I am at the half-way point in the string of goodbye parties being thrown in honor of Anna, Brent, and I this week. Each party has involved consuming large amounts of delicious food, giving formal thanks for the work that has been done, and receiving gifts, but besides the gorging of my stomach, my ego, and my suitcase these times are proving to be much more meaningful that I thought they would be.
Taking time to communicate how thankful I am for relationships has not been a strong suite of mine. When it is time to say goodbye to people I find myself unemotional and often embarrassedly so. In an effort to minimize the awkwardness I am always tempted to cut things short, or avoid making the effort to say goodbye at all. I admit this has led to regret for me in the past, so I have decided to get into the process of leaving Hanoi and to take the time to say thank you and goodbye to people here. This post will be my public affirmation of the new relationships I have made here.
When I leave this place, I will miss the people who I have built relationships with the most, by far. Above all my worries about coming to Vietnam was the fear that I would struggle to find a meaningful community of friends, but I needn’t have worried.
My co-workers have been incredibly supportive and helpful as I struggled to adjust to the editing work of interpreting not only words but concepts as well. Many of them invited me into their homes for parties and meals, asked after me when I was sick, and gave me advice about life in Hanoi. At one point I even assuaged my mother’s worries by notifying her that I have two adoptive mothers at the MCC office doing enough worrying for her. As I graduated from college just a few months before coming on this assignment, my experiences with MCC, the National Committee for the Advancement of Women, and The Gioi (The World) Publishing House were my first significant experiences with co-workers. I couldn’t have asked for better.
My church community, made up completely of ex-pats, has been invaluable to me. I did not expect to encounter such a community in Hanoi, and feel extremely blessed to have done so. We made music together, celebrated birthdays together, and commiserated and bonded through the experience of living here together.
My host family provided me with a house and family that I could come home to every day. They have taught me so much about Vietnamese culture and traditions that I could not have learned otherwise. They also provided me with my own, “quiet” space where I felt grounded and secure throughout the last 11 months of transition. When people ask me how many brothers and sisters I have, I’ll have to tell them that I have two younger sisters. One at college in Indiana, and the other a fun, beautiful teenager in Vietnam.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
One-Month Reflections
I have now completed ten elevenths of my MCC SALT term in Hanoi, and with only twenty-some odd days to go before I land in Philadelphia this seems like a good time for reflection. Over the last week or so I began thinking about the once normal things that will catch me off guard, things that I have gone without for the last ten months, and countless things that I will miss when I leave. Looking at the list, none of them seem like too much of a hardship, and they really aren’t. But in many ways, thinking about them increases my excitement about returning home, and allows me how to gauge how accustomed I’ve grown to life here since last August.
Here’s the short list (with help from my fellow SALTer, Brent):
Having local news broadcasts in English
Before my SALT term I would have said that much of the local news isn’t actually worth the cost of electricity to power the TV. Sensationalized news meant to scare and depress isn’t really my thing, but I can say with confidence that I will no longer take weather forecasts, regional news reports, and sport highlights of local teams for granted. My guess is that passing any TV knowing that almost every channel is in my native language will be a shock at first anyway.
Driving a car and singing along to the radio
As if not having car won’t be enough to keep me from driving much when I return to the States, it seems that the current gas prices will keep me rooted wherever I settle down in the next few months. On the whole, that is fine with me as I’d prefer to be without the hassle and cost of a car, but I sure am looking forward to sitting behind the wheel with the radio turned up and an open highway before me once in the next few months.
Shopping for produce inside a store
The thought of buying waxy, mist covered produce from the grocery isn’t the most appealing since I’ve gotten used to stopping by little sidewalk stands for fresh mangos, dragon fruit, bananas, pineapple, mangosteens, lychee fruits, etc. Some of these places are actually wholesalers so they probably aren’t much different than the grocery store, but many get their produce from farmers who bring it in from the countryside or send it up from southern Vietnam. Eating local isn’t a movement here, its life.
