I'm allowing myself one self-indulgent post. This is it. Feel free to skip past the Kellie action shots to get to the content you might actually care about. If you're interested in learning about the mechanics of rowing, read on, but you've been warned.
3/29 Soap Creek Camp (11.3) to 21.7 Mile Camp
Another beautiful day to be on the river. We packed up camp, left later than expected (LTE count: 3), and set out to log some more miles.
Beautiful flatwater framed by the walls of Marble Canyon
Photo credit: Chris Inman
The early stretches of Marble Canyon have a ton of flatwater, which means that yours truly got to spend plenty of time behind the sticks. Because if there's one thing I love, it's rowing without fear of gnarly consequences!
Some context: I rowed a boat or two in college:
That's me on the far left
I'm third from the right. Looking out of the boat (naughty!) as per usual.
Now, as you may expect, rowing a racing shell is pretty different than rowing an oar-rigged raft. For one, racing shells have sliding seats so that rowers can generate power from their legs (if you've seen an indoor rowing machine AKA erg, it more-or-less looks the same inside of the shell). Secondly, oar rafts position the guide to face the bow, so the primary motion is a push, rather than a pull, as in the case of rowing (or crew, if you want to call it that, although "crew" is technically a synonym for "team," so when folks say "crew team" it's like saying "team team" but I'll die on that hill another day...).
Raft guides will definitely also use a pull, particularly if they're needing to generate a ton of power (pulls are stronger than pushes) to row into wind, get out of an eddy, pull away from an obstacle in the river, etc., but pulling in a raft has drawbacks because it means that the guide can't see what's in front of them (the stern is facing downriver).
On the early days of the trip, my push was atrocious, mostly because my brain was so hardwired to pull that every correction (needing to turn the boat left or right) was almost always the opposite of what I actually wanted to do. That said, 16 days of practice will eventually yield some positive results, and by middle of the trip, my push had come a long way. My Texas Hold 'Em mantra is "Don't Try Hard and Never Take Risks" and I applied the same philosophy to rowing rapids for the first portion of the trip ("Don't"). But after about a week, my ability to read water improved, I had *excellent* on-the-water coaching from Brad, Cory, and Joe (sadly never made it into Steve's boat 😞 ) and I felt pretty confident in my ability to manage lower grade rapids.
Because this is my one self-indulgent post, I wanted to include some action shots, and I scoured our shared Google Photo Album containing THOUSANDS of pictures, and I'm pretty sure there's only 2 or 3 photos of me actually pushing vs. pulling. But I did figure it out eventually, and now I'm pretty stoked on pushing because rowing is more fun WHEN YOU CAN SEE WHAT IS IN FRONT OF YOU!
Pulling in a party shirt.
Photo credit: Chris Inman
Yep. Still pulling.
Photo credit: Cory Inman
Thought I was pushing until I saw a video. Definitely pulling.
Photo credit: Chris Inman
I'll be damned! I'm actually pushing!
Photo credit: Chris Inman
A standing push!
Photo credit: Chris Inman
Pushing with a unicorn! Some debate among the crew as to whether her name is Princess Sparkles or Skull Crusher. My vote is for Skull Crusher.
Photo credit: Chris Inman
The real kicker is that reading water (staying in the current, avoiding eddies, etc.) is actually the most efficient use of energy on the water. I think back to the first few days on the water when I was (comically) trying to muscle my way down the river and wasting so much energy by ending up in eddies and not reading the current. Row smarter, not harder. That said, my desire to row the long, boring (not that anything on this river is actually boring) stretches of river did earn me my River Name: Autopilot!
And thus concludes my self-indulgence. Thanks for humoring me. Now back to regularly scheduled programming.
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On the docket for Day 2 were House Rapid (7) and North Canyon Rapid (5). We scouted House Rapid and everyone kind of took a hero line, but we all made it out without incident. North Canyon, on the other hand...
North Canyon (mile 20.7) is listed as a "read and run" rapid. What that means is that these types of rapids don't generally need to be scouted; you read the water onsite and run it as you deem appropriate. For this rapid, Andy was moved to another boat to make sure each raft had someone in the bow that could assist with throw ropes and pulling swimmers in if needed, which left Chris and me in the bow of Cory's boat. Chris had been battling a pretty nasty illness for the first 48 hours of the trip, so I was on swimmer-rescue duty (if needed), which is all well and good...unless you're the one that's swimming.
