WORK: part 1

So as you may or may not have noticed, I have avoided talking about my actual JOB here in Viet Nam so far on this blog. This is mostly because, until maybe two months ago, I had little confidence that if I wrote something, it would be accurate for very long; i.e., my job has changed a lot.

When I left home, I thought I would be doing two part-time jobs: (1) English editing at a government publishing house and (2) English editing at the National Committee for the Advancement of Women (NCFAW), a government agency. Since then, my job description has changed 100%.

Within the first week, I was asked if I'd be ok with switching from the publishing house to assisting Max Ediger, a long-term MCCer. This was fine with me, and it's worked out quite well. I worked pretty irregularly at NCFAW until the end of the year. They were undergoing some big administrative changes, and it was basically just a bad time to have a volunteer. No one's fault really, but still no fun for me. So in January, I started working at Action for the City, a local NGO that does sustainable urban development work. I've been really impressed with and inspired by the organization... and also feel it's quite hard to work in community organizing when you're a foreigner to the community.

So my week looks like this: 2 days at MCC, 2.5 days at Action for the City and 1/2 day of language study. This post will be devoted to work at MCC, with a "part 2" following, which will explain my work at Action for the City. So...

It's about a 15 minute bike ride from my house to the MCC office. After making my way along half a mile of crowded market street, I am always reminded where to turn:

After letting myself in the locked gate, parking my bike and changing from street shoes to the requisit rubber sandals, I am greeted by Chu Nhung (left, office handyman) and Chi Oanh (office administrator).

On the way to my work space on the third floor, I stop to get a drink and say good morning to Co Tu, the best cook in Viet Nam who MCC has the good fortune of employing.

My next stop is Max's office, where we set the direction for my day's work and generally "cut the breeze" as you say in Vietnamese--something like chatting about nothing of import.

And then it's on to the office I share with the two Vietnamese project officers. In the picture below is Co Vinh (left) and Co Bay. Co Vinh actually just retired (a sad event for everyone at the office), so now it's just Co Bay and Co Van Anh (not pictured). I wanted to get a picture will all three of them, but apparently it's very bad luck to take a picture with three people, as that's the number of insense sticks you put on a dead anscestor's alter. So here's just the two... looks pretty luck to me, but you never can tell for sure.


And here's me hard at work! Or at least enjoying my tea.


So what do I do all day "at the office"? What a convenient phrase, eh, which usually requires no explanation. Well, my work for the year has mostly stemmed from the Center for Justpeace in Asia workshop I attend with Max in Nepal in October (see Nov 11 post). The theme of the workshop was "Our Stories/Our Challenges," and it brought together NGO and CBO (community-based organization) workers from all over SE Asia to share their stories and challenges, building solidarity and collaboration.

Since then, I have been working on articulating the common challenges that came up--for example, internally displaced people due to war, international NGOs arriving to "help" but with thier own agenda, reintegrating ex-combatants post-war, dealing with the violence of the economic developement that often follows the end of a war, and many more--and then gathering together the stories that were shared by workshop participants, as well as stories from affiliated friends, which illustrate those common challenges. The goal is to have a publishable book by the time I leave.

Right now, that goal seems pretty doable if I keep working steadily. We have all the stories collected and now are working on editing, writing background material, the introduction and organizing it all. Max if often traveling, which makes it kind of hard to work for him, but at least when he's around, I feel quite energized and interested in the work. In any case, I've been exposed to many very intereting stories and learned a lot about the past and present conflicts of SE Asia. I think the content of the book is pretty powerful, I just hope other people will read it!

And when I start to feel a little crazy after looking at a computer screen for too long, there's always lunch in the middle of the day! Hooray for lunch! Co Tu has been working all morning and she never disapoints. Below is a picture from Ana's (wife of CR) birthday lunch, so it's a bigger crowd than usual, but you get the idea.


So there you have it: a day in the life of Rosabeth at the MCC Viet Nam office! Check back soon (hopefully) for a report on Action for the City!