Vietnam update:
After wrapping up the groups project in Saigon at the orphanage, and the other group at a School for the Blind, the 2 groups merged for our brilliant Cycle tour in the Mekong delta -the friendliest people, riding in open space through rice fields in the sun, without the pollution and madness of Saigon, given “high 5s” along the roadside, sweet juicy pineapples and watermelons awaiting us when finished…Our cycle "program” as planned from home was far too ambitious to accommodate the whole group - we cut it in half and enjoyed a cruisy pace – in the midst of riding we visited floating markets, local villages, many ferry trips, overnight stay on an island, all on our excellent mountain bikes.
We also go to see different parts of vietnam in a short space of time – the urban madness of central Ho Chi Minh City, outer urban areas from our first project in the tranistion urban-rural areas and obvious contrasts in standard of living. On the bikeride the contrasts between Vietnamese and Khmer (Cambodian) areas inside the border were also marked (many refugees from Vietnam war, khmer rouge etc over past few decades on either side of the somewhat arbitrary border) – while It was the same scenery in the Khmer areas, easily identifiable without the communist trademark in Vietnamese areas of the red and yellow star flag in ever line of view , the people in the Khmer areas were far friendlier with an innocent curiosity, many old weather beaten faces, distinctly different features, different smells form the kitchens. All round a brilliant 4 days,.

Hue and Hands for Hope
Once the cycle tour ended we rested the legs on a long bus trip to the cooler climate of Hue in central Vietnam (originally to be 22 hours…30 hours later the legs were definitely in need of a stretch…).
In Hue we represented Hands For Hope, a charity run by Vietnamese expats in Melbourne – who send donations they raise here directly to their contacts in Vietnam. In Hue their partner is Co Tam, another beautiful Buddhist Nun, whose work in the last 20 years has set up and funded 12 kindergartens and 60 teachers who work amongst them – Kindergartens don’t receive a cent of government funding, so they are essentially community-run - inspiring really to see the way these communities pull together to educate their little ones, and feed them as well when their families cant even afford that.
My group’s project site was about a 10km bike ride out of Hue City (and a beautiful one at that) to Phu An, and the mandate to build a kitchen with the materials we had already donated financially. The need: most of the 120 little ones at this kindergarten all come from the nearby 'river'/waterways - without title to land, living on small little boats, in horrible conditions - the waterways are set up for fish farming, but the water is so bad they cannot breed, whatever catch there is is contaminated, no alternatives sources of income, it was a sombre atmosphere - the nuns description of "a miserable life" seemed apt. All the other kindergartens have kitchens – the children are then able to be fed lunch and supper, that they may otherwise not receive.

We encountered difficulties upon arrival due to local government politics and some religious tensions (that is the abridged version, I will leave it at that!), that meant we could not physically build the kitchen ourselves, instead left to the local tradesmen employed on our behalf with our donation….it was an important lesson for the group about working in developing countries and environments where local power politics can undermine a seemingly altruistic aim of helping a community, and realities of difficulty in being a volunteer sometimes. However, we were able to spend time with the kids, play games, sing, draw on a few mornings, and by the time we left the kitchen was half finished. Our groups joined forces at the other project also run by the same Nun, where we built a wall, path and fence, to prevent children from trespassing on the adjacent property and drinking the contaminated water (like a blue green algae), demolished banana trees, a new path to the toilets - the groups worked really well together – everyone loving the ride to “work”, after the black smoke of Hue City’s main road, turning off into the countryside into another world, through waterways, past morning markets (seeing the fish and the water next to it where it came from…doesnt inspire much hunger though!).

Dominating the day, of course, is the food – in absolutely ridiculous quantities and variety (even despite all being veg for the month), SO SO GOOD, the banquets at every meal time are welcomed with gusto, there is never ANY space left on the huge tables, loads of “regional specialties” with many “unknown quantities" inside,and the forced nap time in the heat of the day has not been difficult to get used to!

On the Tet holiday while on the Cycle Tour we visited Sam Mountain which overlooks the Vietnam-Cambodian border, where Vietnamese flock to burn incense and tie straws to the trees (??) to leave any bad ‘karma’ behind to begin the new year afresh – while on top a butterfly landed on my head- there was much excitement around me as apparently this is the best luck you could receive on new years day, and was told this lunar new year will bring me great success and much loving to come my way!

Back in Saigon wrapping up with the group and our final dinner, saying goodbye to the Vietnamese volunteer friends from our first project at the orphanage, many tears have have shown the strength of the friendships forged during our time there. Really haven’t had time to scratch myself in the last 5 weeks and hadn’t made any purchases until today before the suit, the paintings, the bags, the shoes, the skirts, the teasets…look out. Feeling a little melancholy on my group leaving, they have been a wonderful bunch and have loved their company, sad to say goodbye, but feel like I did the most I could to make them have the best time possible in Vietnam, and maybe find some meaning in everything we have achieved as a group and individually while we were here. Really need a holiday but the "tough uni life" beckons)!), home in a flash, catch you soon ;-) Sarah xoxo

Its Happy (Lunar) New Year in Vietnam...perfect for those new years resolutions that hadnt quite had time to be put into effect!

Greetings from Ho Chi Minh City, its been 2 weeks here now and time has just flown - after spending a few days with Jess, the other Ozquest group leader arranging plans, the fresh-faced group of 18 volunteers from melb, syd, bris and tassie arrived at the airport not quite sure what to expect...there were no taxis whisking these volunteers into a classy hotel, the 1 hr public bus in standard mayhem traffic into town saw the group (many of whom being first time overseas), fascinated at the goings on outside the bus windows in the hive of activity in the streets of Saigon. Seeing the reactions was priceless. Found out today just last week in Vietnam there were 342 reported road accidents. Hate to know how many weren’t reported - they are officially mad.

