who we are
UCHANU-2010
Project Kiếm ăn is a collaborative and collective undertaking of the students of the 2010 and 2011 UCHANU classes on Contemporary Vietnamese Society. UCHANU stands for students of the University of California’s (UC) Education Abroad Program in Vietnam, and students from Hanoi University’s (HANU) Faculties of Management and International Studies. Together with Professor Gerard Sasges and Program Assistants Ms. Nguyễn Thu Trang and Mr. Alex-Thái Võ, we are UCHANU.
We are students from all over Vietnam and California, studying different majors, contributing different experiences, and with different ideas and politics, brought together by a common determination to understand more deeply the reality of Vietnam today.
We are Vietnamese who have grown up in Vietnam, and who seek to understand the processes of change that are reshaping our country so rapidly and so deeply.
We are Americans from a diverse range of backgrounds who have come to discover Vietnam’s language, culture, and history, and through that process of discovery, to gain new insights on the world and ourselves.
We are Project Kiếm ăn, documenting real people, real jobs, and real life in Vietnam today.
ProjectKieman is a real reflection of Vietnamese current social conditon in terms of jobs people are doing. Reading these articles makes people understand more about daily things around us in almost every corner !!!
Glad to see something so positive aimed toward the youth of Viet Nam. Keep up with the great work !
Thank you for your interesting and enlightening blog.
I wonder, as an American Vietnam veteran, how our efforts during the war are perceived by those you speak with? Was it a valiant effort or a waste of human life and suffering for our country to become involved? Did it make matters worse for the Vietnamese people? Or — possibly something in-between? Your various thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
A blog on this subject would be especially interesting, but not sure if conditions allow an open dialogue on the subject.
Vietnam is a beautiful country and I wish for the Vietnamese only the best.
Hi Rick: you’re asking a tough question and the answer you get will depend on who you’re asking. One way around the question is to look more at the present, which is what this project is all about, and is an approach that probably comes closer to the thinking of average Vietnamese folks. Most Vietnamese alive today were born after 1975. For them, the war is something that happened to their parents, aunts, and uncles: important, certainly, but not a present concern. Instead, the overwhelming focus is on the present and the future, and on finding a way to participate in this process called “development” that will help make life better for themselves and their families. If you haven’t already visited Vietnam since 1975, I’d really recommend finding a way to come back and see for yourself. A good friend of mine and former Marine lives here now and often leads tours for U.S. veterans; I’d be happy to put you in touch with him, and if you made your way to Hanoi I’d be happy to invite you for a coffee or a beer and explore your question more deeply.
This whole site is absolutely fascinating. It reminds me of Christian G Appy’s oral history of the war, but updated for the 21st century. Having lived in Vietnam since 2008, I like to think that I understand a little about Vietnamese life, but these stories show me how much I still have to learn.