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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 21-22, 2004 |
Da Nang, Vietnam |
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| Da Nang youth welcoming Peace Boat |
Over 100 Vietnamese girls dressed in Vietnam's traditional ao dai turned Da Nang port into a dance
stage as Peace Boat docked in this central Vietnamese city. Although Peace Boat has stopped in Da
Nang more than 15 times since 1985, participants were treated to a warm welcome as if it was their
first time. The girls were part of the Da Nang Youth Union, a Peace Boat partner, that organized a
giant exchange program. After disembarking, participants got an even more enthusiastic greeting from
the students who would be guiding them around for the next two days. |
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| Playing a team game at the Da Nang Youth Union |
Located alongside the Han river, Da Nang has changed dramatically since Peace Boat's first dropped
anchor in its harbor. In 1985, there were still few tourists in Vietnam. Located alongside the Han
river, Da Nang was famous during the Vietnam War as the biggest US military base in that country.
The war, called the American War by Vietnamese, ravaged the central part of the country, where US
and South Vietnamese soldiers collided with Northern Viet Cong forces. Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese
woman from near Da Nang, experienced the war as a girl. Later she wrote a book about her experiences,
which Hollywood director Oliver Stone later made into the movie "Heaven and Earth." "We
worked at night for the Viet Cong and in the day for the South Vietnamese. We went through torture,
rape and prison." |
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| A Japanese participant and his Vietnamese guide |
According to Le Ly, Vietnam's greatest challenge now is to curb the growing divide between rich and
poor in her native country. To do this requires building up Vietnam's capacity for education. One
of the many NGOs trying to slow this polarization among Vietnam's popultion of 81 million is the
Da Nang Youth Union, a community and vocational center. Having suffered almost 1000 years of conflict
with other Asian countries including China, 100 years of colonial rule from the French and a ten year
war with the United States, Vietnam has had little time to recover and provide education, leading
to a high illiteracy rate among Le Ly's generation. "So even after 30 years of peace, they're
still learning business, industry and how to use computers - everything is new to them." |
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| Vietnamese girls performing a traditional dance |
Thanks to the proliferation of NGOs that has occurred in the last ten years, civil society has gradually
raised the real living standard of average Vietnamese by focusing on practical projects. The effects
of these groups along with economic changes are helping pave the way to further support from the government.
The week before Peace Boat arrived in Da Nang, the government began allowing private schools to operate
for the first time in communist Vietnam. To help her fellow Vietnamese Le Ly founded the East Meets
West Foundation. One of the largest aid contributors to Vietnam it provides housing, educational
and medical care for thousands of Vietnamese children and villagers. |
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| Japanese performing the bondori dance |
Vietnamese have a genuinely positive attitude even about old enemies like France and the US, which
exchange participants found reflected in their partners eager smiles. One of the students from the
union, 16-year old Vu Cao Hoang, hopes Vietnamese tenaciousness during the war will serve them in
the future as a peaceful country. "Vietnamese are very courageous," said Vu. Le Ly laments
that in the rush to progress and embracing economic reform many people that have suffered during the
war are being made to suffer again. "America is the richest, biggest and strongest country, so
Vietnam tries to have a good relationship with America...They hold nothing against Americans. So
that's helpful for countries to grow faster, but for the mothers and fathers and family who lost so
much, they can't fill that hole in." |
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| Exchange participants joining in a Greek dance on a Da Nang beach |
Iwao Kunokawa, an exchange participant and Global University student, sees a lot
of power in the young Vietnamese for healthy change. "There's no reason for the world not
to become peaceful if the energy of the Vietnamese and Japanese young people get together." Visiting
Danang for his second time, Kunokawa reveled in the nonstop dancing and personal insights the exchange
gave.
"I'm 61 years old, but I'm still young because I get the power and energy from them." Even
a sudden downpour couldn't slow down the mixed crowd. Watching the sprawling crowd dancing together
Quang Nguyen Thanh, Director of the Danang Youth Union, said with satisfaction "We have
a Vietnamese traditional proverb that says when it rains the ground becomes solid. Because we
had this rain our relationship will become more solid."
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