Last week of class in South Africa!

Hello!! Greetings from South Africa! :) I hope all is well with everyone! The past two weeks have been remarkable! I transitioned to another Home-stay in the Bo Kapp. This is a muslim community located on the outskirts of Cape Town. I have found it is so nice being so close to the center of the city. 

View of Cape Town from my Cape Point Tour 

Living in a muslim community has been by far one of the most rewarding experiences I have had on this trip. I have learned so much about the islamic faith and traditions. Prayer occurs five times a day and the times of the prayer all depend on where the sun is located in the sky. Here in the muslim community at each time of prayer there is a calling throughout the community reminding everyone to pray. At this particular time the first prayer is around 5:45 am each morning so it definitely took a little adjustment getting used to the wake up call even though it is so peaceful and calming. 

This is a picture from the Bo Kapp where my homestay is. 

I also was fortunate to attend a muslim service with my host family. This service was for only women and is held every Monday evening. Typically the service is held in  Africans but since there were a few american students in attendance the host mother who leads the group spoke in english as well. It was such a wonderful experience to be with such an inspiring group of mothers. 

My homestay partner, Candice and I dressed in traditional wear for our first service at a Mosque

My group also was able to meet with members of the Muslim Student Association from a local college for a panel discussion on their religion and the college life. The students were so open when it came to conversations about the clothing women and men wear, their prayer ritual, the foods they eat and even their dating lives. It was such a wonderful experience to talk to students our own age and get to hear their perspectives.

Last week I stayed very busy with class work and site visits. We went to the NGO Klethmpi which is an organization that established HIV clinics and empowers community members to get involved through training programs. These programs lead to employment within their own community through community health care worker positions or other similar job options.   

The NGO flyer for Khethpimpilo

Later in the week my group took a visit to the University of Cape Town campus which was gorgeous. The view from the top was amazing. It was such a great feeling to be on a college campus again and see other students my age. I was even able to meet up for lunch with a Saint Michaels student who is studying abroad for the semester at the University of Cape Town! :) 

Over the weekend I went to the Old Biscuit Mill market which was filled with so many things I wanted to buy! :) The food part of the market was amazing!! There were so many options all of which looked delicious. It was so hard to decide. 

old bisquit mill market 

 I also was fortunate enough to listen to many amazing great lecturers these past two weeks. Many spoke about their specific research experience in regards to the public health related fields. Many of the people studied at University of Cape Town for the doctoral level degeres. 

Hard to believe this is my final week of classes here in South Africa. Next Monday, April 7th I start my vacation week. I am going with a group of friends on a mini safari for three days and then we have rented an apartment for the remainder of the week. I definitely am getting so excited to finally have some time to unwind and relax after a busy last few weeks! 

This week has been comprised of a lot of work to finish up end of country assignments and presentations. I am definitely looking forward to Monday! :) I am getting so excited for vacation to officially start on Tuesday!! 

 

This is the view from the gym I have been going to! :)

Today I was able to go to Table Mountain which had some of the best views I have seen yet of Cape Town! It was such a gorgeous, beatuiful day which made the views even nicer. 

Table Moutain! :)

I hope all is well with everyone. Sorry for the delays in the posts the internet has been very hard to come by here in South Africa. Wifi is much more expensive to get here. 

Hillary xoxoox 

"The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion." -Terry Orlick 

Greetings From South Africa!! :)

I have almost been here in South Africa for two weeks and wow it has been amazing. My final days in Vietnam consisted of finishing a lot of final country assignments as well as our end of Vietnam dinner banquet. This is where we were able to thank our wonderful country coordinators as well as all of the amazing student volunteers that were so helpful when translation issues came up.

Pictures from Vietnam country banquet 

Now to South Africa! The time is just flying by. I am having such a wonderful experience. After arriving to South Africa almost two weeks ago my group spent the first few days at a hostel in muzienberg. This hostel is located right on the ocean which had some of the best views when it came to watching the sun set and rise each day. 

The view from the hostel

After a two day transition period we were off to our first home stay experience in zwelethemba. Zwelethemba is a black township community that was created during times of apartheid. Race is definitely something that is talked about much more openly here than I have ever experienced in the US. I had never been in a situation where I stood out as much as I did these past ten days; yet I have never felt more welcomed and protected in any other place I have stayed. 