We were about 80% through the rapid when we got hit with a pretty significant wave just off the starboard bow of the boat--immediately washed both Chris and me out. Luckily, we were both able to stay next to the boat. Cory has the video footage of the rapid and the swim:
Video Credit: Cory Inman
It took Cory about 10 seconds to pull Chris back in the boat and about 25 to get me back in. In case you were wondering, the Colorado River is really f*cking cold. Thankfully, we were only about a mile from camp so we were able to warm ourselves up pretty quickly, but yeah, I'd put my Grand Canyon swimming experiences (yep, there's another one coming up...) in my "Top 5 Coldest Experiences of My Life." I was wearing a wetsuit, but I honestly think in this sort of situation I might have been better off (warmer) without it after getting back on the boat.
We made camp at the creatively named 21.7 Mile Camp. Dinner: Chicken and Veggie Fajitas with Mexican Rice.
The next post will cover one of our two longest days on the river and I'm hoping to do a crew spotlight on Chef Ada!
As much fun as I had writing the last post, I was a little disappointed that I didn't progress the trip account far enough to actually get us on the water, but I am pretty confident I'll get us on the water in this one.
3/28 Launch Day - Lee's Ferry to Soap Creek Camp (mile 11.3)
We woke up at Lee's Ferry to a lovely grab-and-go breakfast prepared by Ben, at which time we also got to witness the art by which he swung the large metal coffee carafe to settle the grounds--a feat Andy would replicate for the next 15 days. Breaking down personal gear and getting the boats reloaded took longer than expected (LTE count: 2), so we didn't actually launch until noon (I think? Cory or Brad, check my math on this one).
We're on the water--woo!
Steve on his deluxe rig complete with sunshade
Photo credit: Cory Inman
Rio in his duckie
Phot credit: Chris Inman
Before I get too far ahead of myself, I should point out that the length of Grand Canyon river trips can very pretty significantly. From the NPS website:
Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek River Trips (commercial and noncommercial) - Motorized and non-motorized whitewater rafting trips which launch from Lees Ferry and take-out at Diamond Creek vary greatly in length. Motor trips usually take a minimum of 7 days to reach Diamond Creek, but half trip options are available for those who wish to hike in or out at Phantom Ranch. Individuals can choose between commercial and noncommercial trips.
3 to 18 Day Commercial River Trips. These are professionally guided raft trips, available to the public and often reserved a year or two in advance.
12 to 25 Day Noncommercial River Trips. These are self-guided raft trips, sometimes referred to as private river trips. Permits for these trips are made available to the public through a WEIGHTED LOTTERY.
Ya'll, I don't know what sort of fancy protein shakes the boat operators are chugging to make it 225 miles in twelve days, but everyone on our team agreed that 16 days--the length of our trip--was on the shorter end of short. Our itinerary was complicated by the fact that we absolutely had to make it to Cremation/Phantom Ranch area (mile 88) by April 1/2 so that Rio could hike out, and with strong headwinds and a slow current, we were fighting for miles the first several days of the trip.
Back to Day 1 on the water. It's also where my memory gets a little fuzzy because all of this happened ~20 days ago. I remember the first day on the water being pleasant but a little chilly, and our pace was slow--1-2 miles an hour (when we had planned for 4-5!). The nice thing about the first few miles of river is that there aren't too many significant features, so the primary boat operators (all of us rowed at some point or another) had a chance to get used to rowing 18 foot rigs that probably weighed about 1,000 lbs (more? someone correct me on this). These rafts are the tanks of the water--they don't turn particularly fast, but with momentum, they can cut through most waves if you are T'd up to the wave (hit the wave perpendicular (bow aligned with wave). Most rowing advice I saw prior to getting on the water was "T up to stuff" and that rang very true for nearly every feature. That is not to say that you can't flip an 18ft rig. More on that later.
We crossed under the Navajo Bridges (mile 4.5) in the afternoon, which are 470 feet above the Colorado River. Upstream bridge opened in 1929 and cost $385,000. Downstream bridge opened in 1995 and cost $15 million (source: RiverMaps).
