage as significant, it is understandable that people are attracted to the offerings of commercial gain from tourism. However it has brought with it growing problems of litter and rubbish in particular, as well as tourism from other areas where people have by their own challenges, e.g. from Vietnam and China.

Despite the more instant appeal for the locals of some extra income this form of tourism has its own issues and dilemmas. Tourists vary but can be less considerate of the environment, and leave rubbish and pollution as well as not really bringing a lot of finances into the area. As a result there is a risk of spiraling down in terms of what the area can offer and also not generating enough money to actually remedy these negative inputs. In time, water pollution and other natural degradation that will negatively impact on the very communities that were supporting this form of tourism. To add to this there are increasing risks for the future of external powers and finances buying up and building hotels that suck the resources and finance away from the locals even more. Clearly a people who are already 65% below the poverty line do not need this.  With sustainable eco tourism the moneys generated are retained with in the community so many more local people benefit both by what damage is not done and the income to the community.

The house share is the way they run the guest accommodation and this works well as people have the benefit or experiencing the life for the Vietnamese in this area as it is. The An Lac community knows they want to go this route forward but are still learning how to implement it all. The areas of hospitality and customer satisfaction are improving and appreciation of what ‘Westerners’ are seeking in a visit is being developed and has improved only over a few months. Greenheart Travel’s partner in Vietnam on the ground are CSDS and they have been instrumental in providing this support to the local community.

Honey and Rice Wine; a way to promote the environmental message.

Like all other parts of Vietnam the area has its own ‘in house’ style of rice wine flavored with fungi and flora / herbs and spices, and this area has its own individual examples. It feels like a time bubble where one is travelling back centuries even millennia. The rice was the best I have ever tasted, simple, fresh, clean, yet earthy in flavor.  CSDS has been and are working with local producers and people around a theme of sustainable tourism and the local rice wine could be a player for sustainable, economic growth in the area.

The appreciation for their own traditional ways of living is growing beyond rice wine. Honey is another example of a product from the area that has an excellent malty taste with notes of ‘apples and pears’ that could be valued by incoming tourists. The bee keepers of An Lac use traditional skills inherited from their ancestors to develop and run hives, understanding how to find the Queen Bee and attract the worker bees. They also know the dangers of the less common bees that can damage these hives, and how to harvest the honey in keeping with the seasons. Bees take nectar from many different wild flowers and help the conservation of the wild flora and pollen from across the west of Tay Yen Tu Ac Lan Commune, Son Dong District. This too, is part of the drive to reduce pollution as it focuses people’s minds on nature as the key resource from which all other things follow. The forest of Khe Ro has 895 flora species and 430 different medicinal herbs and fungi, said to be good for health, and strengthen the blood. These are shared and given freely with in the local community for any one in need at the commune.

The project ‘Development of Ecotourism’ fund has been implemented in order to create a sustainable income to support and establish both herb and bee keeper groups like the examples given above to help drive a successful and sustainable economy that has the preservation of the environment in mind.

Folklore, ancient mystical tales, something of romance and the intangible provides the Vietnamese with an ability to celebrate just about anything. There are, it seems, simultaneously multiple events and reasons to take part in celebrations all year, both in the Luna and Western Calendar year.

Much of the traditional festivals are linked to the Luna Calendar, which is also used in conjunction with the Western Calendar. The  Luna month calendar rituals are regularly evident on the lighting a personal temple, though not religious as such people have a sense of spirituality originating from Buddhism and live life on a range of customs from ancient to modern. In the autumn (or fall as some say), many people think of Halloween (All Saints Eve) and for me this links to thoughts of days in the Cub Scouts and competitions of bobbing apples (a big bowl of water and a few apples bobbing around, then with arms tied behind ones back and maybe even a blind fold in some cases then having to bite an apple out of the water). In more recent times Halloween seems to be more associated with ‘trick or treating’, and on a small scale this has arrived in Hanoi too. Either way on Halloween night a few people dress up in spooky costumes and decorate with face paint.

Being in South East Asia however the more interesting festival of autumn in Vietnam is called a traditional Mid Autumn Festival.  This provided confusions initially on more than one level. I was first told of the Mid Autumn Festival on arrival back in the summer, so consequently didn’t expect anything for a while until Halloween time, thinking it was a southeast Asian one – to – one equivalent.  Then I heard it was in August, so thought that is very early but still had not fully understood that it is based on their Luna calendar, and hence August meant September in a Western Calendar. It was therefore quite a different feel and interpretation of autumn. It’s the full moon that is celebrated as this is said to be the largest moon of the year, which I guess has something to do with the earth’s position or relative to the moon on its entire axis.