My homestay house!:)

Each morning I woke up to my host mothers good morning. on days that I went running it was my host brother that she made get up at 7am to sit outside and watch my home-stay partner and I run. It wasn't even the fact that I ever felt unsafe it was just my home-stay mother being so protective of my home-stay partner and I. My host mother treated us like her own children. 

Family pictures

Through our morning runs I was able to meet some adorable neighborhood children that began to join in on our morning running routines. They were so cute and actually if anything they sped up my running pace. Their drive and desire to learn how to do push-ups and squats as I taught them a new move each morning was hard to compare to anything I have ever seen. These children would come knock on our door two hours after we finished our running workout to see if we wanted to go back out and run again. Most of the time the children ran in flip flop type sandals if they even wore shoes which a few did not own. I was running in sneakers and still these children were keeping up with me. I learned so much from these children and my morning runs each day with them.

Each day we would make the 15 minute walk to the local library where we would have class. In Zwelethemba our group was so fortunate to have so many panels of individuals from the community that wanted to speak with us. From the youth panel where we talked about gang violence, drug use and other peer pressure that face the youth these days growing up in this township. We also were able to hear each of the five mid 20 year old guys tell their experiences as well as the extreme unemployment rates within South Africa. We also had a mothers panel as well as a reconciliation panel. This panel was especially touching as one of the worchester 1999 bombing victims told her story and her journey in later going to the prison and forgiving the bomber that traumatized so many people that Christmas Eve day. Olga has been featured in the national geographic magazine as well as was recognized by Desmond tutu for the human reconciliation act award. She was such an inspiring women and I am so grateful to have met her and hear her story.  

Later in the week we spent time doing a photo-voice project which by far has been my favorite project on this trip. We gave cameras to people within our families or local community members and asked them to take pictures of places that were healthy or unhealthy in zwelethemba. It was such a unique opportunity because the people had the ability to take pictures of whatever they wanted to within this assignment without any guidance from us. 

Each student picked two pictures with the help from our families that we mounted on construction paper and will have displayed within the zwelethemba library. All of the children that participated were so excited to see the picture they either took or were getting prepared to be put on the library wall. 

Later in the week my home-stay partner and I made dinner to show our appreciation for our family hosting us. We kept it simple and made a spaghetti dinner with salad, garlic bread and chocolate chip cookies!:):) 

Although it wasn't the same as my home-stay mothers amazing cooking; she was so appreciative. Many of the things Elizabeth cooked were similar to what my family cooks in the US which was really comforting to be closer to my US in comparison to Vietnamese food which was definitely  a major adjustment. 

My experience in zwelethemba was nothing but extraordinary.  My host mother Elizabeth is one of the most hard working people I have ever met. She is so religious and so appreciative for everything god brings into her life. She works as a social worker for the school for the deaf about 15 minutes outside of the township. She deals with children of all ages and asks as resource for so many children that are abandoned as a result of being deaf at a young age. My host brother even stated that when he is younger Elizabeth would use so much of her own salary to give back to these children that her own family would struggle to out food on the dinner table each day. Giving back and helping others is her mission no matter what. She is a true discipline of god and I could not have been more inspired by living with such an incredible women and family these past 10 days. I know my experiences here in zwelethemba will stay with me for the rest of my life. I even hope to be able to make it back to this township community at some point during my graduate school years. Tears have filled my eyes as I am leaving a community and family that I have become so close to these last ten days.

On Monday, March 24th I will be off to my second home-stay experience in South Africa in the Bo Kapp which is a Muslim community located very close to the heart of Cape Town. As sad as I am to leave zwelethemba I am excited for the new experiences I will be able to embark in this weekend and with my new home-stay in   completely new part of the city.

I went to Cape Point this past weekend. I was told by our tour guide that the drive around the Cape is one of the most scenic in the world! :) It was remarkable. I also went to Boulder's Beach which is one of the few sands beachs with penguins. It was amazing!! 

I hope is well with everyone. I am continuously so appreciative of all of the support everyone has given me. I am so grateful.

Hillary :) 

"Everyone leaves footprints in your memory, but the ones that leave foot prints in your heart are the ones you will truly remember"- Nicolas sperling

  

My trip to the Lac Village!

 

Greetings from Vietnam!! I still cannot believe how fast time is flying by. I spent last week in the gorgeous, beautiful, Lac Village. And this week is my last week in Vietnam. I leave next Monday to head on to South Africa. 