View of Navajo Bridges.
Photo credit: Cory Inman
We continued to cruise (slowly) down the river, fighting a slow current and headwind, until reaching our first significant feature: Badger Creek Rapid. Doug swam out of a duckie on an early rapid, but I don't remember which rapid and we were able to resolve the situation without much effort.
For those of you less familiar with rapids and rapid rating systems, this is from Paddling Magazine: "Around the globe, the International Scale of River Difficulty (ISRD) is the most commonly used system of rating whitewater rapids. This scale was created by American Whitewater and uses roman numerals on a I to VI scale to indicate the level of difficulty and consequence of a rapid. There are other established systems—for example, the Grand Canyon rating system using a rating scale of 1 to 10—however, the ISRD is the most widely used."
Badger Creek is a 5 on the GC rating system, so right in the middle of difficulty. That said, we learned very quickly that there's no just thing as "just a blah blah blah" rated rapid. Even the lowest rated rapids can wreak havoc on an unsuspecting raft. We learned this lesson the hard way a few times, starting with Badger Creek.
From a risk management perspective, it's important to have a plan when facing features in the river; understanding how to read water, having a rowing plan to navigate that water, and having a "if shit hits the fan" plan in case there are swimmers (folks ejected from their boats) or issues with a raft (flips, pins, etc.). I don't pretend to be an expert in swiftwater mechanics--far from it--so you'll have to rely on Avery, Brad, Cory, & company for the nuts and bolts of risk management in swiftwater, but I'll try to explain things at a level that most folks can understand (and I hope I don't screw it up).
For our team, we scouted all major rapids and/or rapids that were recommended to be scouted from our river resources. Scouting usually requires parking the rafts on river right or river left and physically getting out of the boat to either walk the length of the rapid from the land or getting up to a high enough vantage point where you can see the entirety of the rapid. It can be helpful if someone in the party (in our case, it was often Avery in his kayak) can run the rapid in advance of the other boats to show which line to take, or sometimes there may be another party of boaters ahead of your group and you can watch them run the rapid to get a sense of what to do or what not to do.
In addition to scouting the rapid, the team will generally set an order of boats from first boat to sweep boat so that folks can be positioned in the river, often in an eddy*, to be able to rescue people, gear, and/or boats if necessary.
*eddy: "a place in the river immediately downstream of an obstacle, such as a rock or stump. The water seeks to back-fill the lower-pressure area behind an obstacle, forming a pocket of upstream current" (source: teamriverrunner).
I'm not gonna list order of operations for EVERY significant rapid that we ran, but since we had an incident on Badger, I'll report what I can remember. Avery went first in the kayak (I think?), followed by Cory's raft, then Steve and Joe's boats, followed by Brad's boat as sweep. Rio was also somewhere in the middle in his duckie. Things were going well, until they weren't.
Above Badger Creek Rapid (5)
Photo Credit: Andy James
Scouting Badger Creek Rapid
Photo Credit: Cory Inman
Joe got ejected out of the back of his raft, took a tumble, ended up under his raft, and essentially swam the entire rapid before being rescued by Rio in the duckie. The raft luckily didn't flip and Joe was uninjured, but it was a good wake up call for all of us.
Sidebar: a note on River Names
I wasn't sure if I was going to include River Names in my posts, but I was encouraged to do so (and selfishly, I want to make sure I have a record of them). If any of my 2 readers are familiar with Trail Names, it's the same concept. For folks that have thru-hiked major trails (e.g. the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, etc.), they often have a name bestowed upon them by other hikers based on a specific experience or their personality. A person can't choose their own trail name or river name. It has to be given. And agreed upon by a quorum.
On the first day of the trip, Cory was given his river name by Steve: "Major Tom"--fitting because Cory was the leader of our crew and also showed up to the trip with a full astronaut suit, helmet included.
Cory AKA "Major Tom"
Photo Credit: Andy James
Not to be confused with the other Major Tom.
Or the OG:
David Bowie in "Space Oddity" Photo credit: the internet
After swimming Badger, Joe also earned his River Name. What started as "Honey Badger" became "Humbled Badger" became "Tumbled Badger." Tumby, for short.
