Wrap-up of trip to HCMC

Well, my whirlwind of a week came to an end yesterday night when I took a plane back to Hanoi. I was sad to go, but it felt nice to be sleeping in my own bed again. The week ended on a high note even though my trip to An Giang Province didn't happen. A former president of Vietnam died, so the government cancelled all big events nationwide. As we were supposed to be attending an outdoor event for street youth at An Giang University, that meant the event had to be postponed until next weekend. We kept very busy in HCMC, though.

Saturday night, we delivered mooncakes in yet another part of HCMC, to celebrate Monday's mid-autumn festival (a festival specifically for children). The area where we delivered the mooncakes was even poorer than any of the other places I'd seen (you could rent a room for less than $1/day), but the people were so lovely and the mooncakes really seemed to make their day! Assisting with mooncake delivery was a former street youth, Sang, who is now living in an apartment with his wife and child. We all went out to eat afterwards, and I got to meet his family, which was such an honor.

Project N.A.M.

Yesterday and today, I had the chance to meet, work with, and learn from several street youth here in Ho Chi Minh City, most of whom are active in Project N.A.M., Save the Children's street youth-focused project. Below, I relay what was said to me during the interviews (although I won't even begin to do justice to the youth's stories in this post) and what I got to take part in during several group meetings. Working with these youth was a truly amazing experience, and Project N.A.M.'s peer educators (who are current or former street youth themselves) are some of the most inspiring people I've ever met.

First off, a little background on what it means to be a street youth in HCMC. There are four categories of youth: Category A, meaning the street youth are living and working on the streets and are disconnected from their families; Category B, where the street youth are still living and working on the streets but with their families; Category C, which contains youth that work in the streets but sometimes return to their home; and finally, Category D, who are immigrants who work in the streets but rent a room or house to live in with other relatives or friends. Most of the children that Save the Children works with in its projects fall under categories A and B, and my mission over the course of my time working with them was to do interviews and document "success stories" for Project NAM, one of the first projects in the NGO community to target its efforts specifically to street youth. The children that I met with ranged in age, amount of time spent on the street, and methods of earning income, but it's clear that the ones who had taken part the most in Project NAM (especially as peer educators) were best equipped with healthy life skills.

Meetings with inspiring children in HCMC

The past day and a half have been incredible. Last night, at about 6, my colleagues and I got in a cab and traveled about half an hour away from the Save the Children office in HCMC, to District 26, where about 75 migrant children and their teachers, along with some government officials, were gathered to celebrate the first evening class at the informal school these children attend. After the ceremony itself, which lasted about thirty minutes, the children each received new school bags and I tried (and failed) to speak Vietnamese with them. Then, we interviewed five of them, one each from grades 1 through 5. The kids were inspiring - they each told us that they spend all day working for their parents' businesses (whether it be working in a shop or selling drinks on the sidewalk) and come to class at night. One girl in particular told us that she traveled with her family from Cambodia two years ago, and had spent her evenings the past two years learning Vietnamese at the informal school. There is much work to be done with these children, though: none of the ones we spoke with had ever heard of "child rights" before, and did not know that, for example, they have the right to learn at school. Pictures will be posted soon; they're on the Save the Children camera.

This afternoon we traveled to the Linh Xuan Centre for Child Upbringing and Sponsoring, about 20 km away from our office but in the opposite direction. About 130 children live in this center, 60 or so of whom go to public school (starting at grade 4 - grades 1-3 learn in the center). According to my colleagues, all of the children are orphaned and HIV-positive. First, a group of older children (two of whom are peer educators for Save the Children) worked with us to do a test run of an HIV/AIDS stigma reduction game that Dartmouth helped me create.

Down south for the week

I've just arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, where I'll be spending a week doing things around Saigon as well as in An Giang province. This evening, my colleagues and I will be traveling to an informal night school where migrant children are able to learn (they cannot attend regular school primarily because they have to work during the day to earn money for their families). Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll be conducting interviews with peer educators (trained by save the children) who were able to participate in the camp that we held in August; my colleagues and I will also be doing some work at the Linh Xuan center for Child Upbringing and Sponsoring, which houses children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Officials at Linh Xuan center, because of close collaboration with local authorities in HCMC, have had success in integrating children from the center into public schools. In fact, two of Save the Children's Peer Educators are HIV-infected children from Linh Xuan, and throughout the camp the leadership qualities they have been able to develop both in school and with Save the Children's help really showed (read more about Linh Xuan center, and integration efforts in Ba Vi, here: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Social-Isssues/214932/Schools-bar-students-with-HIV.html). 

On Thursday and Friday, I'll be switching gears to work with the street youth here in HCMC, interviewing them to do a review for one of Save the Children's big projects called Project Nam. Thursday night I will join their evening club meeting. These street youth (many of whom I have gotten to meet before) are quite impressive, and I can't wait to meet with them. 

Finally, on Saturday and Sunday, my colleagues and I will travel to An Giang province to attend a street youth-focused event at An Giang University on Saturday afternoon. 

I'll update more about what happens as the week goes on!