Got Courage to Tell The Story of Your Adventure Abroad?

Grab your hand-held media and GO! What kind of tools do you need?… Our guest video blog from Emmy-Award winning cameraman and producer Jeff MacIntyre demystifies the video-travel-gear question for emerging “Backpack Journalists.” 

Quick Impressions Journal: Vietnam March 2012

By Gabi Safranavicius 

My intention for this piece was not what it turned out to be. I was just another High School student taking yet another opened-ended AP Literature and Language prompt. My intention was to simply address the prompt, to write a narrative of a past memory that had an effect on me. Something broad, and perhaps irrelevant in regards to the rest of the world. But as I wrote my piece, took the shape of the recent lessons I have learned, the shape of the ideas and ideals that I want to share with my peers. It somehow evolved to the things I learned from my trip abroad to Vietnam; took the shape of what Friendship Tours World has taught me of war, poverty, and polar social complexities coming from different worlds.  Morphed from my common day thoughts that cloud the brain and I knew this was the start to my journey of sharing written truths.

Vietnam 

Day One
Heavy eyes and empty bellies stepped out of the airport and into the odor clustered air. Time truly became relative and space seemed to slip away, lost somewhere in the crowd of Vietnamese, arms outstretched to welcome loved-ones from far away travels. Surreal steps taken into Saigon, the perfect beginning to an adventure.

Day Two
Tears. Tears and the vacant feeling left after a through dig any remaining morality. War Remnants Museum left me hollow as a spineless book. I feel tortured to be part of a country that could inflict such pain, but the pictures remind me who the real victims are.

Day Three
Day trip to Mekong to see the birthplace of a revolution. Journalist, camera crew, what is cultural emersion? The people at home want to know. We meet Kim Phuc’s brother and sister-in-law. We see the site of the bombing. We leave not completely unscathed.
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Day Four
Vietnam countryside, we learn not every quite sounds the same. We clean our clothes, shop the markets, and ride bikes through the backyards of local people.  Peeks of third world life are enough for most, as the bike ride turns into a competition. Which white child can pedal away from poverty the fastest?

Day Five
Hanoi here we come. Air is cloudy from the motorcycles that clutter the thin streets, magnifying the smell of gasoline and fish oil. A perfect retreat to never feel alone. As the days fly by I wonder who to pity more, the starving Vietnamese or the American starving for self-esteem?


Day Six

Day filled with sites. Each landmark tells its story to superficial listeners, grasping for something to brag about at home. Hanoi Hilton, Trấn Quốc, and the Presidential Palace, home to prisoners, monks, and Ho Chi Mahan.

Day Seven
Friendship Village, school and home for Agent Orange victims. Some of the children leek eminent joy, infecting the surroundings with the contagious smile. Others continue to stare through us, as if to ask, “Haven’t you done enough?” We learn that the logistics are simple. We exchange tax dollars for bombs, bombs for dead and disabled, dead and disabled for capitalism, and capitalism for tax dollars. I shamelessly brought toys, as if I could fill the void of expired opportunities these children will never have, with games. They don’t understand, that’s how we do it in my country.

Day Eight
We take to the crowded streets, time for souvenirs before our flight home. What does one buy to remember a third world country? You can’t buy poverty, political corruption, or inequitable circumstances, which only leaves jewelry and various polyester t-shirts.  Walking the smog-filled streets I wonder, “Will I miss this place?” Will I miss the dirty, dense air, the fish oil, the congested streets? No. I will miss the smile and gratification of a merchant. The friendly countryside locals. The bashful children, curious, but so outspoken. For these reasons I know that it is the souls of the people that will bring me back here someday.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” –- Henry Miller.

Why do I want to travel with Friendship Tours again? Because it is so much more than just a vacation. It is more than a cultural immersion, it’s more than a simple education or community service. Their program is an intense-insider’s experience; creating relationships with real people-facing real issues is a boundary-breaking, perspective-shattering opportunity. The teachers at Friendship Tours World Travel helped me learn how to change lives. I want to go again because my previous trip helped me find a purpose and myself.

It is hard for to put into words how significant my trip to Vietnam was in Spring 2012.  It was an experience that will follow me through my entire life, one that I could never forget. Before my trip, I never knew how easy it was to change lives. It always seemed like such an idealistic concept, something only the selected few could really achieve. But I have since learned the power of one individual, the power of education, and the power independent journalism. I want to travel with Friendship Tours World Travel because it’s not only an opportunity for me to see and to learn, but to help others do the same.
Gabi Safranivicius

Sapa O' Chau and Community Power

 
Read the latest Rice Roots newsletter from Sapa O'Chau, one of our amazing service learning partners in Vietnam. Sapa O'Chau provides education to the ethnic minority girls and boys from the villages surrounding Sapa who would otherwise have limited access to educational opportunities beyond the age of ten.

