University of Arkansas Office of Study Abroad: America: So Rich, Yet So Poor #HogsAbroad

I have no idea where to start. So much has happened these past 2 days! I’ll try to recall some things that we did but it’s just SO much ! Wednesday we visited Can Tho University to learn about Agricultural extension. We learned from current students about agriculture and how it is the most essential part of their daily lives. Later that day we visited one of the local’s home to view their biogas digester. Basically, a biogas digester uses animal waste to produce methane. The methane then travels through a pipe that is connected to the stove inside. This is how they prepare the food. It is quite Eco-friendly and cost savvy for the family. After we were leaving to go back to the campus, the lady of the house wished us much success and said that she was sad that she didn’t have any food prepared for us to eat.

Later that day we went on a walking tour of our campus in Hoa An were we are staying. Many of the Vietnamese were very excited to see foreigners and were very welcoming. They would smile, wave, laugh, and say hello as we passed by. We ran into a group of Vietnamese students that spoke English very well. They told us that they started an organization to help poor kids by donationg food and gifts. They told us that they even put on a free concert recently to entertain the children. So we asked could we see some of their dance moves.

They got so pumped! One guy got the music ready and they all got into coordination to perform. Their performance was extremely well coordinated and entertaining! I have a video that I’ll attach later. It may not show well since it was so dark but it’s worth watching. I was just amazed that they were so willing to show complete strangers and more importantly, foreigners, their dance routine. The Vietnamese are so open-hearted and loving it’s unbelievable.

Today (Thursday), we visited a farm. There were about 6 different buildings that help different classes. One of the buildings we entered had huge fish tanks. These fish tanks are used as artificial habitats so that the students can research what type of fish perform better in each living environment. Also, they research what food fish prefer and the growth rate of each. The other building we visited had cows living within them. The cows were under research as well to find out what type of feed helps them grow faster.

After that we learned about micro-finance from the leader of the Women’s Union in the Can Tho community. This Union helps women through loans. The women use the loans to buy feed for their animals. What I found the most interesting is the leader’s success story of how she has had to run her business off and on for over 20 years and has finally become financially stable to support her family and women in the union. She said that there was times that she had to give up but she always came back to finish. In her spare time she creates jewelry and purses. She is what they consider rich in Vietnam. She even had a Gucci face mask for riding her moped (face masks are common so that they do not inhale the chemicals while riding behind other vehicles).

I’d have to say of the 6 foreign countries I’ve visited, I have definitely learned more about this culture than I have any other. It amazes me how caring and compassionate everyone is. We asked the union leader if most people keep their money in the bank and she said no because most have so little money that they basically have nothing to steal. That blew my mind! It’s crazy to think that the community depends on each other and do not steal from each other because survival is a collective effort. Whereas in America, if some doesn’t have what they need or want, if they saw the opportunity, they would steal from their neighbor just to get ahead (generally speaking).

I was talking to the Fulbright professor on the trip and she was telling me how she asked to take a picture of an elderly lady weaving baskets. The lady said yes and then the professor showed her the photo. After seeing the photo the elderly Vietnamese lady invited her into the house for tea! Simple hospitality like that has become quite scarce in America (even in the south where we’re known for southern comfort).

The past 2 days have been eye opening because it has further verified how selfish, wasteful, greedy, and ignorant Americans really are (generally speaking). Here in Vietnam, there’s a pipe that runs from the washing machines into the shower that drains the water while washing. There’s isn’t any hot water or dryers. This shows how resourceful they are. Americans would NEVER give up hot showers. And they definitely wouldn’t hang there clothes on a line to dry. Hanging the clothes out made me reminisce on the special moments with my grandmother. We would hang the clothes on the lines together and gather them before it rained.

America has a long way to go (BACK). Back to the days were we welcomed strangers with opened arms. Back to the days were we weren’t so crazed with technology worrying about how many likes we can get on a photo for our own sense of self worth. Back to the days were we were vigilant on how we spent our time and money. Back to the days were we were living off the land rather than eating artificially engineered foods and shooting up our cheeks and lips up with artificial stimulants to make ourselves “pretty.” America has such a long way to go and so much to RE-learn.

We’re so advanced in education, job performance, technology, etc. but we have so little empathy and compassion and integrity within our society. For the most part, the “pursuit of happiness,” doesn’t have much of it. Until we learn the concept of collectivism, we will, collectively, always be the poorest, rich country in the world.

-Smh. America: so rich, yet so poor.