A last look out my window

Well, this isn't exactly out my window -- it's actually from a whole different district in front of a swanky hotel -- but it's the view I feel from this country. It is a gracious and growing place, morphing discernibly into a fully developed member of the world. Our last meetings confirmed our earlier themes -- they need a more educated work force, and need help to do it. Just today, on the front page of the newspaper, the Ministry of Education announced all university faculty need masters degrees, and the Ministry of Health announced all hospital administrators will need one as well. Given there is only one MSN program and no doctorates in the entire country, they are desperate for help.

Sara and I have a lengthy conversation and come up with four areas of focus to explore. She kept the list and my brain is full so we will share when we get home. We brainstorm our dream team to help. We may be calling you ;)

Myths have been busted, replaced with fondness for this culture and its people, and an odd sense of wistfulness in leaving. So I depart with ten things I learned in VietNam:

1. Always carry toilet paper with you, even in fancy places.
2. Even if a million bucks is only $5, it still feels pretty darn good.
3. If you want to lose weight, try using chopsticks exclusively for a week.
4. Don't touch the monkeys, even if they are listening to something mellow on the iPod.
5. When you cross the street, hold hands with two people and just keep moving.
6. Any food that looks like worms probably is.
7. Putting soy sauce on rice is apparently like putting ketchup on steak.
8. People universally smile back if you smile first.
9. Humidity means never having to say you're chilly.
10. Learn to say thank you in as many languages as possible; you will need it, particularly in this country.

Amazing trip, early flight, signing off. Stay tuned for the next adventure.

All revved up with nowhere to go

The brand new nursing building at Eastern International University has six well equipped labs, a full English tutoring system, 140 new nursing students, and only 6 faculty -- only one of whom has a Masters' degree.

We need to teach the man to teach other men to fish

We visit the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, and Eastern International University. The refrain from the hospital administrators on Thursday is echoed here: We have to educate our work force. The hospitals want more BSN and MS nurses, physical therapists, administrators. The universities need masters and doctorates for their faculty. Their buildings are outpacing their workforce, and applications for existing educational spots far exceed capacity.

The EIU is an interesting concept. A huge corporation -- Becamax, a holding company for 31 different entities -- is building a town for its workforce. Called "The New City" they have built a brand new town, a 1000 bed hospital to take care of the folks that work there, and a university to educate its workforce. They have 140 new nursing students and only 6 faculty. We focus on supporting faculty development; they want us to send teachers. We need to come up with something in between.

It is of note that the standard administrative structure in their healthcare colleges is that the Dean is a physician. It is the credential required by the ministry of education, even if it is solely a school of nursing. It does make conversations about curriculum challenging and, sometimes, at odds with what we believe about the professions we represent.

I have no answers for any of them. Can we teach their classes? Of course not; even if we had capacity, that is not the Jesuit way. We don't just teach the man to fish; we teach the man to teach other men to fish. But they clearly need support in nontraditional ways; creativity is called for. There is huge opportunity here to make a real difference. I'm just not sure how. This will require substantial reflection and discernment -- something I have to work at. I wish they would just let me count something. Stay tuned.

Big statue, I mean really big

One of my favorite students, partly because he rides a scooter 4 hours one way from his hometown and stays in a boarding room so he can come to school. That is motivation.

Looks weird, tastes delicious

Best food of the day. I must admit I was quite skeptical that I would consume more than a token amount, but it was actually wonderful.

Our endearing students

In the rowboat; our junket is on the right.

Evidence: she paddles the row boat

And didn't veer into the jungle even once. Quite motivated to stay on course.

I think he was listening to Lionel Ritchie

Yes, the monkey is listening to an iPod. In the jungle.

Their horse is healthy

Through the jungle in a horse cart

A day on the Mekong

Several of the students from the MS class ask to take us for a tour of the Mekong Delta on Sunday. It is amazing. We start at 6:30 a.m. with a drive through rice paddy fields, lush with greenery, topiary gazebos, and cultivated bonsai. There are periodic raised vaults with ornate carvings -- one here, two there, right in the middle of the rice paddies. We're told they ask to be buried in their fields, and apparently are. We stop for breakfast at a display of ancient homes, wild orchids and lotus blossoms filling the air. On to a river cruise on a junket -- it lists to the right pretty seriously. I gauge the distance to shore and figure I could make it, so I just go with it.

