Throughout my life, I’ve found there are multiple global issues I care deeply about, and visiting the VinaCapital Foundation seemed to cover each one. As Mr. Rad Kivette shared in his presentation, VinaCapital was originally built to support Vietnamese children with heart conditions, and has since expanded into multiple other programs. In their support of children in more rural areas, they work with Operation Smile to organize surgeries for cleft lip and cleft palate. This program, in particular, stands out to me because I organized an event in high school to raise money for Operation Smile, so coming across its work during this trip has felt like a full-circle moment.
Rad Kivette presenting on the VinaCapital Foundation’s mission and programs.
Beyond my own personal connection to this initiative, I felt the most emotional pull when Mr. Kivette started talking about their programs that aid women and young girls. Between their neonatal and school aid programs, VinaCapital is working hard to care for Vietnamese women. He shared that in some rural villages, it is a part of the culture for young men to “pick” a wife from a selection of young girls in town. Without getting too graphic, “picking” would end in the chosen girl being held against her will, and her freedom of life ending.
Upon hearing this, I asked him how VinaCapital combats this, because even though it is illegal under the government of Vietnam, it is culturally acceptable in these rural groups. That said, they are expected to experience pushback from these communities because to them, it is a way of life. Kivette explained that dealing with pushback is certainly a difficult ethical issue, and sometimes they must agree to disagree. In the future, to help reshape these communities to respect their women more, they are hoping to create a boys’ after school club, similar to their already established Brighter Path Girls’ Club, to teach younger generations of men why they should change the way they treat girls.
As a young woman, I am passionate about women’s rights in every corner of the world. But what hit me the most was thinking about how many talented and intelligent girls lost their lives to one of ownership and possession. How many opportunities were ahead of them? How many achievements would they have made? It made me aware of how lucky I am to have been born in a place where I have the chance to see where my strengths take me, that I don’t have to worry—to some extent—if I will one day lose my future to a marriage.
Despite how strongly I feel about this, Mr. Kivette reminded us, even at the beginning of his presentation, that the cure is not about emotion. As he describes it, they are in the business of building the middle class of Vietnam; simply feeling sorrowful for these people isn’t going to help them. Listening to this, I recognize that we live in a world where money is behind action, that sympathy cannot drive the resources needed to heal. It has inspired me as I think about what I want to do with my own future—how will I work to help people living a drastically different life than my own?
VinaCapital has a difficult job managing so many problems, but from what Mr. Kivette was telling us, they seem to work closely with the government. For example, the government trusted them during the pandemic to help them get ventilators for the surplus of COVID-19 patients, showing how they have a trust within each other.
I don’t know much about non-profit organizations in America (or in general), like how they function in terms of finances and operations. What I do know is that a lot of Americans have lost interest in helping people in need. As many government agencies like USAID have shut down, it makes me uncertain about the future, both of the United States and of VinaCapital. This is a huge challenge, one that is unpredictable and harmful to the parties involved, but VinaCapital will be balancing this along with other issues. As I’ve learned in the past few days, climate change is a major issue for the Vietnamese people and will likely affect many industries. Thus, VinaCapital may need to expand their programs in the future to combat these changes.
Some of us with Rad Kivette! It was such an honor to learn from him; truly one of the most humble people I’ve ever met.
Even with such an impactful morning, the rest of our day was full of well-thought activities. We continued with our language classes (update: I am struggling but still trying!) and had a brief history lesson. The most exciting part of our afternoon was painting a nón lá, the traditional Vietnamese leaf hat.
Chloe and I wearing our painted nón lá (Please ignore our faces).
Afterwards, we took a water bus on the Saigon river, where our stop was full of street vendors. Ethan, one of our UEF advisors, suggested we try a rice paper salad, which I believe is called Bánh Tráng Trộn. This dish uses cut rice paper mixed with ingredients like dried shrimp, slivered mango, chili oil, and others, depending on the vendor. Personally, I don’t think it was my favorite dish I’ve tried here, purely because the texture was very different, almost like chewing soft plastic. However, I couldn’t stop eating it because the flavors went so well together!
Bánh Tráng Trộn, a Vietnamese street dish.
Tonight, we are trying bánh mì, the signature Vietnamese sandwich. I will update on my thoughts tomorrow!
Some extras:
A GIGANTIC bowl of Pho we all had for lunch. I was in heaven.
A photo from Tuesday of Mr. Quang Do of GreenViet and I! In honor of the Vietnamese tradition of gift-giving, I had the honor of representing my group by giving this gift to Mr. Quang.