Checking a book out of the library
I cannot describe the excitement I feel at the thought of biking to the library and walking down row after row of books, hundreds of books there for me to read whenever I want. Sometimes I bike past bookstores in Hanoi and look at them with incredible longing…
Choosing what, where, and when to eat
This probably explains itself, but will be one of the biggest privileges of my life at home. Not to mention living in a house with an oven. While I have not been much of a cook in the past, I foresee many fantastic culinary creations in my near future.
Going to the dentist
A six-month check-up is something I absolutely took for granted before this year, but I cannot wait to get my teeth cleaned when I get home!
Looking both ways before turning or crossing the street
This may seem like an exaggeration, but trust me it isn’t. On a bicycle or motorbike, the fluidity of traffic allows for a driver making a right hand turn (or even a left-hand turn in some cases) to do so without looking for oncoming traffic. This works mostly because the basic traffic rule is to only worry about what is in front of you, therefore placing the responsibility of those coming along behind you to move out of your way when you are making the turn. Likewise, crossing the street can be quite the adventure as traffic continues to move around you as you cross. If I stood on the sidewalk and made sure it was clear both ways, I would be stuck on that sidewalk until the wee hours of the morning. At some point you have to face oncoming traffic, slowly but steadily make your way across, and switch focus halfway across the street, but there is no real need to make sure nothing is coming.
Intentional recycling
Garbage collection services in this city involve a person pushing a wheeled dumpster of sorts and walking through the alleys ringing a bell. At the sound of the bell everyone comes out to their gates with their trash and throws it in the dumpster. From there, I’m not exactly sure of the route it takes to the waste management facility (assuming there is one and that it is managed), but from the outset one person’s trash is often another’s treasure. Although I have gone ten months without throwing my recyclables into a blue bin, I know that many of them have probably been sorted out and recycled. It is common to see women peddling bikes with mostly paper and cardboard recyclables on the back, and occasionally truck loads of it passing through the streets. Plastic and glass bottles are also rummaged out of the trash by those looking for a few VND.
There are many other things that are difficult to quantify and would be nearly impossible to explain in a blog post, so I’ll leave it here. This morning I was having an honest chat with a friend who was asking about my reasons for volunteering with MCC. We started talking about the ways that my service impacts both me and the people around me. Of course it is much easier to list the ways I’ve been growing and changing over the last few months, although surely they will continued to be revealed as I re-transition to life in the States. The ways that I have been able to impact my community here in Hanoi are much more obscure at this point, and I can only pray that, by grace, they have been positive.
Here’s the short list (with help from my fellow SALTer, Brent):
Having local news broadcasts in English
Before my SALT term I would have said that much of the local news isn’t actually worth the cost of electricity to power the TV. Sensationalized news meant to scare and depress isn’t really my thing, but I can say with confidence that I will no longer take weather forecasts, regional news reports, and sport highlights of local teams for granted. My guess is that passing any TV knowing that almost every channel is in my native language will be a shock at first anyway.
Driving a car and singing along to the radio
As if not having car won’t be enough to keep me from driving much when I return to the States, it seems that the current gas prices will keep me rooted wherever I settle down in the next few months. On the whole, that is fine with me as I’d prefer to be without the hassle and cost of a car, but I sure am looking forward to sitting behind the wheel with the radio turned up and an open highway before me once in the next few months.
Shopping for produce inside a store
The thought of buying waxy, mist covered produce from the grocery isn’t the most appealing since I’ve gotten used to stopping by little sidewalk stands for fresh mangos, dragon fruit, bananas, pineapple, mangosteens, lychee fruits, etc. Some of these places are actually wholesalers so they probably aren’t much different than the grocery store, but many get their produce from farmers who bring it in from the countryside or send it up from southern Vietnam. Eating local isn’t a movement here, its life.
Checking a book out of the library
I cannot describe the excitement I feel at the thought of biking to the library and walking down row after row of books, hundreds of books there for me to read whenever I want. Sometimes I bike past bookstores in Hanoi and look at them with incredible longing…
Choosing what, where, and when to eat
This probably explains itself, but will be one of the biggest privileges of my life at home. Not to mention living in a house with an oven. While I have not been much of a cook in the past, I foresee many fantastic culinary creations in my near future.
