Friday we built a biogas digester for a local family near the Rural Development College and let me just say that we worked HARD! The digester’s length is 32 feet. We dug 32 feet in length and who knows how many feet deep to install this digester! By the time we dug a few feet into the earth the rocky dirty turned into moist clay. It was difficult digging because it was so sticky and our shoes were suctioning to the bottom. Although it was a tough job, it was such an enriching and rewarding experience.
When we finished our work for the day I reflected on everything that happened and I was utterly mind-blown. I couldn’t believe that a nobody like myself from the UofA, flew across the world, to offer my time and effort to build a device for a family so that they can have a less stressful, inconvenient life. Not only will the biodigester help the family cook meals faster but it will help them save more money for animal feed and whatever else that they may need in the future. I’m just thankful that I had the opportunity to share what God has continuously given me; blessings.
After a hard days work, Saturday and Sunday were fun filled.
Saturday we rose early and left at 5 am to visit the floating markets
and it was a fascinating experience! If you don’t know what a floating
market is, just imagine this: you driving your boat and you decide that
you need to go to the farmers market to pick up a few things, then bam
out of nowhere you run into about 40-50 boats selling frut, vegetables,
home cooked meals, etc.
These boats will literally come to YOU! It
really freaked me out that we were floating along and then this guy
comes along and hooks his boat to ours as if he was getting ready to
jack us. Our tour guide then explained that many of the sellers will
come to you and try to make you buy from them rather than their
competitor. We stopped at a guy’s boat that was selling pineapples and
bought a few. He cut them right in front of us and it was fast and
cheap. That’s what I call customer service :)
Monday was a LONG day! We interviewed people at the markets and
farmers to learn more in depth info about agriculture. What made the day
so unbearable was that I had a sore throat, a headache, and a fever. I
tried at least 5 different medicines and nothing worked. At the end of
the day I went to the hospital. They told me I have some bacteria in my
throat and prescribed some medicine. I’m feeling much better but not at
100% yet.
Through all of this, I will continue to push through this program and soak in all it has to offer! :)
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Read more from Cordarius at https://hogsandvietnam.wordpress.com/
Read more from Cordarius at https://hogsandvietnam.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the U of A Community Development in Vietnam program, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/vietnam
