Highlights of another wonderful week (3/28/08)

I was at a dinner last week and the host had Sting playing in the background. I never thought I would think this (James, I apologize up front) but hey it sounded good. So I went out in search of some CDs. The proprietors of a small shop (as in need to duck while carefully stepping over things small shop), brought out a large clothes basket of empty CD boxes and envelopes for me to flip through. I found two that I wanted. The woman came over and raised her index finger, the international sign of “I have to go upstarts to burn a copy, I’ll be right back”.
One of the CDs reminds me of the Michael Keaton movie Duplicity. I got the copy of the copy of the copy. All-in-all a good for both as it cost me <$1. It was worth twice that when I hit play.
The other CD sounds great, but I don’t remember Tony Bennett having a Vietnamese accent.

The seafood is incredibly fresh. Two nights ago I saw a waiter get a net, pull a live fish out of a near-by retaining pond, whack it once with a pipe, place is on a scale then march off to the kitchen. It took less time for him to accomplish all these steps than for you to read these few sentences. Incredible.

I got a haircut in a chair out on the sidewalk. The guy was quite impressive. He completed my fancy hair style with just a pair of scissors. He yelled the whole time. Because of the incredible amount of traffic noise about 2 feet from the chair, I have no idea if he knew I was not responding. I hope he feels better to get what ever he yelled about for 15 minutes off his chest.
Given the amount of traffic on the streets, where do the kids go to learn how to drive?
Across from Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum is the largest green space I have seen in Hanoi. It is a few acres of manicured grass with brick paths. There are a few little signs that say “Keep off the grass” in Vietnamese. I go there everyday and have never seen anyone even come close to placing one toe on the grass. Keep in mind, this is the same city where I see thousands of people go through red lights, go the wrong way on a one way street, drive down the side walk, or don’t wear helmets on their motor bikes. It is fascinating which signs folks choose to follow/which are effectively enforced.

Linda is scheduled to arrive in 4 ½ days. It has been a month, which is 28 days too long to be without her.

I am having the time of my life. It will get even better when Linda joins me in April, James in May (2 weeks) and Rachel in June (2 weeks).

A Dong-a-naire

Yes, those are two 500,000 Vietnamese Dong bills.

Unfortunately, there are 15,800 Vietnamese Dong to the US$.

1,000,000 Vietnamese Dong is equal to $63 US.

I heard the Dong is tied to the US dollar, so as the $ drops, to date I have not been adversely affected by it.

The paper reports the 15% inflation (1Q08 vs 1Q07) is really having an impact on farmers and fisherman.

Pfizer Spain Campaign

Here are the 16 Ophthalmologists Pfizer Spain sponsored to come to Vietnam to complete Trachomatous Trichiasis surgeries. These folks performed over 2,300 surgeries in 10 days. They took 2 weeks of vacation to come work 12 hours days. Incredible folks.

For those of you who counted that there are more than 16 people in the picture, yes, there is International Trachoma Initiative Staff and 3 folks from Pfizer Spain, all of whom worked behind the scenes to make everything work.

Also included is a picture of the Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam, Soledad Fuentes, with an old man.

Tran Quec Pagoda

This pagoda was built in the 6th century. The longer I am here, the youner I feel.

It is a mile or two from where I am staying.

The tower is 6 sided with 11 levels. Each window has a Buddah. 66 beautiful Buddah's.

The incense burning reminds me of James' room.

A little slice of heaven in Hanoi

This bookstore has 3 shelves of books in English.

Almost all the books were westerns. Either folks over here love a good western, or the English book buyer made a bit of an error.

Van Mieu

Built ~1,000 years ago, dedicated to the sages and Confucian scholars.

Depending on the translator, it is known as the Temple of Knowledge or the Temple of Literature. I spent as long as I could trying to get wiser.

Doctor Stone Stelae

These were erected from 1484 to 1780. They have the 1304 doctor laureates names engraved for the 82 exams given over ~300 years.