After a brief day orientation into what would lay ahead in the coming month, to the city, the good markets, fruit shakes and our favourite friend the pho - noodle soup - both groups split to begin our respective projects to get stuck into it.... aided by local volunteers from the Vietnamese chapter of Initiatives of Change, my group headed over the Saigon River to District 2 of Ho Chi Minh City into a quieter area with somewhat cleaner air, still being developed as a new district of the rapidly expanding city of (approx, noone really knows?) 8-10 million. Our project involved working at an orphanage housed at the Dieu Giac Pagoda (a Buddhist pagoda run by nuns, who were absolutely divine – the ‘head nun’ was the only one who spoke English and recently spent 2 years studying at the Steiner school in melb) - the orphanage housed around 120 children from a 4 month old to 20, who welcomed us with songs, huge smiles and plenty of hugs – the 2 boys in my group were a huge hit, especially with our addition of new soccer balls! Much delight was taken in our daily pick ups in our little yellow truck that ferried us to and from the orphanage. We gave a fresh (and very overdue) coat of paint to the entire facade of the orphanage and the kitchen/study areas, played and sang, ran some activities and games for the kids on the weekends when they weren't at school, helped prepared treats and food in the huge task of feeding the hungry hoards, and exchanged on a daily basis with our new friends our vietnamese volunteers - these guys are all passionate youth (from about 19-25) committed to undertaking social work in their own communities, many still students at the Foreign Trade Uni and trying to improve their English, they were quite inspiring really and gave up so much time for us , everyone learnt so much from each other over the 8 days.

And my group are excellent, some great characters and some beautiful people, have worked so well together and really looking forward to spending the next few weeks with them. The other group has a cook (but who needs him when we’re in Vietnam?!), but I have an Osteopath – she’s sorting my back out before the cycle tour! Last 2 days we’ve visited the War Remnants Museum (formerly know as Museum of American War Crimes), strange place indeed and seeing the long term impacts of Agent Orange ( we will also be visiting some orphanages before we leave of Agent orange vistims who still suffer deformaties and disabilities after generations) and this morning we took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels – I braved the tunnels and was surprised the hips could fit through the tiny holes that were the gateways to the Viet Cong’s underground network of tunnels to hide form the Americans that spread from outer Ho Chi Minh City to Cu Chi, around 250km of them – so sophisticated, so claustrophobic…a strange feeling when walking through the part forest which was perhaps the most peaceful few moments of our entire trip thus far, on the same sit where a war had taken place. Jess and Jess, the other leaders (of course providing far too much confusion for any of our Vietnamese friends to get right, not that we can get any of the Vietnamese sounding anything like a language!) are both in the army reserves and Jess is a Police officer – so they happily fired a few rounds at the firing range at the tunnels site… certainly didn’t sit right with me and most waited in the bus…similar feeling to being offered to fire a few rounds after visiting the Khmer Rouge “killing fields’ just outside of Phnom Penh in Cambodia for “only $5US dollar”…

On a more exciting note, 4 day cycle tour beckons from tomorrow morning through the Mekong Delta ….getting out of the city and into the countryside, sleeping on an island, ferry trips, a few little walks in between – it will be about 80km each day which shouldn’t be too bad (we’ve got awesome new bikes), and there IS a support vehicle…just in case any group leaders are feeling a little underdone!! After returning we will head straight up to Hue in the Central Highlands to begin our second project with some construction work in some schools in hue province in a rural area – away from the humidity, the pollution and madness of the city.

This is perhaps the best time of the year to visit Vietnam – it is the Tet Festival, ushering in the Lunar New Year (on the 9th Feb) – It has also meant it is very difficult to get anything done (hire buses, accommodation, etc – “sorry, impossible, we cannot do that, its tet remember”. But on the fun side, there is red absolutely everywhere in the streets for good luck, flower festivals on every strip on land, guys riding around on their motos with cumquat trees between their laps (good luck for the new year), there’s little red envelopes being handed out everywhere with luck money, and treats and sweets galore – we were able to prepare many of these (and taste test them all of course) while at the orphanage. On the topic of food (of which the day revolves around of course), it is absolutely brilliant, our trip is going veg for the entire time as its easier and reducing the risk of sickness- but did take my 2 boys yesterday to get a ‘real hamburger’ which they ate in one continual mouthful I think…and I did have a mandatory steak and a beer on Australia day with jess before the group arrived, needed to boost the protein levels! Hope you’re all well and not working too hard ;-) Love Sarah xoxo

The bombing today outside the Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad was no accident.

A suicide bomber detonating himself and an ambulance expounding the two symbols perhaps recognised more widely than any others in our world.

The international red cross and red crescent.

I try to comprehend this act.

These symbols are the last saviours of life.

Respected through history on any battlefield.

The wounded were local Iraqi Red Cross workers, coming to the aid of those suffering in the attempted “regime change”.

A journalist said this attack “suggests there is no target out of bounds for these terrorists”.

“These terrorists”, the loyalists of the old regime.

The US hit bitten off more than they can chew. Does they not understand that despite his despotic rule, nationalism grew fervently over the last decade?

It may have only been one bomb in a war of millions, but the symbolic act defies my comprehension.

But the US Army is still “making positive ground every day”. Apparently so.

Afghanistan has quietly and conveniently slipped off the map.

I fear for how long Iraq will remain newsworthy.

2 more sleeps....