Rice Field 

This Thai village is located about 4 hours away from Hanoi. After arriving I quickly began to appreciate the fresh air, warmer weather and finally not having to worry about traffic every time I took a step. It was such a nice break from the city life. After arriving we had some time to get settled in our traditional thai guest house, (similar to a tree house). All 30 of the students in my group were all in this one house all on mats on the floor. It was such a great experience. I really enjoyed everyone being together! :)

Our Thai house we stayed in for the week

The mats on the floor overlooking the community! 

We had our classes in a gorgeous community building down the road from our guesthouse. The views on our walk to class every morning consisted of livestock, rice fields and lots of dogs even some puppies too! :)  

Our classroom :)

We even played volleyball with the locals one day!! TEAM USA won for the first time in 8 years! Definitely was great to get playing with everyone! So fun! :)

Playing some volleyball!! 

Throughout the week we were able to travel to two separate villages outside of the Lac Village. The first village we traveled to was another Thai village and a 2.5 hour hike!! We split up into groups with translators and were invited into their homes to meet with the families. After hearing about their daily lives in the village each of us in the group was able to reciprocate and tell apart of our story as well. It was an amazing experience! 

The views from the hike for 2.5 hours!! 

One of the few areas where freshwater was safe to drink! 

We next went into questions related to health and access to health care. When questions were asked about nutrition in foods for children the response was that the people were too poor to be able to focus on that aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Pre-natal care only occurred once or twice throughout the pregnancy. These responses really made me analyze the thoughts and ideas that I had preconceived about what poverty looks like. These families lived in houses that were smaller, perhaps not the best insulated but nothing that shouted out to me as poverty like I have seen on previous service trips before. I have begun to unwind my notions and the media representations of what I assume all poverty to be and encompass. After leaving the home we were able to stop by a school and watch the children perform for us. We even got up on stage and did some improvising after they insisted that we dance for them as well. (The 5 year old students definitely did way better than us :)    

The students getting ready to perform for us! 

Later in the week we travelled to the H'mong village. We were able to see the health center and listen to information about the work and health problems within this community. The doctor had stated that he was the only doctor for the 7,000 community members in the H'mong village as well another village 45 minutes away therefore leaving both of these village with little to no access to health care.  

After arriving to our first house I quickly began to see and hear the poverty I had originally imagined would look like. My first step into the house was filled with smoke from the open fire that was in the middle of their home. The man of the house quickly started to tell us all about his story and how he plans to work until he physically cannot anymore. His family spends most of their day in the fields after age 13 because school is only free at the primary level. He finished the conversation with a few questions for us. Much to our surprise all of these questions were medically related and all in reference to how he should treat certain ailments he had been feeling. It was an incredibly awful feeling in regards to how much privilege we carry as students from the US. It was almost like he felt we could treat his illness or ailments. I will never take my access to health care for granted ever again especially after the second house we visited. 

This house was a little bigger but filled with many more people. There was so much chatter that filled the air, only if I could understand the language. This family spoke about their three month old baby that was born in their home. He is now three months old and still has not yet seen a doctor... (She planned to go when the baby was three months because that is the only time the doctor would be available). The questions that this mother asked us all surrounded the health of her baby which once again was not easy to hear. We tried our best to answer the questions to the best of our ability but we do not have the knowledge that they seemed to assume we had :( 

This week was filled with so many questions. How is my access to health care in the United States almost viewed as a human right while in so many other countries across the world access to even minimal care is hard to come by? Why do you have to pay for an education after primary school? Why is having an open fire with no ventilation the only way to heat your home?  I have found that many of my questions have started to surround the injustices in the world therefore they are almost impossible to answer. I could not have asked for a better group of faculty to help our group sort through all of this information and work together to learn from our experiences from a not so "typical" week compared to our others. The biggest question of them all is how do you really make the world a better place? Who decides what needs to be "fixed"? And finally where do the standards in which we contrast and compare other communities, cities, and countries come from? I do know that making the world a better place does not just come from one aspect of discipline it comes from all across the academic spectrum. The discussions we have in class each day are such an amazing aspect of this program. The voices of each and every member of my group have become so valuable and important to me. Although we all attend American Universities we all come from so many cultural backgrounds. This  allows for our learning environment to be enriched with such amazing wonderful contribution each and everyday.

group picture by campfire :)

The last night of our stay at the village we had a special dinner and even celebrated a birthday of a member of our group! :) We were also able to see a traditional dance by local vietnamese women. It was gorgeous to watch! 