The Well of Heavenly Clarity

Could you imagine having Heavenly Clarity? Something else to work towards.

Quoc Tu Giam

This is the first National University of Vietnam, constructed in 1076.The students usually studied for 3 to 7 years then took a national exam. If they passed they then took a Royal exam, an oral exam administered by the King. They were then ranked top to bottom. Just a little pressure.

Quan Su Pagoda

Built in the mid-1700s.

The temple inside is beautiful. It was full of worshippers, so I did not take a pictures.

People leave flowers, fruit, and money on the alters. The fruit is quite good (just kidding).

Pictures from the countryside

I don't think Vietnamese children see many old, bald, white guys.

The really young ones look at me and usually run to their mom.

The older ones yell "HELLO!!!!" Then they ask 100 questions (all in Vietnamese, which I need a translator for). How old are you? How do you like Vietnam? Are you rich or poor? How come your eye brows are blond? How come you don't have any hair?

At the end of the interogation they always yell "SEE YOU AGAIN!!!"

This is a group of 10 years olds who are on their lunch break.

Viet Nam News

In the morning I try to read the Viet Nam News, the English language paper. Always interesting headlines: “Cholera resurfaces in Han o’i”. A little cause for alarm as I eat my breakfast.

Here is a link to a story written about the Pfizer Spain Campaign and the 2,000 trachomatous trichiasis surgeries they are performing

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01HEA130308

An Thai Commune in Thai Binh Province

Please remember when you read this blog: the info contained is what I hear, or what I remember (since I am on the back 9 of life, I really question my memory).

For facts, I strongly recommend other sources.

Vietnam has 64 Provinces (like our states). Each Province is divided into Districts. Districts are then divided into Communes.

Each Commune has its own school(s), health center (in the pictures) and government center.

This is the road into An Thai Commune in Thai Binh Province. The first time I walked to town from the Health Center, it was easy going. The second time I had to negotiate my way.

Trachoma

The goal of the International Trachoma Initiative and the World Health Organization is to eradicate Trachoma in the world by 2020. It could be the second disease every eradicated worldwide (small pox is the other).
It is the Vietnam Ministry of Health’s goal to eradicate Trachoma in Vietnam by 2010.
In the 1970s, ~70% of the Vietnamese population suffered from Trachoma. It is no longer a public health threat in almost all of the 64 provinces. Pfizer donated over 2 million doses of Zithromax in Vietnam to help eliminate active Trachoma infections. In 2006 Pfizer donated $594 million of Zithromax in 11 countries to eliminate Trachoma.
There is still work to do. Given the high previous prevalence of the disease, the longer term impact of the disease still needs to be repaired.
All of the patients arrived at the Commune Health Center by bicycle or motor bike. I saw very few cars all day.
Daughters brought their mothers. Wives brought their husbands. Husbands brought their wives.
They were all so supportive of each other as they arrived and when they got out of surgery. The look of the family members was overwhelming as we took their loved ones into surgery.

Check in for Trachomatous Trichiasis Surgery

Patients come to the Commune Health Center to have their Stage 4 Trachoma (Trachomatous Trichiasis-TT) repaired.
TT is when the repeated infections and corresponding inflammation cause the eye lid to distort. The bottom of the lid and the eye lashes turn in. As the patient blinks, the eye lash scratches the cornea. Each blink is painful, but more importantly, if not repaired the patient will lose their sight.
TT surgery corrects the eye lid so the bottom of the lid and eye lashes no longer scratch the cornea.
TT surgery is done on both the upper and lower eye lids. Some patients have one affected lid, others need all four to be repaired.
TT surgery costs $15 US. In Vietnam, the health care system is primarily a self pay system. With the average farmer earning $30 to $40 per month, in the rural areas the surgery does not get done unless a third party pays for it.

The physician doing the patient grading/check in, is Dr Luong from the National Institute of Ophthalmology. What a gentleman. He was a very gracious host to me. He speaks wonderful English, is extremely calm, and has a heart of gold with all the patients.