Though not an exact comparison to me, it felt like a time of year when one catches that moment of seasonal change before it really happens. Like one of those days in August most years when the morning starts off decidedly cooler and more over cast and there is a breeze which forebodes of summer’s forthcoming demise. In Hanoi the temperature in the day was still over 30 C and in the upper 30’s C every day for the next 9 weeks, so autumn might not quite be how it would be described in the UK. However the rhythm of life is just geared higher in terms of warm weather and there are still variations of nature’s ever changing state.

Mid Autumn Festival celebrates children, who take center stage. Families go out in the evening when it’s dark to the parks and celebrate with small gifts and special culinary treats. Adults all look back on memories of childhood at this time with mystical and romanticized memories. It is not difficult to see why, with the brightest of moons lighting the sky and feverish excitement with communal gatherings and a special energy. This is mirrored in the children’s enjoyment revealed in millions of little smiles.

Moon cake is one of the treats served during this festival. It is an unusual production to western tastes, and even here in Vietnam it seems to divide people a bit like the alleged ‘Marmite effect’ has in the UK.  Moon cake is eaten all year round, though at Mid Autumn Festival it is at its height perhaps a bit like fruit cake is eaten all year but at Christmas especially. Having had 3 samples of moon cake I am still not entirely sure if it is a savory or sweet product? Some have a hard boiled egg in the middle! Yellow and red stalls line many a street at some point and these sell the moon cake in all its variations.

Other foods eaten while celebrating festivals throughout the year in Vietnam include Round Cake and Square Cake, which has a folk story behind it and one is said to represent the sky and the earth. The two go together and are very much the same product in different formats. These are quite starchy and gooey with fillings of what seemed to be coconut and spices, but only mildly sweet. Again, I have been told this can be cooked further by frying it or eaten in the semi cooked stage, which come wrapped in leaves and tied up neatly.

These cakes are said in some way to be represented by the fruit Cau and its leaf Trau, in a winding tale of how people gave their lives for others whom they loved. The leaf and fruit of the Betel tree or something similar, which grew from the stone at the place which those who waited for their loved ones stayed. These are evident on celebrating a wedding in Vietnam which goes on for three days. Though at the party, before the actual ceremony of marriage, these fruit and leaves are strategically placed next to a heart shaped money box and miniature cups of green tea. It didn’t seem though that anyone was expecting huge donations and it is more an act of ritual, from former times gone by.  At the Vietnamese wedding celebration, the locals were only too delighted to welcome Westerners to their party, and regular shots of rice wine. The wedding was an interesting microcosmic reflection of the mix of old and new and where Vietnam is at in 2012.

Rice wine is never far from a celebration, or the other way round. Rice wine has the same base of boiled then distilled rice alcohol, after which it is infused with a many different types of herb, mushroom and flavors mostly said to have medicinal properties. Many rice wines are individual to the locality as they use the herbs, natural flavoring or fungi from the area which steep the rice wine, so no two ever taste quite the same.

With National Teacher’s celebrations Nov. 20, and last month’s honoring of National Vietnamese Women’s Day, there has been plenty of rice wine as of late. The Vietnamese in general are widely accepting of western cultural celebrations and festivals. However, shortly after the western new year is the Luna New Year and festival of Tet. This begins their new year around mid – late January building for the actual event in early – mid February. This also starts the festival of spring and lasts for about 3 months, called Kuong Pagoda, and continues the Luna calendar of festivals.

I have heard it said in management speak that people are only on one frequency and all turned into ‘Radio W. I. I. – F. M.’ (That is Radio – What Is In It – For, Me’). However, this phrase doesn’t imply the obvious that different people are tuned into different frequencies on the ‘F. M.’ wave length. Even though we all need enough to get by, many people aren’t acting solely on selfish reasons alone.

A central reason for traveling to Vietnam for six months was to develop my skills in TEFL work. This sort of time frame enables also both self reflection and time to develop a personal approach to TEFL / TESOL. Real classroom settings allow the progression of students to be seen and a format and curriculum over view to be appreciated. Such experience can only assist in opening up possibilities for work in the UK or else where, part time or full, and this is some form of self interest for me being here in Vietnam on a Greenheart program.

A month long TEFL/ TESOL Certificate completion provides good insight on how to deliver each week’s lessons to students of varying abilities. Putting a lesson together is one thing; actually getting a person who has learned to speak differently all their lives, to make the correct pronunciation is another. Pronunciation, as I have discovered, is a key aspect as it even affects levels of understanding, thought it is also true that people can speak the wrong sounding words but still understand the intended words.

