I'm going to attempt to sum up some of the funnier moments I've had volunteering at my NGO over the past week and a half. I work at an organization called CSIP (the acronym doesn’t translate to an English phrase), whose mission is to promote the social entrepreneurship movement in Vietnam and to provide both financial and logistical support to social entrepreneurs. Some examples of the social entrepreneurs they sponsor: A woman who formed a center to help disabled people learn how to produce and market aroma therapy pillows so that they will ideally become self-sufficient, a man who set up libraries in distant villages to promote literacy, a woman started a battery recycling plant to reduce acid waste that often leads to birth defects and pollution in the country.
The entire organization is run by four woman, a full-time Vietnamese intern, a few other Vietnamese volunteers, and now myself for a short period of time. The organization is very impressive, the women work incredibly hard and are very professional. They have frequent meetings with me to review my work and make sure everyone is on the same page. Right now my tasks include A LOT of editing of English documents, creating powerpoints (referred to only as ppts here), and writing their first English newsletter. Later they plan to have me assist in writing a fundraising proposal.
I spend a lot of time with Huong, a 22 year-old Vietnamese intern. She is very sweet, and usually ends up practically sitting on my lap and draping herself all over me, as personal space is often a foreign concept in Vietnam. Also, female and male friends show a lot of physical affection, which isn’t necessarily rare for girls in the states, but it is pretty shocking to see heterosexual males holding hands, hugging frequently, and playing with each others hair.
Lunch time at work always brings much amusement. They have a “buffet”, where everyone brings in a cooked Vietnamese dish and then everyone shares. They are very proud of their buffet and were excited to incorporate me. They quickly realized I would not be able to cook much of anything they would like to eat, so I go downstairs to the supermarket in the building and buy meat and rice to contribute. The first time they would not let me go alone, so Huong held my hand and carted me around the grocery store like I had never seen one before, ordering everything for me and counting out my money.
Lan is my supervisor, she is very cute and very blunt. At lunch Lan has two main goals: one, to not eat too much because (“she get fat easy”) and two, to make Huong eat as much as possible. Huong is easily the smallest 22 year old I’ve ever met. I don’t think she is over 4’10, her feet are SO TINY, and today I found out that she is 40 kilograms, which is 88lbs. She is trying to gain weight and everyone in the office forces her to finish all of her rice and eat as much meat as possible… which is still probably a fifth of what I could pack away at one meal. I’m sure she thinks I am a huge fatty.
On my first day of lunch, they had a fruit that looked like a small tangerine. I asked what they were called, which launched a huge debate. A woman named Twi insisted they were called Happy Fruits, but everyone else scoffed at her. They finally decided to use Google Translate, which came up with the answer ‘Citrus Fruit’. After everyone looked to me for confirmation, I tried to explain that it was indeed a citrus fruit, such as an orange or lemon, but that it was not named that. However the minute I said that it was like an orange, they excitedly yelled YES! LIKE ORANGE! This is a citrus fruit! After much back and forth I had unintentionally convinced them that the fruits official English name was a citrus fruit. They all wrote it down in their notebook to remember, and almost daily they point to the fruit, say look citrus fruit! and look at me excitedly for approval, which I cannot help but give. I sadly have started a fruit name myth.
Also when the Vietnamese eat, they chew and smack their lips SO loudly. It is a sign that they are enjoying their food. It gets somewhat annoying, but mostly I feel bad because I cannot bring myself to act the same and show that I like their food. I smile a lot and give thumbs up while eating though, so I hope that this is enough of a gesture. I am also always offered the opportunity to take a nap after lunch on the company couches, but no one else ever does this so I never do either. And a few times a day they ask me if I want a drink, and I always say water, and they always give me boiling hot water, even though there is a cold water faucet…
And finally I want to talk a little more about Huong, because she is hilarious. First, she is a gigantic soccer fan, and a diehard supporter of the English premier league team Manchester United. She checks scores frequently and was very upset to hear that I support Liverpool (I had no choice dating Matt).
Then last week I was sick with a fever and missed two days, and while I was gone she texted and e-mailed me frequently to make sure I was alright. When I returned to the office she had bought me two chocolate bars as a welcome back gift, so so cute.
Later in the week she had me edit a powerpoint she made in English, and below is a picture that she used for a section about a social entrepreneur that started a suicide prevention center…
Last Friday, she randomly started to beg me to sing for her. I could never bring myself to do this in general, let alone in a quiet office setting with everyone listening to me. I asked her to sing for me, but she insisted she was a bad singer. I told her yes same with me! but she did not believe me and informed me that my voice was very sweet, but I still refused. Later that day she friended me on Facebook, and I saw that it was her birthday… Sidenote, in Vietnam they do not celebrate individual birthdays, because they all turn a year older during the Chinese New Year. I would not have known it was her birthday except for Facebook. Upon me saying happy birthday, she begged me to sing her Happy Birthday, which I narrowly avoided by playing her a youtube clip of Alvin and the Chipmunks singing Happy Birthday. She liked it a lot, mostly because the Vietnamese love cute little animals doing weird things.
And last Huong story for now… I came into work today and she had bought me two trinkets just because. The first one is a “replication of a famous Vietnamese folk singer” and the second is a Tiger. In Vietnam being born in 1987 means that you are the year of the cat (im the year of the rabbit according to China), but they were all out of cat figurines so she bought me a tiger instead. The best part of the gift was the bag she gave it to me in, which says “Sweet Heart present for you” all over it. I attached both of them to the zipper on my jacket. Now I need to think of something to get her, hopefully I can come up with something good.
Next time… my triumphs and (mostly) failures commuting to work, along with some terrible Vietnamese jokes.
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