Going to the dentist
A six-month check-up is something I absolutely took for granted before this year, but I cannot wait to get my teeth cleaned when I get home!
Looking both ways before turning or crossing the street
This may seem like an exaggeration, but trust me it isn’t. On a bicycle or motorbike, the fluidity of traffic allows for a driver making a right hand turn (or even a left-hand turn in some cases) to do so without looking for oncoming traffic. This works mostly because the basic traffic rule is to only worry about what is in front of you, therefore placing the responsibility of those coming along behind you to move out of your way when you are making the turn. Likewise, crossing the street can be quite the adventure as traffic continues to move around you as you cross. If I stood on the sidewalk and made sure it was clear both ways, I would be stuck on that sidewalk until the wee hours of the morning. At some point you have to face oncoming traffic, slowly but steadily make your way across, and switch focus halfway across the street, but there is no real need to make sure nothing is coming.
Intentional recycling
Garbage collection services in this city involve a person pushing a wheeled dumpster of sorts and walking through the alleys ringing a bell. At the sound of the bell everyone comes out to their gates with their trash and throws it in the dumpster. From there, I’m not exactly sure of the route it takes to the waste management facility (assuming there is one and that it is managed), but from the outset one person’s trash is often another’s treasure. Although I have gone ten months without throwing my recyclables into a blue bin, I know that many of them have probably been sorted out and recycled. It is common to see women peddling bikes with mostly paper and cardboard recyclables on the back, and occasionally truck loads of it passing through the streets. Plastic and glass bottles are also rummaged out of the trash by those looking for a few VND.
There are many other things that are difficult to quantify and would be nearly impossible to explain in a blog post, so I’ll leave it here. This morning I was having an honest chat with a friend who was asking about my reasons for volunteering with MCC. We started talking about the ways that my service impacts both me and the people around me. Of course it is much easier to list the ways I’ve been growing and changing over the last few months, although surely they will continued to be revealed as I re-transition to life in the States. The ways that I have been able to impact my community here in Hanoi are much more obscure at this point, and I can only pray that, by grace, they have been positive.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Fam in Nam
It is hard to believe that the two week vacation my family took to come visit me in Vietnam has come and gone. After months of planning an itinerary, booking hotels, and prioritizing aspects of my life in Hanoi that I wanted them to see, it was over in the blink of an eye! The most stressful part of the trip was the time spent in Hanoi, by far. Beyond the stresses I expected such as whether or not they would like the food, what the weather would be, the constant translating of cultural differences that have mostly become norms, etc, I found even the littlest tasks tiring. What a blessing that they are such good sports! To see Hanoi through their eyes was actually refreshing as I seem to have forgotten many of the details that strike most visitors as odd or exciting. I found myself thinking, "oh, yeah!" much of the time. The traffic in Hanoi can be terrifying even on the best days (see perfect example here), and despite the iron grip on my elbow there was very little verbal complaint as I led them to certain death while crossing the streets. We dubbed ourselves the Duck family as we walked single file pretty much everywhere we went.
Fortunately for all of us, we escaped Hanoi for a full week of exploring and relaxing in central Vietnam. We even ventured out on motorbikes on the last morning to try and get a closer glimpse of the water buffalo working in the rice paddies. For a look at some of our adventures you can check out this online photo album. The rest of the family took way more pictures than I did, so hopefully those will be up soon as well.
Fortunately for all of us, we escaped Hanoi for a full week of exploring and relaxing in central Vietnam. We even ventured out on motorbikes on the last morning to try and get a closer glimpse of the water buffalo working in the rice paddies. For a look at some of our adventures you can check out this online photo album. The rest of the family took way more pictures than I did, so hopefully those will be up soon as well.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
What is the best response?
Given the recent devastation in Burma as a result of Cyclone Nargis I thought I would offer some context and reflections on the situation there. As mentioned in a previous post about Burma following my two-week trip to the Thai/Burma border in December, the situation inside the country is extremely depressed and volatile even under normal circumstances. The military government rules with an iron fist, and while their power is heavy handed in the capital city of Rangoon (Yangon) it reaches out into the more rural, ethnic states concentrating on the control of local resources including mining precious stones and minerals, building dams to harness water power, deforestation, and the continuous, forcible removal of local people from their land.