In Vietnam, how does a tourist cross the road?

Here’s a riddle:

How does a tourist cross the road in Hanoi? Friendship Tours World Travelers to Vietnam know the answer to this question. In case you haven’t traveled with us yet, the New York Times reports on the fun of crossing streets in Hanoi.

U.S. Pop Culture and Cultural Exchange

Walking along the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi at sunset yesterday, we were approached by a group of enthusiastic Vietnamese medical students who wanted to practice their English. Sharing their admiration of American movies and music, they inquired of us: "Why do you come to Vietnam? What do you like about our country?" 

There's something about communicating with those working to master basic English that gives one pause. While I instinctively speak more slowly and choose words I imagine they might easily understand, there's a delicate art to doing so without sounding like I'm talking to a small child. Certainly their competency with the English language exceeds that of mine with Vietnamese. I must do my best to honor their courageous invitation to connect by offering a substantive exchange. 

I tell them: "I am a history teacher. I bring students to Vietnam so they can learn about the "American War," and how our countries are now friends. The history between the U.S and Vietnam has a lot to teach young people about the need for cross-cultural understanding and good economic relations for a more peaceful world. I hope my students will learn these lessons, and apply them to their studies of other conflicts in the modern day." 

The students nod, some comprehending less than others. How will they hit that conversational ball back over the net? 

Dane, the boldest of my ambitious new friends, responds with a fascinating question:

"We know about America from the movies. What movies do you watch to learn about Vietnam?" 

This question requires a more nuanced response, as relaying the long list of Hollywood attempts to "win" the Vietnam War on screen actually says more about our national psyche than it does about our genuine understanding of anything Vietnamese.

I reply honestly: "We have so many films about the Vietnam War, but most Americans don't learn about other countries from watching movies. We only learn about other countries if we are personally interested to study, read the news or travel." 

I suddenly feel embarrassed, and then add lamely, "I'm sorry."

Either my apology made no sense to them, or it didn't matter because they only smiled in response. An awkward silence followed before the most fashionable of the group grabbed the opportunity presented by the pop culture thread of our exchange. 

"Ah. Um. Do you like the American movie Titanic?"

What a moment! spontaneously, I burst with a dramatic rendering of the soundtrack.  

"Far across the distance

And spaces Between us
You have come to show you
go on..."

amazingly, the students are uninhibited and jump in to sing together with me:

"Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart and

My heart will go on and on" 

The laughter this evokes in all of us is so refreshingly unifying, I am awash with joy. 

It's true: U.S pop culture permeates the globe, creating an Ameri-centric view that may unhelpfully contribute to a sense of our own entitlement, justifiable military adventures, and economic hegemony. But sometimes it is this very ubiquity of culture that provides the lingua Franca for cross global connection between interested citizens of the planet. 

 Abstract notions of global security may not be enough motivation for the next generation of world citizens to investigate the merits of friendship. Maybe it is pop stars who create the universal language of understanding?

For now, I'm grateful that my Vietnamese student friends and I both are fluent in Celine Dion. 

Malcom Browne: Vietnam War Correspondent Dies

Malcolm Browne, an Associated Press reporter who captured one of the most iconic images of the Vietnam war, passed away Monday, September 27th.

David Hume Kennerly reflects on his work and life in an article published today in the Huffington Post.

"Once you've seen a world-class news photograph, it's impossible to get that image out of your mind. If television brought the Vietnam War into your living room, it was the still photo that transported it directly to your heart.

Associated Press reporter Malcolm Browne took one of the greatest photographs from the Vietnam War. He wasn't a professional photographer, but that's irrelevant. The image, a searing portrait of a Buddhist monk who set himself on fire on a Saigon street as a protest against the government, will always be regarded as one of the most essential and vivid landmarks along the torturous path of modern Vietnamese history.

That photograph had an enormous impact on President John F. Kennedy, and triggered a series of events that ultimately led to the overthrow and murder of South Vietnamese President Ngo Diem. The power of a picture should never be underestimated.

Malcolm Browne died two days ago."
Read the Full Story

Students analyze the significance all three photographers made to 20^th century wartime journalism with our dynamic curriculum. Teachers are invited to download, print and share the Iconographic Photography of Vietnam classroom lessons.  What do your students think? We’d love to hear their reflections on the impact of these images 40+ years later.   

Contact us for the the "Iconographic Photography of Vietnam classroom lessons".