Sterilizing the surgical instruments and trays

The surgical instruments are sterilized in boiling water.
The trays have alcohol spilled on them which is then lit.

The Surgical Suite

Pfizer Spain Program: Pfizer Spain sponsored 17 Ophthalmologist to come to Vietnam to do Trachomatous Trichiasis surgeries (TT).
The gentleman in many of these pictures is Jose Arriaga from the Cannery Islands. He used his vacation both last year and this year to do these sight saving surgeries.
The 17 Ophthalmologists will do over 2,000 TT surgeries in 10 days.
Their days are incredibly long. Their backs are awful sore by days end.
They always have a smile on their face.
The patients are incredibly stoic. Lidocaine is injected into the eye socket. They never move. They calmly lay there for as long as the surgery takes.
At the end, they are so grateful, as are their family members.

The surgery goes on even when the lights go out

With the electricity being a bit tempermental, flash lights are lit and surgery continues.

Any hands can help

The Vietnamese Ophthalmology Surgeon in this picture was wonderful.

His technique was incredible as there was little to no blood, although he was dramatically changing the shape of the eye lid so the eye lashes would no longer scratch the cornea.

Unfortunately he does not speak English. I wish he did because he must be quite a guy. Everytime he said something, every woman within ear shot laughed.

He was very kind to me, explaining surgical techniques with his hands during the day.

I helped out quickly when there was a brief shortage of hands to help.

Time to go home to heal.
The stitches come out in 5 days.
The patient is re-checked again in 12 months.

Scenes of rural Vietnam

Rural Vietnam is beautiful.
The minimum wage in Vietnam is $34/month. Some of the rural farmers may make less than that if their crop is not successful.
Folks are in the fields before the sunrises and are there after the sun sets.
There seems to be an enormous amount of team work in the fields.
The rice is very small this year, as the cold weather earlier this year has delayed planting.

Most years they can get up to 3 plantings and harvests a year.

Burial in the rural areas

In the rural provinces they bury the dearly departed in the rice paddy's. The markers are quite ornate.

When buried the head faces the mountains and the feet face the water.

Electricity

The most dangerous job in Vietnam: Electrician

Food Stories

Yesterday I had lunch with ~20 Vietnamese health care workers in the An Thai commune in Thai Binh province, a very rural area.
One of the many dishes on the table was very tasty. After eating more of it than anyone else at the table, I asked "what is this, it is delicious?". After a significant amount of discussion, chuckling, and elbowing each other, the one who spoke the best English said "it is little tiger".
Yes, I have had my first serving of CAT. No, it does not taste like chicken. Given the independent nature of most cats, I am not surprised it has a pretty unique taste.

Last week I had dinner with 2 Pfizer colleagues (the Director of Operations for Indochina and the Head Representative for Vietnam). Both are great guys and were very kind to share their night to discuss health care in Vietnam and Thailand and how Pfizer does business in these markets.
They ordered a unique tasting soup. Again, I asked the thousand dollar question. They responded "lobster head soup". You can add your tag lines here..................................."yes I avoided the butter at breakfast the next day"....................."I turned the shower on cold and was concerned of the hot water"..............
Please send me your funny lines.

I moved tonight from the southeast side of town to the northwest side of town. I think it will work out quite well. I walked out the door and ~20 yards to a little store on the side walk. I bought 2 beers for $1. I also got a 5 gallon jug of water for $6.

Tomorrow I will try to add a bunch of pictures from my 2 days out in the rural provinces.

I am having a ball. Linda joins be in 3 weeks!! I am ready to share this journey with her.

My guide said the one star on the Vietnamese flag symbolizes one independent sovereign country. He said unlike the US flag which has 50 stars, uniting 50 different states, the Vietnam flag signifies the focus on one united country.

Here is PLAYSTATION 2. This is place is packed when kids are not in school. Sometimes they are 3 or 4 deep watching. Soccer seems to be the game of choice.