Traditional Dance 

Katie's birthday cake with a crazy candle on top that scared us all! :)

After our four hour bus ride we made in back to Hanoi. I am excited for what this week has to offer. Definitely already missing the Lac Village. So hard to believe I leave for South Africa a week from today.

I hope all is well with everyone! :) 

I have heard that we will not have much access in South Africa but I will try to post every two weeks if possible! :)

Thank you for your continued support! 

Hillary :) xoxo 

"Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith what will be"

Halfway through Vietnam! Time is just flying by!

Hello everyone! This week has gone by so quickly! It is so hard to believe that I am already half way through my stay in Vietnam with only two weeks left. This past week seem to have some of the busiest days; I have been told , your professors they only get busier. We typically start off at 830 and end at about 5 each day with guest speakers, site visits, class with our professors and now even an additional Vietnamese language class. So far I have only picked up on a few phrases in words.  Much of the Vietnamese language is comprised of a series of tines that are very hard for me to even hear the difference let alone speak and pronounce them correctly!:) I am definitely trying hard though. 

Park near my house!:)

Our primary topic of this week was agent orange. Agent orange is what was sprayed by American soil des all across Vietnam during the war. The purpose of this was to kill off all vegetation so the US could plan and strategize their attack. The effects of agent orange has caused much debate in both the United States and in Vietnam. Although the evidence cannot be  proven strong in the court cases there have been so many people through generations that have had many mental or physical deformities from these toxins. This week we went to the Peace Village which provides an altered education for the many differing needs of the children affected. Definitely. A very eye opening experience as there are so many different perspectives on the causes if these conditions. Definitely very sad to see so many children affected.

Later in the week we focused  a lot of class time on non-biomedical medicine, also known as traditional medicine here in Vietnam. It was so interesting to learn all about the groundings and creation of traditional medicine. We also visited the Hanoi medical university hospital where we were able to see the actual treatment of certain ailments through the use or traditional medicine; SO interesting! 

Traditional medicine 

We ended the week with a few guest lectures and classes on the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in  Vietnam. HIV is one of the big public health issues for Vietnam! We learned about methadone clinics for drug addicts that hope to eventually reduce the risk of needle exchange therefore decreasing the prevalence of HIV cases. There is still a far way to come as well as in the United States. We had the privilege to actually meet people apart of a support group that all have HIV. The stories were so touching as many of them are completely isolated from the rest of their family members; some even have separate sides of the house to live in without ever being allowed to cross sides. Education about the transmission of HIV is still not fully understood in many areas. Interestingly enough one of the questions that was asked to us was in reference to the high cost of HIV treatment in the United States for people without insurance. In Vietnam the cost of treatment is free and much of the international funding to subsidize the cost is from the United States. Definitely a topic I am very interested in.

We finished off the week on a weekend getaway at Ha Long Bay! Located about four aways from Hanoi; it is a major tourist attraction for Vietnam, having over 1,000 gorgeous islands. My group went on a two day one night boat cruise that was absolutely amazing! The views were phenomenal. It was so great to be able to get away from the very congested city of Hanoi for the weekend. We went sea kayaking, hiked a mountain and even were able to walk through a cave. It was such a wonderful experience to just be with my group of 30 students and really be able to relax and just have fun! 

Doubles sea kayaking!!:) 

View from the hike!:)

Another boat that is very similar to ours! We had a bigger boat though!:)

Some of the group on the top deck! We are on our way back to shore!:)

We will embark on our rural visit for a week to the Lac Village which I have heard will be an eye opening experience. I cannot wait to get there!

 I hope all is well with everyone!:) Thanks again for your continued support! I appreciate it so much!:)

Hillary =) xoxo

" Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away" 

Greetings from Vietnam!!:)

Hello everyone! :)

I have been here in Hanoi, Vietnam for a week and it has been nothing less than amazing. The sights, the smells and even the noises definitely took some adjusting to as they are all much different than the US. Below is a picture of the view from the hotel we stayed at the first night.

 After arriving in Vietnam I was introduced to my host family. My host mother is a doctor and then my host father used to be a captain of a ship. They have two girls, Fune, and Mai. They have been so great in welcoming us into their home.

