Week Five

This week's lecture was on Impact Assessment for the students in Gender and Development as well as preparations for a conference on Sexual Harassment Law in Vietnam. Though Vietnam's Labor Code (Law) states that sexual harassment is prohibited in the workplace, it does not define it nor does it provide direction for filing claims. The Women's Union is pressing to have this clarified in the Code because the Code will be updated next year. After the update, it will not be amended for another 10 years. More lunches and dinners this week! Eric and I will be 5 pounds heavier when we arrive back in the U.S.

 Gender and Development class

 Some of my office mates: Ngoc, Jackie, Jackie's colleague and Eric (who joined us for lunch)

 Presenters, translators and workshop Chairs- Sexual Harassment Law in Vietnam

 Tung, Phuong, Ha, Linh and me

Women's Day celebration

Week Four

This week I taught Contract Negotiations and Performance Management for students and faculty. The Performance Management workshop was interactive and focused on how the staff at VWA feel about the performance appraisal system at VWA- things they wanted modified. They also discussed those things that keep them from doing their best work and then problem solving those areas of concern.
We were invited to several outings- one being dinner with VWA's maintenance supervisor and his family. Generally speaking, Vietnamese parents want their children to learn English as English is now being taught in most schools beginning in kindergarten. Having a guest who speaks English as a first language is a special occasion. Therefore, we spent most of the dinner hour speaking with his 11 year old daughter, Thu,- she did very well- and her parents (Manh and Dung) were so proud!

The Vietnam Women's Academy has two buildings, the old building (4 floors) and the new building (15 floors). Classes are held in both, though most of the administrative offices, guest housing, conference rooms, and student housing are in the new building.

On Saturday we traveled to Ninh Binh- also known as dry Halong Bay because the limestone mountains take the shape of those in Halong Bay- the mountains there rise out of the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most beautiful sights you will every see! Quan, our good friend, purchased a U.S. army jeep last year and was anxious to take us for a ride. The open air riding down the highway was fantastic. Once in Ninh Binh, we traveled the river by boat, hiked to caves and then headed to Cuc Phuong National Forest--we hiked in the forest/jungle for 4 hours--though we heard the cry of monkeys, we never saw them!

Week Three

This past week was packed full of teaching, taking Vietnamese language classes, meetings with potential research funders and invites to dinner. Lectures included organizational behavior, writing articles for international publication and cultural differences. Eric, of course, co-taught the cultural differences workshop with me along with Hoa, our friend's niece who just returned from Lehigh University. I continue to edit papers for the conference "Women Entrepreneurs in Industrial Revolution 4.0" which will take place on October 18th at VWA. We will have presenters from Viet Nam, Indonesia, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. (me). Two of my colleagues, Katelin Maher from USAID-Vietnam, and Jennifer Kuhlman, Director of the Solidarity Center, Hanoi, will be attending and meeting separately with Dr. Kim Ahn, Vice Director of the VWA.

English Club 

 

Eric and Hoa

To celebrate the Autumn Festival, we were invited by Lan Ahn and Vinh to Tuyen Quang- a town about 2 hours north of Viet Nam- where the festival originated. Dinner that evening was quite an affair as we were joined by the Chairman of the Province and some of his staff. The next day we traveled further into the country-Lam Binh- where we stayed in an upscale stilt house followed by another big dinner/celebration with officials and friends from the local area. As customary, we all sat in circles of 6-8 people each and were served "family style". Eric was a "good" guest and made the rounds to each circle, socializing and toasting- a "must do" for men in Viet Nam.

After dinner, mattresses are laid out under the eaves of the stilt house with curtains for privacy--the sounds of the surroundings lull you to sleep. Pho Bo for breakfast at the nearby government building and then back to Hanoi for another full week of work!