Winding down

My time here in Vietnam is winding down as today marks my last day of work. Wow, has it been an experience. As I sit here and ponder over the last 8 weeks, I am satisfied. It seems like quite a while since I have felt such a feeling as this. Although the weeks did go by quickly and recently I have caught myself saying, "Wow, I can't believe we have to leave soon", in general it feels like the job here is done. And by no means do I think that I have learned all there is to learn about Vietnam, or that I have experienced all the sights and smells, or that I have even begun to understand this place, but there is something that feels like my expectations have been met. Since my last post, work has kept us fairly busy as we have been working to complete two reports, some surveys that will be used in the field starting in August, and a promotional video for a grant HKI is applying for to intervene amongst elderly folks in rural Vietnam who suffer from presbyopia.

If I'm being honest, the last couple of weeks have really tested my humility. I have struggled, much more than expected, to remain humble and respectful, amidst many, many project revisions. Without going into too much detail, many of the "revisions" we have been asked to make have really compromised the quality of public health that we have been taught and believe in. We constantly struggle to find any parallel between what we are being asked to revise and some cultural or social context for these revisions. We obviously, are by no means experts in public health and still have so much to learn. We also are working in a country where Westerners who have lived here for 10 years still tell me they can't understand. I've been here two months, so I am not going to begin to think like I understand the context for what I am working in. But, the frustrations have been exhausting at times. If you're actually interested, which I don't expect you to be, haha- I can go into more detail.

All in all, the experience has been rich, but maybe not for all the reasons I expected coming in to the internship, or even after a few weeks in. The second half has really taught me that I am incredibly prideful and that pride, even when you are right about something- will get you no where. I have always admired humility and desired for others to see me in that light (which probably isn't very humble itself)- but I can tell you after this trip, I have a long, long ways to go.

Although there have been frustrations, and I still don't agree with certain things we were asked to do, I have taken away some quite valuable experiences that I hope will make me into not only a better public health researcher/practioner, but a better person one day.

The Vietnamese people- from my coworkers, to taxi drivers, to women selling Nuoc Mia on the side of the road have shown me an unmatched kindness, unselfishness, and joy for being alive that I have yet to see anywhere else. Vietnam has taken me in, rattled me by traffic and constant noise, nourished me with banh cuon and bia, humbled me by it's mountains and coasts, and prodded me to take a deeper look at myself and how I can become a better person through recognizing my own faults and shortcomings before those of others.

                            Coworkers...and a moped (because they are everywhere)