The Mekong is one of the largest rivers in the world, rivaling the Nile and the Amazon. We turn into what looks like a wall of reeds, and travel even deeper into the jungle. We dock, and follow a dirt path to a small shop for honey tea and coconut. Both are delicious, and we buy some, hoping it makes it past customs. There we board a horse wagon to our next destination. This is the only low part of the trip -- as we plod along, our driver tells the student in my cart that the horse is slow because he is sick. I am distraught -- many of you know my commitment to the humane treatment of animals. I ask to be let out of the cart to walk, but the student is adamant that I cannot. By the time I have convinced him I am ready to jump over the side while we are moving, we have arrived. I ask the horse for forgiveness and rub his nose. I feel awful about this part.

We are taken to a small jungle cafe where we're served fruit (don't ask me what -- I know some of it was mango, but the rest is an adventure) and treated to local musicians. Finally, onto a rowboat and paddling through the reeds. I am in front and so have to paddle, but I enjoy it; it's much like canoeing the rivers in Missouri except it's a jungle and there are things in the water that can eat you. We arrive safely back at the junket, onboard, listing to the right, slowly making our way back.

On the way back to the hotel, we stop at a pagoda and enormous Buddha. The students have been over-the-top hospitable. They fill our bowls, help us hold the chopsticks, even clean our utensils before we use them. They buy us gifts -- photos and bags and candy. I have to fend one off paying for a t-shirt purchase by swearing to her it is for my dad and I want to pay for it myself. We end the night with dinner out, with more queenly treatment, cards, and speeches. This is amazing graciousness, unexpected and quite endearing. I will miss them.

A long day, though, and the heat and humidity has turned me into a bedraggled pup. A shower and sleep await; pick up time tomorrow at 7:00. Stay tuned.

Sent from my iPad

...and then I realized it was my responsibility

Busy day today -- much to absorb. We started the day sitting in with the current MS class. What engaged students! Lora's question to the students: how has your vision of yourself as a professional changed since you started graduate school? Their answers were thoughtful and heart-breaking. "I used to think that moving the profession forward was someone else's responsibility," he said in halting English, "and then I realized it was my responsibility." Weighty stuff so early in the morning. It is easy to forget the struggles of all of our professions for respect and professional recognition, until we're shuttled two decades back in time.

The afternoon was spent touring a public hospital, then a private one. They are resourceful, and have to be because they have no resources. An open ICU with 36 patients, all on ventilators. One nurse for 15 patients. Seven physical therapists for 1300 patients. It is amazing they are able to accomplish patient care at any level. I tell the chief nurse that I admire what she has accomplished, and she tears up. "You have no idea what it means to hear you say that," she says. "I know you have the best care in the U.S."

She points out the VIP ward to me -- where there are only two patients in a room. The others have 4,5,6 -- often two in a bed. I'm not kidding. And while we were on the unit, they moved a fresh post-op fellow into a room with five women. We take for granted our embarrassment of riches.

Back to the students. They are remarkably gracious and attentive. They took us to lunch, walking on either side of us as they maneuvered us through the traffic. If you wonder why that was necessary, go to YouTube and search "crossing the street in Saigon". It is impressive. On the way back, they held umbrellas over us to protect us from the sun. I'm guessing I won't get this treatment at home!

Tomorrow to the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, where I'll meet with the Dean. Then to the students' final presentations and a potluck. Stay tuned!

City hall with park in front

Quite lovely. Humidity 98%. No worries that anyone would steal my rings 'cause I can't get them off.

And you thought you had power line issues

This is but one of many such electrical marvels.

I think I ate a fox

Still jet lagged. Tried to Skype my dad and realized it was 2:00 a.m. his time. Ooops.

