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.
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