Twice a week my classes are only focused on pronunciation. These are really good fun and the students smile and enjoy them a lot; they are called ‘Ship or Sheep’ as this is a key book that is used. There are a number of resources that are used, but mostly it is me in front of the class breaking each word down and sometimes each letter to component sounds. When these sounds have been mastered then we build the whole word up again to form its total sound.  These lessons provide a ‘safe’ environment for people to make as many mistakes as it takes to get the words phonically correct as said or heard.

It is in fact very difficult for Vietnamese and other nationalities to pronounce English words correctly.  Try it in reverse and speak Vietnamese and it quickly becomes apparent just how well they are all doing! I try to say some Vietnamese words and have not a clue what the difference in sound is, not surprising then it must be just the same for the Vietnamese in reverse.

In English there are confusing vowel sounds like [ir, ar, ur, ] that all sound like ‘er’ so just reading words is not always a good guide to what the sounds are really like. Recently, one student was really struggling with the word “weren’t”. By the end of the evening the ‘n’ and ‘t’ at the end, or a word with ‘er’ in it was happily achieved. It is things like that that have definitely been the most rewarding, as one is privileged to share the enjoyment such a moment that such achievement brings.

So many jobs and ways of life in the UK have become soulless procedures of ‘tick box culture’ and are monotonously sucking the life out of humanity, or is that humanity out of life? Either way, such occupational formats end up completely miserable and dehumanizing for those who are undertaking them. One of my criteria for work in general is to do something that makes a ‘contribution’ more than just another widget of GNP, even if it is only assisting someone’s pronunciation of the word “weren’t”. This is not about being against GNP or widgets and indeed both are needed, however just the mindless autonomic behavior of the ‘tick box’ existence, with out any thing of the ‘human level’ involved.

In fact this is a key theme of mine in life generally, that one day we will all be gone, and so really what is important is what is left behind. This includes human social capital as wells as hard physical things, though they are clearly of importance also. Enabling people to speak pronunciations correctly and understand English better is only a very small thing at one level yet has something of that sort of intangible contribution to life of greater value. People in Vietnam, especially the young, know they will be in a global market and an internet world, and therefore even a small grasp of English will help them to be included.

My employment chain has several links from the UK to Hanoi. Firstly I enrolled on the Greenheart program, they found an NGO called CSDS, who have the residency and social support that provides for me whilst in Vietnam. CSDS also co- ordinate the employment locations and searches, that provides the jobs to work at, for me this is a small language school in Hanoi. They mainly serves a client base around the University of Hanoi and also support social projects out in rural areas.

Before setting out from the UK, one never knows just how things will turn out or what may be in store and there has been a few teething troubles and minor issues. For example, the work at the language school did take a couple of weeks to get going, and consequently has reduced total earnings a bit. In Vietnam, there is a period of trial getting to know you. A more recent challenge has been how to improve lessons to elementary / beginner level, which have been a bit hit and miss. The better English speakers I have felt able to assist better. I had not realized how much those unable to speak English were struggling. My plan of action is to start simply and to rearrange the room a bit to enable those not so comfortable to participate more. Being a native speaker, it is easy to forget when talking even half normal speed how things become lost for the learner, and about not speaking to quietly, even when you think you are not.

Both the language school and CSDS give support to charitable activities in the mountain area, where people can have tough and demanding lives. This may include English teaching at a basic level and more immediate needs like clothing and even food. CSDS has a very open and western aware perspective on environment and social issues. They actively promote recycling and energy management, and even though it does feel like a considerable uphill battle, at least they are trying and have made a start. An up and coming visit to one such location is coming up shortly, so I will probably have some thing to write about later.

Remote and beautiful parts of Vietnam can also have a darker side to them. Prior to arrival, I was completely unaware of the issue of people trafficking. Inevitably there is a propensity for young children and women to be at higher risk,  although this does happen to men also. One potential risk is to end up working in a factory in China or Cambodia. People get tricked into taking a parcel some where then are effectively kidnapped and enslaved to a role or job. CSDS are also involved in working to assist people who are at risk in such communities indirectly.

Is FM radio available in these parts? don’t suppose I would understand more than an odd word anyway. One thing I have seen is that not all people are tuned into the wave length of RADIO WII- FM in a self serving way. That is neither ‘Westerners’ who come to teach English and undertake NGO work nor like minded Vietnamese people, and for humanity that is encouraging.