Today we started with a site visit to VinaCapital Foundation which is a NGO that aims to create healthcare and education solutions to assist underserved and marginalized children and women. Our discussion with Rad Kivette, CEO of the foundation, was quite shocking because I was not expecting it to be so focused on women’s rights and activism. For example, he emphasized the importance of women having a “place at the table,” and that our ability for childbirth allows us to activate a different part of thinking in our brain. He also emphasized the importance of saving women from death in childbirth, instead of saving the child. This was very shocking to me because most of the time I think hospitals focus more on saving the child. Additionally, I thought it was very interesting how Rad mentioned that many Vietnamese men, women, and children, especially in rural areas, do not know that sexual assault is against the law. He said by making women aware of their rights, that this type of assault and having babies young would not be as common. While I do believe education is important, I do not think this will stop the sexual assault issue. In America, people know that sexual assault is against the law, but it still happens. This is one of the differences I’ve noticed between Vietnam and America in regards to sexual assault, however, in both countries, this issue is prominent and needs to be fixed.

Later, we had a Vietnamese language class and a culture class. We saw live fashion performances of different parts of traditional dress in various parts of the country. Also, we got to try different desserts that were dipped in coconut milk which was very tasty. Lastly, we got to paint “non la’s” which are conical hats that have many different purposes in Vietnam including scooping water, fanning yourself, and of course, shading yourself from the sun. This was my favorite part as we got to be creative with out hat designs. Ultimately, this was my favorite site visit because of the surprising, yet promising, topic of discussion, and my favorite class because of our ability to express our creative endeavors while learning about Vietnamese culture!