This may seem an innocuous restaurant scene but for those of you who remember the war, the Rex Hotel -- upon whose rooftop Sara and I lunched -- was the favorite of wartime journalists and politicos. Step inside the lobby, and one could easily think it was The Hyatt downtown. Very European in both style and inhabitants. Step outside, and it is crazy scooterville.

Spent time with Trinh Thi Loan, Vice Dean of the school of nursing at Nguyen Tat Thanh University. They are desperate for a partner for both BSN completion and MSN. They have only 60,000 nurses in the whole country; contrast that with the 65,000 in Colorado alone Their pharmacy, medicine, and therapy programs are more developed, but still missing infrastructure. The Ministry of Education dictates the curricula, but no other accreditation exists, and there is no licensing for any of these professions. Physicians make about $600 a month, pharmacists about $400, and therapists and nurses $200-300. When there is so much to be done, it is either overwhelming or great opportunity. I feel both. Maybe it's fatigue. She slyly asked me if I wanted to sign an MOU before I left. Thank goodness I wasn't that fatigued.

Dinner with Maureen and Lora. Their tales of the students are inspiring. The students stand up when they enter the classroom. Yes, you read that right. The students took them to lunch and attempted to teach them chopsticks 101. It was during this adventure that Maureen uttered the subject line of this post.

Headed to bed but first am crazy trying to catch the mosquito that is living in my room. Made crazier by the fact that I elected not to take the anti-malarials this trip. I think I feel a fever coming on. Stay tuned.

A high level view

From my window, I could be in nearly any city. Except -- there are actually construction cranes in action here. Some of these rooftop gardens would be the envy of Lodo. Awakened by the sounds of traffic and roosters; made for a bit of disorientation when mixed with jet lag. That is one big pond to fly over.

Got in about 1:00 a.m.and there were two graduate students waiting on us to bring us to the hotel! They looked unwrinkled and fresh; one could not say the same for us. They were gracious and thoughtful, particularly given they had class this morning at 0730. I believe we would have students willing to do the same, but I must say I was impressed.

The drive was an adventure at 2:00 a.m. on narrow dark streets. The taxi and a scooter bumped, and we discovered road rage isn't limited to Denver. The scooter drove beside Sara's open window, and smacked the rear view mirror. I think we all held our breath, wondering where this little exchange was going, until the scooter driver gave an internationally understood hand gesture and moved on. Sara was cool and non-plussed; I had locked my door and was prepared to wet my pants if necessary. Thankfully it was a non-incident.

We passed the hotel, and I was extremely grateful that Sara knew where it was, as she gestured to the driver that we had passed it. We were on a one-way street, so she tried to get the driver to understand he needed to go around the block. He took the somewhat unconventional approach of simply driving in reverse back to the hotel. Apparently, if your car is facing forward, then you are officially one-way.

Started the day with a conversation about the nature of service and education in a foreign country. What kinds of service are unique and sustainable? If we just want to come and work in clinics, then frankly we're better off just sending the money. For what it takes to get here, we could support half a year of a nurse. On the other hand, the idea of education as service is intriguing to me. Could our doctoral students provide a unique service as part of their capstones, helping to develop health care practitioners here with innovative blends of intensives, online, and exchanges? I have to think that developing leaders and educators that stay in-country is better than short-term mission trips. And do we bring our programs here, or our standards and state of the art and adapt to them to this emerging country? And so begins the familiar process of generating more questions than answers.

I've not had a chance yet to visit with Maureen and Lora, as that will have to wait until dinner. I understand we will also be visiting with a feisty, innovative, and opinionated Dean of a school of nursing for tea. How cool. Stay tuned.

The airport saga continues unrevised

Those of you that have followed my travels from Nicaragua to the present know that I have historically been relegated to the screaming-baby-who-spits-up-on-me section of lengthy flights (see 2010). . The leg from Denver to San Francisco continued my good fortune, where I seem to have found myself in the pediatric ward of a small hospital. Poor kids. All the crying -- and that was just me. Meanwhile, Ms. Premier-executive-frequent-flyer-queen Sara was in first class, quietly sipping what looked like a mimosa. The next leg is 17 hrs. I feel certain my fate is sealed judging by the number of strollers in the boarding area. Pray for me. Stay tuned.