After getting Joe back in his boat and warmed up, we continued to make our way down the river to Soap Creek Camp (11.3). The first day was long and fulfilling and eventful. Soap Creek Camp I remember being a pretty good camp. Dinner at Soap Creek: (Grill)--Grilled Steak and Salmon with Baked Potatoes. At this point, we were a little behind our projected itinerary, but folks were happy and safe.
Chef Ada (more on Chef Ada in a future post) cooking up a fancy feast
This post may win "longest post of all time," and that's saying something as I've had some real doozies in here. If you're looking for some light bathroom reading, I'd recommend "Nightmare Fuel" (2023) or "The London Incident" (2008).
I have a backlog of about 20 computer science/discrete math HW assignments that I should prioritize over this entry, but I'm worried I'll forget everything from the trip if I don't get some of my thoughts down soon. And also, I don't want to do my homework.
I have very few regrets from my time on the Colorado River, but the few that I have are (in order of regret):
not bringing a full-size pillow
not bringing a dry suit
not journaling
Trying to recount 16 days' worth of memories is gonna be tough, so thanks in advance to the crew for correcting any errors in my account of our experience. Also, writing entries during/after adventures usually comes pretty easily to me, but this one feels really hard to put into words, so bear with my "rambling, incoherent response [that will probably not be] close to anything that could be considered a rational thought." Bonus points if you get that movie reference.
Before getting into the daily play-by-play, I think it's worth giving some context.
Getting on the Trip
Most frequent question I've gotten thus far is "how did you end up getting to go on this trip?" The answer, in a roundabout way, is my friend Tom "Major Tom" Carney. Tom and I worked together for several years at UGA. He was a caving trip leader and challenge course facilitator while I worked in the Outdoor Program from 2015-2017. Tom and I stayed in touch after I moved to Utah in 2017, and it has become a bit of a tradition to ski together when he comes to visit.
Sidebar: Tom and his friend (now my friend) Brian threw me a surprise dinosaur-themed birthday party in the middle of one of the climbing classes I was teaching at Westminster. I still have the dinosaur piñata in my office. Get yourself friends like Tom and Brian.
Just a reminder that you're never too old for a dinosaur-themed birthday party. Major Tom is in the red shirt. Brian is on his right in the blue shirt.
Anyway, about 2 years ago, Tom reached out to let me know that a friend and fellow Atlantan, Cory, had accepted a faculty position in the University of Utah's Neuroscience Department and thought it would be fun if the three of us skied together. Tom and Cory knew each other from Cory's days as a trip leader at Georgia State--he and Tom and a bunch of other GA State/UGA folks would take an annual ski trip to Steamboat. I think it was my second year on skis when the three of us met up at Snowbird. I'm still a terrible skier, but I was an even more terrible skier then, but nevertheless, we had a good time and Cory and I exchanged contact info thinking that we'd probably end up as adventure buddies.
I don't think I have a photo from the actual day that Tom, Cory, and I skied together, but this photo captures my general sentiment when skiing with Tom.
Getting back to the original question of how I ended up on this trip. Cory and I met in Feb 2022, exchanged numbers, and promptly proceeded to...not organize any adventures. To Cory's credit, he did invite me on a Desolation Canyon river trip and I couldn't swing the dates. We loosely stayed in touch and would occasionally have aspirations to grab beers with other neuroscientists (looking at you, Russ), but that was pretty much it. Then on Christmas Day 2023, Cory reached out again.
Get yourself friends like Cory.
At this point, I had logged a few extra multi-day river trips and had heard tales from friends and students about the magic of the Grand. I also happened to be on radical sabbatical this semester, so between an increased interest in river trips, actually having the time away from work, and recognizing that:
I committed to the trip.
Assembling the Rest of The Crew
Probably the second most frequent question I get is: "was this a Westminster-sponsored trip?" "No." "Oh, cool, it was a personal trip--how do y'all know each other?" We...didn't.