(picture of my two host sisters and their cousin Lon)

Our day to day life here consists of making our way to the bus stop each morning to make it to class for 8:30. We normally get done around 5 each day. Some challenges are trying to order lunch during our breaks without  a translator. The food here has been great! Much different than our typical american food for sure :) Everyday the food is bought fresh for that dinners meal. Below is a picture of Pho which is a noodle soup that in this picture has fish in it. I have had it with chicken as well. It is very popular here and of course eaten with chopsticks! :)

 Crossing the street is very interesting here. The traffic here is very chaotic and definitely a difficult thing to get used to especially when the concept that the pedestrian has the right of way does not exsist here. It has taken us all a bit to figure it out but slowly and carefully we are managing!:)

During my free time my group has been able to do some exploring which has been wonderful. We viisted Ho Chin Min's bural sight. We were also able to pray for good luck at another statue. 

My host mother is very into exercise which has been wonderful for me! :) We go to exercise aerobic each night in the park. This has been a lot of fun, kind of like zumba just a bit more intense. Many people stay after the class to ask the other american student and I many questions about where we are from. (I definitely stand out quite a bit with my blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin complex. :) My host mother even told me of a great place where I was able to run around a beautiful pond in a park. Many of the people clapped and smiled for me as I ran by. So much of this culture is surrounded by the amazing hospitality everyone has given me so far. 

picture of the View from my run:). Interesting fact is that although it looks cloudy, it is actually a very nice day. The cloudiness is actually the smog here. Many people even wear face masks to protect themselves on the days where the air quality is not great.

There are also plenty of cafes and lots of shopping to be done in a more touristy part of the city. Tea is a staple here and is SO delcious as well as the hot chocolate!! 

 I was shocked to see English as the only language on a few of the cafe menus. Definiely shows the ideas gentrification branching into some parts of the city of Hanoi. This upcoming week we will be having classes about the Agent organge victims which will definitely be very eye-opening experience. 

I am so grateful for all for all of the experences I have had so far and the ones yet to come! :) The bonds throughout my group have only gotten stronger as we continue on our jounrey to make a difference in the many different ways that will be! :) 

I hope all is well with everyone! I do have wireless internet so feel free to message me or email me (hmiller@mail.smcvt.edu) I would love to hear from you all!:) 

Thank you again for all of the support! 

Hillary xoxoox :)

"Go and see all you can possibly see"

Halfway to Vietnam! :)

After a 11 hour flight, we have finally just landed in Qatar. The time is 8 hours ahead. We have a 9 hour layover that has been spent with lots of walking around to explore the airport. We will depart from here at 1:25am local time and will have a 8 hour flight to finally reach Hanoi, Vietnam. 

The past week in DC was wonderful. We had a few guest speakers come to our class, a trip to the capital building along with our classes making our week very busy. Our group director for our time in DC is actually changing jobs so after 8 years of working as director of the program, the departure dinner on Thursday was filled with much appreciation for all that Jen has done. :)

On Monday we had an activity called Neighborhood day. My group of 30 students was divided into smaller groups and we each went to explore and observe other communities throughout DC. I went to Anacostia which is one of the more highly stigmatized crime areas in DC. As 97% of the people were black, I definitely felt my race as  I walked through the city being the minority.  It was a very eye opening experience. There were no supermarkets in the whole city as well as very few areas that were not run down. Many of the people even verbally stated that the area was not safe at night so we should leave before then. The few little market stores did not have any hand to and contact at any point during the transaction of a purchase. This experience left me with so many unanswerable questions; why are there no healthy food options? Why are most of the construction projects half done? Why is there no green space for outdoor activities or for children to play? These are definitely questions that I plan to continue to think about throughout the semester as well as finding new questions along the way. 

As I am sitting in the airport now I am filled with excitement to see the world. Once we land in Hanoi we will be staying at a hostel for a day or two in hopes we can  all quickly adjust to the 12 hour time change from the US. Then we will be off to meet our host families that we will be living with for our entire time in Vietnam. This is such an exciting opportunity and I cannot wait to meet my host family! 

Definitely thankful for the wi fi in the airport! :) 

I hope all is well with everyone! Thanks for all of the support! =) 

Hillary :)

"If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down" -Buddha