In Burma's Irrawaddy delta region, the hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis, about 15 percent of the total population--an estimated 3.5 million people--live in the delta. About five million people live in Rangoon located on the delta's southeast edge, according to www.alertnet.org. The site also reported that most people in the delta are from the majority Burman ethnic group, though Karen and Shan peoples also live there, among other minorities. The Irrawaddy river delta is one of Burma's most densely populated areas, where over the last 150 years huge areas of mangrove forest have been cleared to make way for rice paddies.
Under the normal, daily circumstances for many people in Burma, they live with the constant threat of displacement and violence, and with little or no access to basic education, health care, or secure sources of food. The BBC reported that, "International agencies estimate that one in three children in Burma is malnourished, making them more vulnerable to infection.” In addition, “An estimated 90% of people in Burma live on just US$1 a day. In 2000 the World Health Organization ranked Burma's overall health care system as the second worst in the world.” So how do people living in these conditions respond to an event of this magnitude when their lives are already a disaster? And what is the best way for the international community to respond to their immediate needs as well as their ongoing ones?
According to NPR and the BBC, reports from Burma and specifically the Irrawaddy area are that entire communities have been wiped out en masse by a tidal wave brought on by the cyclone. The "official" death toll as reported by the government is at 22,000 with 41,000 people considered missing. The BBC is calling Cyclone Nargis, “the worst natural disaster in East Asia since the tsunami of 2004.” These maps based on images collected by a UN satellite show the extent of the damage and the approximate population affected by Cyclone Nargis in much more detail.
As the days pass, those who escaped the initial threat to their lives posed by Cyclone Nargis will face more danger as already limited sources of food, clean water, and protection from waterborne diseases become even more scarce. Clearly the people of Burma need international aid urgently.
There are a myriad of possible outcomes for Burma as it struggles to recover from Cyclone Nargis, but I see them as a continuum between two extremes. One one side, is the military government of Burma using the situation to their benefit. That in rebuilding Rangoon and the surrounding area with the assistance of international aid, they will do so in ways that strengthen their oppressive hold on the people. With such international support they may hold the vote on the proposed constitution (which they plan to go forward with as scheduled) and use the momentum to further exert their power over the people of Burma. On the other side, is the people of Burma, living both inside and out of the country, utilizing the international attention to not only improve the conditions they live in, but to highlight the crimes committed by the military government and demonstrate to the world that they desire the realization of their right to a free life under a fair, representative government of their choosing.
The second category of outcomes certainly depends on the ability of countries around the world to insist that aid for the people of Burma be administered by organizations that have the people’s best interests in mind, and not exclusively the military government. Reports slowly trickling out of Burma are already revealing that the response of the military and government personnel in many affected areas has been slow to non-existent up to this point.
Recent momentum in Europe and the United States shows politicians in favor of sanctioning Burma to put pressure on the military government, including presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Personally, I do not support the idea of sanctions as their impact is easily deflected off the government targets and onto the innocent people they are meant to protect. However, in this spirit I have hope that the world might take notice of the military government’s misconduct and redirect their aid in support of the people who need it most.
Of some concern is the government’s plan to hold the planned referendum on the newly proposed constitution, which they claim will make the government more democratic. The vote to be held for the new constitution has met widespread opposition from many people, both inside and out of Burma. The priorities of the military government must be called into question as they ignore the plight of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by Cyclone Nargis, while going through with a sham vote to secure their own power. Although, this really wouldn’t be anything new.