Not really, anyway. All of us had some sort of connection to one other person on the trip, and that person had some sort of connection (strong or loose) to Cory. Here's the breakdown:
Boat operators:
Cory* - trip leader
Brad* - friend of Cory's from 20 years ago when they were both raft guides and involved in Scouts; Brad also currently serves as COO for Whitewater Express in the Southeast
Steve - Cory's neighbor. From what I understand, Cory was walking in his neighborhood, saw that Steve had a raft in his driveway, and struck up a conversation
Joe - friend of Steve's; their kids used to ski race together
Avery - our safety boater; did the whole river in a kayak; Westminster alum that graduated from the Outdoor Education and Leadership (OEL) program. I sent out a message to a few alumni that were working as raft guides to see if anyone was interested in hopping on the permit, and Avery took the bait!
Rest of crew:
Ada - friend of Avery's
Andy* - friend and academic mentor of Cory's
Chris* - Cory's brother
Doug - Steve's brother
Rio - Joe's son
Me*
*indicates ATL HOMIE!! I'm sure I'll get into the joys of having 4 other crewmates from ATL later in the post, but let me tell you, I did *not* think I'd get to have a conversation about Sparkles skating rink prior to this trip and it made me really, really happy to do so.
Everyone in this crew has a wonderful backstory, and each person brought a unique perspective and set of skills to the experience. Truly a special crew. I would run a river with any of them in the future. As this is a public-facing blog, I won't go into the details of their lives (that's for Brad's book that he's going to write), but take my word for it--they're all exceptional humans.
Okay, so that's pretty much how this crew was assembled, and I have every confidence our team could go toe-to-toe with Rick Sanchez's interdimensional heist team. Actually, now that I think about it, I really wish we all would have accepted the GC permit invite with "You sonofabitch, I'm in!")
March 26/27 - travel and rig days
3/26 Travel day was a little...chaotic. I was terrified that I was overpacking for the trip...until I saw everyone else's packing. So. Many. Snacks. And air mattresses. Theraguns. Light up Mickey Mouse wands that blow bubbles. Spaceman costumes. Guitar sealed in a 170L dry bag. I felt like a total amateur. And I was deeply appreciative of Steve and Doug's willingness to share their Red Vines. They are, in fact, crazy delicious.
I carpooled with Joe, and by the time Joe's truck was loaded with our stuff and everyone else's stuff, it was riding reeeeeally low to the ground :). His son Rio, the youthiest of our crew, drove himself because he needed to depart the trip early around day 6 (to go back to school :). Joe and Rio planned to set a car shuttle the following day so that Rio could hike out around Phantom Ranch and drive himself back. We had aspirations to stop at the hot springs in Meadow, UT on the way to Kanab, but packing took longer than expected ("longer than expected" was a recurring theme on this trip), so we made it to Kanab and got hotel rooms while the rest of the crew loaded into Steve's SUV for a 5am departure from SLC the following morning. Woof.
3/27 Joe dropped me off at Lee's Ferry in the morning (after we unloaded a LOT of gear) to wait for the rest of the crew to arrive while he and Rio set his shuttle. Ada and Avery arrived about an hour later, and I helped them unload her truck (also very full of gear) and then the three of us awaited for Steve's Party SUV to arrive with the rest of the crew.
I enjoyed my morning reading "The Grand Canyon Reader" written by friend and colleague Lance Newman while babysitting gear and waiting for everyone else to arrive.
Around noon, a very large truck from Canyon REO arrived with our head rigger, Ben, and his team. While we technically had enough personal watercraft to outfit our own trip, it was strongly recommended to us to use an outfitter for our equipment and food, and let me tell you--I 100% agree with this recommendation. Canyon REO was fantastic to work with. They have very efficient systems and the gear was top notch. Would strongly recommend this outfitter for future GC expeditions.
Ben (a Westminster alum!) directed our crew on how to rig our rafts and pack group and personal equipment. I won't try and describe the systems in a ton of detail in this blog, but for future reference, we had a kitchen boat with a commissary box and other kitchen needs, a bread/produce/eggs boat, a groover (toilet) boat, and a camp box boat. One of the things I liked about Canyon REO's system is they'd drawn up boat maps with recommendations on where to store specific items/boxes (e.g. eggs in the drop bin next to veggie crate and electric water filter, etc.) which made it really easy to replicate loading each day and know where items were. Ben gave us a demonstration on how to use the kitchen systems (stove, blaster, water filter) and turned us over to the NPS staff for our safety briefing.
Let the rigging begin!
