Erin With An E: Arrived and there is no Mercury in Pepto…

After months of preparation for our work in Vietnam, the time finally came to head out. I met up with fellow US teammates in San Francisco for the long flight... From SFO we flew to Hong Kong (after an hour delay due to lightening) and then on to Ho Chi Minh City. Total door to door time came out to be about 32 hours.

I’m not sure why, but there is apparently a big fear of being chased by trees in Hong Kong. What do to if chased by a tree was clearly identified so I felt safe.

After a brief rest post travel, we met up with our VNAT team mates and our hosts with Orphan Impact. In 2009 Orphan Impact was founded by Tad Kincaid and currently has a staff of three instructors. Using Intel’s classmate PC, Tad and his instructors work with the students in after school programs to “increase the likelihood that a genuine impact will be made in the lives of the orphan children using these computers”. More information about the Orphan Impact concept can be found here.

(L-R): Orphan Impact founder Tad Kincaid with Intel VNAT IESC team member Tri Tin Le

(L-R): Orphan Impact instructors Long Pham, Bang Bui, My Nguyen with Intel VNAT IESC Aikido Nguyen.

Our activities so far have been focused on generating Instructional material for future teachers and setting up the classmate PCs destined for the new orphanages. Since my technical knowledge of computers is limited to “buy Intel”, I’m working primarily with the Orphan Impact instructors on the Instructional material. A particularly interesting challenge that we are working through are shifts in how to instruct children (Teacher centered vs. Student centered)… coupled with cultural and language barriers.

It is absolutely amazing how many people are packed into Ho Chi Minh City. We are currently working in a pocket of the City called “District 1”. “District 1” is known as the tourist district so there is no shortage of shops and other retailers… and scooters. Because of the cost of cars, the primary mode of transportation is the scooter. The most riders we have seen on a scooter at once is 4, but I’m betting we will see a 6-pack at some point.