For more information about Burma or specifically about Cyclone Nargis check out these links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7387037.stm
http://www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90154199
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bm.html
http://www.un.org/apps/news/morenews.asp?Cr=myanmar&Cr1=
In Burma's Irrawaddy delta region, the hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis, about 15 percent of the total population--an estimated 3.5 million people--live in the delta. About five million people live in Rangoon located on the delta's southeast edge, according to www.alertnet.org. The site also reported that most people in the delta are from the majority Burman ethnic group, though Karen and Shan peoples also live there, among other minorities. The Irrawaddy river delta is one of Burma's most densely populated areas, where over the last 150 years huge areas of mangrove forest have been cleared to make way for rice paddies.
Under the normal, daily circumstances for many people in Burma, they live with the constant threat of displacement and violence, and with little or no access to basic education, health care, or secure sources of food. The BBC reported that, "International agencies estimate that one in three children in Burma is malnourished, making them more vulnerable to infection.” In addition, “An estimated 90% of people in Burma live on just US$1 a day. In 2000 the World Health Organization ranked Burma's overall health care system as the second worst in the world.” So how do people living in these conditions respond to an event of this magnitude when their lives are already a disaster? And what is the best way for the international community to respond to their immediate needs as well as their ongoing ones?
According to NPR and the BBC, reports from Burma and specifically the Irrawaddy area are that entire communities have been wiped out en masse by a tidal wave brought on by the cyclone. The "official" death toll as reported by the government is at 22,000 with 41,000 people considered missing. The BBC is calling Cyclone Nargis, “the worst natural disaster in East Asia since the tsunami of 2004.” These maps based on images collected by a UN satellite show the extent of the damage and the approximate population affected by Cyclone Nargis in much more detail.
As the days pass, those who escaped the initial threat to their lives posed by Cyclone Nargis will face more danger as already limited sources of food, clean water, and protection from waterborne diseases become even more scarce. Clearly the people of Burma need international aid urgently.
There are a myriad of possible outcomes for Burma as it struggles to recover from Cyclone Nargis, but I see them as a continuum between two extremes. One one side, is the military government of Burma using the situation to their benefit. That in rebuilding Rangoon and the surrounding area with the assistance of international aid, they will do so in ways that strengthen their oppressive hold on the people. With such international support they may hold the vote on the proposed constitution (which they plan to go forward with as scheduled) and use the momentum to further exert their power over the people of Burma. On the other side, is the people of Burma, living both inside and out of the country, utilizing the international attention to not only improve the conditions they live in, but to highlight the crimes committed by the military government and demonstrate to the world that they desire the realization of their right to a free life under a fair, representative government of their choosing.
The second category of outcomes certainly depends on the ability of countries around the world to insist that aid for the people of Burma be administered by organizations that have the people’s best interests in mind, and not exclusively the military government. Reports slowly trickling out of Burma are already revealing that the response of the military and government personnel in many affected areas has been slow to non-existent up to this point.
Recent momentum in Europe and the United States shows politicians in favor of sanctioning Burma to put pressure on the military government, including presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Personally, I do not support the idea of sanctions as their impact is easily deflected off the government targets and onto the innocent people they are meant to protect. However, in this spirit I have hope that the world might take notice of the military government’s misconduct and redirect their aid in support of the people who need it most.
Of some concern is the government’s plan to hold the planned referendum on the newly proposed constitution, which they claim will make the government more democratic. The vote to be held for the new constitution has met widespread opposition from many people, both inside and out of Burma. The priorities of the military government must be called into question as they ignore the plight of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by Cyclone Nargis, while going through with a sham vote to secure their own power. Although, this really wouldn’t be anything new.
For more information about Burma or specifically about Cyclone Nargis check out these links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7387037.stm
http://www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90154199
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bm.html
http://www.un.org/apps/news/morenews.asp?Cr=myanmar&Cr1=
Monday, May 5, 2008
Laos
As retreats should be, the MCC gathering in Vientiane, Laos this past weekend was relaxing, energizing, and a whole lot of fun. Vientiane is much smaller than Hanoi, and provided us the opportunity to enjoy fresh air, quiet streets, sunshine, and a laid back atmosphere. I have indeed been renewed!
A highlight for me was visiting MCC projects in Vientiane, specifically the SALTer's locations and the Lao Disabled Women's group where an MCC service worker is currently placed. All three SALTers are involved in teaching children, who exhibited their language skills by singing for us. And at the school where Jessica works they performed some traditional dances and put on a fashion show of their own recycled creations. The pictures I took on the tour are linked here.