The commissary box
Our safety briefing was informative, and also...intense. I am being a little hyperbolic in this next section, but not by much. We were told:
If you're not wearing a drysuit, you're probably going to die.
If you sleep out (not in a tent), a bat will definitely land on your face, and you will definitely get rabies.
If you drink more than 4-5 liters of water, you are definitely getting hyponatremia.
I'm not trying to make too much light of the severity of some of these situations--we all agreed that the content was important, it was just that the delivery was like, maybe a little too scare-tacticy?
Listening to the NPS Ranger give our safety briefing.
We were all pretty terrified of bats by the end of it.
Once boats were rigged and loaded and we were briefed, we rowed the boats down the river a few hundred yards to our campsite, got our tents set up for the evening, and enjoyed one last meal off the river at the Cliff Dwellers Lodge before turning in for the evening.
Okay, I was delusional to think I was going to do a single post for this entire trip. I'm already at 1,800 words and we haven't even gotten on the damn water yet. I promise the next post will actually feature...the Grand Canyon.
Y'all. I just spent $8 on kale water at the SFO airport. I miss Asia already. So...30-some-odd-hours later, we are back in the USA! We have one more flight to go (SFO --> SLC) before we are truly done, but we are very much in the home stretch. With that, I'm excited to share our experience in Vietnam.
(Post originally started on 6/5)
I made the last minute decision to consolidate bags in the Bangkok airport, and consequently, I don’t have my laptop with me here in Hanoi, so I am dictating this blog post on my phone. I didn’t want to wait to get my thoughts down on [digital] paper because today was so energizing.
I use the word “energizing” deliberately because it feels important to acknowledge that after 28 days of travel through Thailand with my head on a swivel trying to support students and help them stay safe and well (as much as one can), I am very, very, VERY tired. The 3:30 AM alarm followed by the 4 AM cab ride to the airport didn’t help, either.
Nevertheless, after one day in Hanoi, I am feeling really excited. This is my first time in Vietnam, and I am here with my co-instructor, Han, meeting with a variety of partners who provide service learning opportunities to young adults (and not-as-young-adults) from all over the world.
We got into the old city at around 11:00. Our first minor flub up was that we learned upon check-in that we had booked reservations at the wrong Pearl Hotel. Turns out, there are two hotels in Hanoi that have the name Pearl in their title. The Pearl that we originally booked at was a few miles out of the old city, and the Pearl Hanoi, the hotel that we intended to book at (and also where our hosts are staying) is in a delightful section of the old city, and so Han and I agreed to eat the cost of the old reservations to make transport/coordination easier for the next few days. Sorry, Twila. We will fix it!!
We met our hosts, Thomas & Steve, and walked to RuNam for refreshments/intro conversations while waiting for our rooms to be ready. Right off the bat, I was immediately drawn to the positive energy that Thomas and Steve both exude, and as we started digging in to our personal and program philosophies related to service learning and relationship building, I could tell that these next two days would be time and energy well spent.
After getting settled in, we took cabs over to the Center for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS), where the primary on-site coordinator, Phuong, oversees the process by which volunteers are matched with community development projects based on their areas of interest and expertise. The conversations with Phuong, Thomas, and Steve were so encouraging. I took many things away from our conversation:
At the core of all service learning is genuine relationships. And relationships take time and energy to foster. It’s really difficult to throw together a meaningful and sustainable service learning project without first laying the groundwork of relationships to truly understand a community and its assets and its needs.
Phuong stressed quality over quantity. If he and his team can’t guarantee a project that has the appropriate amount of guidance and support and resources, they will not pursue the project. They really want to set the community and the volunteers up for success, so matching the expectations of the volunteer with that of the supervising organization is paramount.
Phuong really articulated the importance of understanding needs and assets, both on the part of the organization being served, and of the volunteers who are interested in serving. There needs to be alignment between those foundational pieces in order for a service learning project to truly be mutually beneficial.
Center for Sustainable Development Studies
After our time at CSDS, we got into cabs to visit Hanoi University of Public Health. There, we met with one of the faculty members who teaches a course on Global Health. A big takeaway was how impactful it is for students to study global health issues—through field trips—in regions of the world that experience direct impacts of a given issue, and how interconnected issues of public health are with things like housing, water access, diet, cultural traditions, etc.