We did some shopping, had lots of free time to swim in the pool, and even ate some chocolate souffle one evening, which you can also see in the photo album.
Now that I am back in Hanoi I am preparing for a busy (and hot!) month of May. I will be visiting with a group of Fresno Pacific students, celebrating friend's birthdays, and hosting my family for 2 weeks starting on the 25th! Time just keeps flying by...
A highlight for me was visiting MCC projects in Vientiane, specifically the SALTer's locations and the Lao Disabled Women's group where an MCC service worker is currently placed. All three SALTers are involved in teaching children, who exhibited their language skills by singing for us. And at the school where Jessica works they performed some traditional dances and put on a fashion show of their own recycled creations. The pictures I took on the tour are linked here.
We did some shopping, had lots of free time to swim in the pool, and even ate some chocolate souffle one evening, which you can also see in the photo album.
Now that I am back in Hanoi I am preparing for a busy (and hot!) month of May. I will be visiting with a group of Fresno Pacific students, celebrating friend's birthdays, and hosting my family for 2 weeks starting on the 25th! Time just keeps flying by...
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
My vertically challenged days are over...
Although I quickly came to accept that in Vietnam I am neither short nor even average height, I only recently learned the average height of men and women in Vietnam and I was quite surprised actually. The height of women in Vietnam reaches an average of 4 feet 11 inches or 1.49 meters, while the height of men in Vietnam is at an average of 5 feet 4 inches or 1.62 meters. (I’m not sure where this information came from anymore, but a quick Google search confirmed very similar numbers, and from personal experience these averages are likely accurate.)
The reason for such diminished height among Vietnamese people living in Vietnam indicates grim realities in terms of food security and malnutrition, both past and present. However, in the urban centers such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City many children benefit from improved, secure, nutritional meals, and are noticeably bigger than most people born before the late 1980s.
To be a bit more light-hearted about the issue, I have come to discover some interesting consequences of being on the taller end of average (a first in my lifetime, let me assure you) in Vietnam. A good friend of mine once told me that when she styled her hair she worried about the top of her head since so many people could see it. For the first time ever, I’m the one looking at the tops of people’s heads. That in itself really isn’t so exciting, only a few more thinning/bald spots or gray roots to be seen. However, this does make it much easier to find people or be found in a crowd, which is a definite plus in this crowded city.
Perhaps something that has lost much of its amusement over the last seven months is the height of the counter-top in most Vietnamese kitchens, which hits me right about mid-thigh. Doing the dishes means stooping over the kitchen sink, and I routinely hit my head on the cabinet doors as I lean over.
For all my years singing in choir, I spent almost all of them front and center; not short enough to be on the ends of the front row, but not tall enough to make the second row cut either. Here I can see something without having to be in the front row, and it takes me a minute or two to realize that when all the tall people get together in the back for a group photo that means me!
Over the next few days however, I will revert to my shorter-than-average status as I join the MCC Cambodia, MCC Laos, and MCC Vietnam teams for the annual regional retreat. From May 1-3 we will have meetings in Vientiane, Laos and enjoy the company of fellow MCCers. Look for pictures and/ a post about the trip coming soon!
The reason for such diminished height among Vietnamese people living in Vietnam indicates grim realities in terms of food security and malnutrition, both past and present. However, in the urban centers such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City many children benefit from improved, secure, nutritional meals, and are noticeably bigger than most people born before the late 1980s.
To be a bit more light-hearted about the issue, I have come to discover some interesting consequences of being on the taller end of average (a first in my lifetime, let me assure you) in Vietnam. A good friend of mine once told me that when she styled her hair she worried about the top of her head since so many people could see it. For the first time ever, I’m the one looking at the tops of people’s heads. That in itself really isn’t so exciting, only a few more thinning/bald spots or gray roots to be seen. However, this does make it much easier to find people or be found in a crowd, which is a definite plus in this crowded city.
Perhaps something that has lost much of its amusement over the last seven months is the height of the counter-top in most Vietnamese kitchens, which hits me right about mid-thigh. Doing the dishes means stooping over the kitchen sink, and I routinely hit my head on the cabinet doors as I lean over.
For all my years singing in choir, I spent almost all of them front and center; not short enough to be on the ends of the front row, but not tall enough to make the second row cut either. Here I can see something without having to be in the front row, and it takes me a minute or two to realize that when all the tall people get together in the back for a group photo that means me!
Over the next few days however, I will revert to my shorter-than-average status as I join the MCC Cambodia, MCC Laos, and MCC Vietnam teams for the annual regional retreat. From May 1-3 we will have meetings in Vientiane, Laos and enjoy the company of fellow MCCers. Look for pictures and/ a post about the trip coming soon!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
The Prayer of St. Francis
Shortly after I began attending the Hanoi International Church Dr. Larry, a regular attender there, persistently invited me each week to visit his English class of priests and nuns. Every week I tried as politely as I could to explain my busy schedule or my lack of ability when it comes to teaching, making as legitimate an excuse as possible. Soon I became involved in music nearly every Sunday, and Dr. Larry began asking me to teach his students the songs we were singing in church. Certainly I knew I could teach them a song or two, but I was still hesitant to give my time. Luckily Dr. Larry didn't give up on me, he photocopied a song he wanted me to teach and said, "Thursday. You can come on Thursday morning, can't you?"
Thursday morning found me pedaling my bike against rush hour traffic down a busy road in the pouring rain trying to find the entrance to the maze of alleyways leading to the church. I was relieved to find Dr. Larry cheerfully waiting for me at the gate, but my relief quickly turned to anxiety as I faced a classroom of 30 smiling faces. Remind me again why I agreed to do this? I took a deep breath and bought myself some time by having everyone introduce themselves.
We jumped right into the song, first listening to and repeating each phrase, then learning the melody, and finally putting them together for each of the three verses and the chorus. In my experience here, most Vietnamese people seem to be musically inclined, quickly picking up new melodies and being able to recall hundreds of songs by memory. Music education starts at a young age and, after years of singing solos in front of the classroom and at karaoke bars, you won't find very many people who suffer from stage fright. I needn't have worried.
By this point in the year I should be able to anticipate situations ripe with inspiration and personal significance, but I was once more startled at how the experience made me feel. I believe that music is one of the most basic ways to communicate solidarity and understanding with others, and in doing so with this group of priests and nuns I was incredibly humbled. After repeating the song countless times it was impossible not to take the beautiful words to heart:
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
and where there's doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
and where there's sadness ever joy.
Oh Master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand.
To be loved as to love, with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving of ourselves that we receive,
and in dying that we're born to eternal life.
Thursday morning found me pedaling my bike against rush hour traffic down a busy road in the pouring rain trying to find the entrance to the maze of alleyways leading to the church. I was relieved to find Dr. Larry cheerfully waiting for me at the gate, but my relief quickly turned to anxiety as I faced a classroom of 30 smiling faces. Remind me again why I agreed to do this? I took a deep breath and bought myself some time by having everyone introduce themselves.
We jumped right into the song, first listening to and repeating each phrase, then learning the melody, and finally putting them together for each of the three verses and the chorus. In my experience here, most Vietnamese people seem to be musically inclined, quickly picking up new melodies and being able to recall hundreds of songs by memory. Music education starts at a young age and, after years of singing solos in front of the classroom and at karaoke bars, you won't find very many people who suffer from stage fright. I needn't have worried.
By this point in the year I should be able to anticipate situations ripe with inspiration and personal significance, but I was once more startled at how the experience made me feel. I believe that music is one of the most basic ways to communicate solidarity and understanding with others, and in doing so with this group of priests and nuns I was incredibly humbled. After repeating the song countless times it was impossible not to take the beautiful words to heart:
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
and where there's doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
and where there's sadness ever joy.
Oh Master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand.
To be loved as to love, with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving of ourselves that we receive,
and in dying that we're born to eternal life.
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