View of the city from Hanoi University of Public Health
Walking around campus
We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant (name unknown...) that Phuong recommended (and he ordered all of the food for us 10/10 job) before wrapping up our first day.
Dinner on Night 1
Dinner on Night 1
Day 2
What a truly fulfilling day. After finishing breakfast at the hotel, our plan for the day was to visit various sites and community partners that serve as hosts for students pursuing service learning opportunities in Hanoi. First, we met Phuong at Khanh Tam Special Education Research and Consultation (SERC). We spent the first portion of the morning meeting with the staff, during which they gave a presentation on the services provided by the school, which focuses on early intervention, pre-primary school preparation, and training for the parents.
Meeting with Phuong and staff from the Khanh Tam SERC
One of the rooms at the school designed to for mindfulness and visual stimulation (depending on the need)
Next, we visited the Center for Educational Development, and local NGO that fills a variety of functions in the area, ranging from providing scholarships to high school and college students with a particular focus on women in STEM, running community education projects, developing educational policy and curriculum, and partnering with local businesses. We learned through our conversation with Ms. To Kim Lien (Director) that NGOs in Vietnam are essentially all privately funded (no grants/financial support from government). IF government support (in the form of a grant) reaches an NGO, it is likely a research grant and the NGO and its project needs to be connected to/sponsored by a research university.
Our group at CED
Let's see...from there, we visited another university, Hanoi University, to meet with two faculty members who teach a class on sustainable tourism. The model for the class was super comprehensive and experiential. I wish I could post the syllabus! The class explores tourism through multiple lenses (society, industry, government) and examines sustainable practices and approaches in the tourism industry, new forms of sustainable tourism, social responsibility, and much more. I learned a TON through our conversation but I don't think I can give a play-by-play that would do the course or the instructors justice, so take my word for it--it's a cool course.
Meeting with sustainable tourism faculty at Hanoi University
Our group with the sustainable tourism faculty at Hanoi University
"The mission of Vietnam Friendship Village Project USA is to cultivate reconciliation and heal the wounds of the Vietnam War by uniting veterans and caring citizens through international cooperation in the building and support of the Village of Friendship, a living symbol of peace."
"Project Summary The Vietnam Friendship Village is a residential facility located in Hanoi, Vietnam that provides medical care, physical therapy, education and vocational training to Vietnamese children, young adults and veterans with a range of maladies presumed to be caused by Agent Orange."
What a powerful experience. I didn't realize that Agent Orange impacts one's genetic structure, so the impairments and disabilities caused by Agent Orange can and are passed down through generations. I'm sorry that a place like the Friendship Village has to exist, but I'm really glad it does. This Village provides a place for volunteers and staff to interact and show love to the folks staying on site, as well as providing valuable vocational training for those afflicted by Agent Orange. These residents were being trained in embroidery, weaving, and flower arranging. They may be trained in other skills, but those were the rooms we visited, and their work was stunning.
Before leaving the Village, we had a rare and incredible opportunity to meet about 20 Vietnamese war veterans. The Village hosts groups of veterans for monthlong (or 3-weeks depending on government funding) stays at the Village to focus on relationship building, remembrance, and healing. What an absolute honor and privilege to meet these men. They were so kind and gracious and friendly. I don't know how to put into words what the experience was like. Incredibly special. I feel so lucky to have had that opportunity and I'll carry it with me forever.
A movement class with residents and volunteers
Example of the embroidery work created by residents of Friendship Village
We were able to purchase some of the craftwork made my residents at the Village
One of the classrooms where residents can practice weaving and embroidery
Our group got to meet with a group of Vietnamese veterans
After wrapping up at the Village, we capped off the evening with a beverage on the roof of the hotel and said goodbye to Steve and Thomas, who were flying out that evening. So, so, so grateful for the time with Steve and Thomas and excited to further develop these friendships.
Our farewell evening with Thomas, Steve, and an IPSL alum, Greg
View from our hotel
Lunch was Bún chả, my new favorite Vietnamese dish
Go here the next time you're in Hanoi -- it's delicious!
Han and I got to spend a little bit of evening time wandering the streets of Hanoi, checking out Bia Hoi Corner, and calling it an early evening before reconnecting with Phoung for our last day.
Hanoi night life
My dinner was what I'm calling a "Deconstructed Banh Mi." It was good, but I feel the same about Banh Mi as I do Pad Thai...
Day 3
Phuong had one more site visit for us planned in the morning, and what an amazing finale! We visited SWorld Vietnam (check out the website, seriously) and these are definitely my people!! SWorld was founded by a CSDS alum, Vinh, and has been in operation since 2016 (I think). This organization's slogan is "Explore Yourself - Discover the World" and they are all about experiential education. They host a variety of educational and cultural programs for youth and young adults, including very impressive summer camp. Check out this video!
They recruit volunteers from all over the world to serve as counselors for the camp--I can't wait to encourage Westminster students to apply to serve with this camp!!
I'm gonna list their mission, vision, values here because everyone needs to know about SWorld:
OPERATION MODEL
Learning through experience
Creative activities
Form of non-formal education training
Model according to European Format
VISION
To become the leading cultural and educational organization in Vietnam in the field of English and skills development training for young people who are ready to participate in international exchange programs.
CONCENTRATION SKILLS
English skills
Global citizenship skills
Cognitive development
International cultural exchange
MISSION
Accompanying youth 10-25 years old to develop skills, confidently become global citizens
Create an environment for learning, practical experience and international cultural exchange for Vietnamese youth
Arousing interest in culture and history of Vietnamese youth
Check out their website. Tell your friends. This organization and their staff are awesome.
After getting super hyped about SWorld, it was time to say goodbye to Vinh, his staff, and to Phuong! The 2.5 days we spend with Phuong/CSDS went by far too quickly. Han and I are so, so appreciative of Phuong and his leadership. His effort and attention to building and fostering relationships between organizations and volunteers is something that I will strive to emulate in my own work. Such a wonderful experience!
Our group at SWorld
Core values of SWorld
After we said our goodbyes, Han and I went to Hỏa Lò prison, sometimes referred to in the U.S. as the Hanoi Hilton, where American POW were housed during the Vietnam War, but its history extends far earlier than 1964.
Hỏa Lò was built by French colonialists from 1886-1901, and it was used to detain Vietnamese nationalists during the French occupation of Vietnam.
From Wikipedia: The French called the prison Maison Centrale,[1] 'Central House', which is still the designation of prisons for dangerous or long sentence detainees in France. It was located near Hanoi's French Quarter.[2] It was intended to hold Vietnamese prisoners, particularly political prisoners agitating for independence who were often subject to torture and execution.[3] A 1913 renovation expanded its capacity from 460 inmates to 600.[2] It was nevertheless often overcrowded, holding some 730 prisoners on a given day in 1916, a figure which rose to 895 in 1922 and 1,430 in 1933.[2] By 1954 it held more than 2000 people;[1] with its inmates held in subhuman conditions,[3] it had become a symbol of colonialist exploitation and of the bitterness of the Vietnamese towards the French.[1]
This mention of "subhuman conditions" doesn't even begin to marginally describe the experience of political prisoners during the French occupation. Overcrowding, disease, designed psychological torture, public executions--it was bone chilling to explore the physical space. Things were definitely better by the time the French abandoned the prison and operations were taken over by the Vietnamese to house American POWs, but it was still not good (to say the least).
The prison museum had really interesting relics from various points throughout the prison's history, and they also had an exhibition speaking to the process of Vietnamese-US reconciliation after the war. If you find yourself in Hanoi, visiting Hỏa Lò is definitely worth a stop.
Entry to Hỏa Lò
Example of a Cell Block
Memorial built to the Vietnamese political prisoners who suffered in Hỏa Lò
After the museum, it was time to return to the hotel, check-out, grab a quick bite to eat, and wrap up our visit with a Vietnamese massage :) before heading to the airport. The next 35+ hours were spent traveling from Hanoi --> Bangkok --> Taipei --> San Fransisco (where we did leave the airport to get some clam chowder near the bay) --> Salt Lake City. Needless to say, we were pretty wiped by the time we got home.
And with that, the blog is officially retired until the next international trip. There's a chance I may do some personal international travel on my Spring 2024 radical sabbatical, so until then, cheers!
