I'm on a Boat! Day 7&8 (5/26-27)

The ferry ride to Pangkor

Our time in Vietnam ended and we were off to Malaysia.  After getting stuck in a hole, it was nice to have a relaxing weekend at the Pangkor Island Beach Resort.  Once we arrived in Kuala Lumpar via plane, we bused and then took a ferry to the resort.

We arrived to the island late in the evening, but still had time to enjoy the scenery.  Some of us played beach volleyball and swam in the ocean.  I managed to prove how high-strung I am because I got startled three times while out in the water.  Twice it was because Daniel and Mathias brushed by me but, the other time was the strap of my own swimsuit startling me.

Daniel (in his fancy new shirt from our) tour, me, and Edward 

Our full day on the island was jammed packed with activities.  Most of the group went on an island boat tour and snorkeling trip.  We had the opportunity to see different parts of the island, check out some aquatic life and Daniel was able to buy more wild souvenirs.  

After our return, we split up to do different activities.  Margery and I went kayaking out in the bay.  Mathias kept trying to swim out to us, and Margery was determined that he was trying to tip us over.  When we finally let him get on the kayak, the man who we rented the boat from ran out onto the beach to yell at us.

Later Nellie, Edward, Mathias, Margery, and I decided to go hiking in the forest.  We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  The hike, turned out to be a trek.  The trail was very steep and not well kept.  Margery and Mathias thought nothing of it and hiked away.  Nellie, Edward and I weren't too keen on it, especially after Nellie fell off the steep trail and had to get leeches pulled off of her.  We turned back and were glad to make it out without more scratches and leeches than that...for the time being.  Margery found a fat and happy leech under her toes later that evening.

We wrapped up the day by doing a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis for Vietnam before dinner.  With this analysis, we were able to take the knowledge gained from our time there, and pin-point important factors for Vietnam's agricultural future.  These factors ranged from being a complementary market to the United States to a lack of organized governmental support for agriculture.  It would also be useful as comparison between the nations we visited during I-CAL.

Edward, Daniel, Mathias, and Karl singing
"Raindrops Falling on My Head" at karaoke

Dinner was at a Chinese karaoke restaurant.  Chinese is one of the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia (Indian and Malayan are the other two), so it was defiantly better than American Chinese food!  Like Vietnam, there were many varieties of juices along with the meal, but like in China the meal began with hot green tea.  The meal was great and the night got even better after we joined in on karaoke.  The songs we sang varied from Country Roads, to Let it Be.  Bethany O. and Shellen, from the U.S. Grains Council,  finished with Wind Beneath my Wings and blew us away with their great voices.

Our time at the resort was a great mid-point of our trip.  Although it was not very agricultural, it gave us a little insight to the culture we were about to be emerged into.  Also, since we were able to wrap up our time in Vietnam we could be ready for transitioning into Malaysian agriculture.

  

Applying the Science-A Governor's School for Agriculture Tangent

Even though this blog is focused around my I-CAL trip, today I'm going on a different blogging path.  I am currently working at Virginia's Governor's School for Agriculture.  As a graduate of the program and hoping to go into agricultural education, I felt that this was a good job for the summer.  Here I supervise students with their respective research projects on issues, such as Global Food Security.

What you might be surprised to find is that only about 10% of the students here have agriculture experience before attending.  Majority of these students are from urban and suburban areas.  Teaching agriculture in schools is a completely foreign concept to them.  I used to think that it was such a shame that more students who were already involved in agriculture were not in the program.  Today, helped me to realize that those students who don't have agriculture backgrounds need this program the most.

One of these urban students today had spent some time after class speaking with one of the Agricultural and Applied Economics professors.  Later, he told the professor that after hearing his lecture and that of a Crop and Soil Environmental Science professor, he has gotten all torn up about his future.  The student was thinking about doing business, but now after his time here at Governor's School for Agriculture he's contemplating an Agriculture Economics degree.  He said that he loves being able to apply economics.  That's what agriculture is all about, applying science.

Things had gotten kind of wild at Governor's School, but a day like today really helped me to see that there is a bright future for agriculture, even with a dwindling resource of home-grown agriculturalists.  As Adel from the U.S. Grains Council would say: "Agriculture is sexy!" and it appears that is pretty appealing to future generations.

This one Time I Got Stuck in a Hole in Vietnam... Day 6 (Friday 5/25)

Our final day in Vietnam was more of a cultural experience , but we were able to gain a lot agriculturally as well.

I was brought back to my days in FFA Poultry Judging when we visited the Ba Huan egg processing plant.  The owner/vice president of the company began the visit with an introductory video, in the meeting room proudly displaying the 40 years of experience she has under her belt.  The plant was one of the first businesses in Vietnam to invest in poultry processing.

A worker candling the eggs

Ba Huan supplies 30% of its own products from an on location farm.  The other 70% come from 200 contracted farms.  The eggs processed in this facility come from chickens and ducks, which go through two separate processing lines.  The trend throughout the life of the company show a decrease demand for duck eggs.  This is ironic because duck eggs have more nutrition than chicken eggs.  Not only that, ducks eggs are cheaper because the company does not use commercial feed for the duck layers.

Daniel and I sporting our lab-coats and masks in the processing plant

After suiting up in order to be bio-secure, we got to see the eggs being washed, dried, candled (shining light through them to make sure they are flaw-free and infertile), and finally packaged.   The 400 million eggs that go through this operation per year often end up in Vietnamese supermarkets.

Like the aquaculture farmer the previous day, the owner of the processing facility has to deal with yield-killers such as disease.  In 2003 there was a Bird Flu outbreak in Vietnam.  Because of this, the government has be proactive since to prevent and treat diseases in poultry.  Another way the government supports this industry is through subsidies, which the government only has for ten total products.

From the processing facility we headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  Along the way we stopped by a rubber plantation.  We were able to see up close how just like we tap Maple trees in the U.S., rubber is harvested the same way.  It was very fitting that we were able to visit a plantation, because rubber is one of their highest exports.

When we made it to the Cu Chi Tunnels, we began with a tour.  On the tour we were able to see what life was like for the soldiers to live and fight in these small tunnels.  There were models of traps that soldiers set such as swinging spikes in doorways.  We also had the opportunity to crawl into an entrance way into the tunnels and go through parts of them.  In the demonstration entrance, the tour guide allowed us to crawl in.  Daniel and Mathias were able to crawl into the hole and get out just fine.  Me on the other hand...was not as lucky.  I was stuck!  Daniel and Adel pulled on my arms and I couldn't budge!  I guess my birthing hips are not good for hole crawling.  Luckily, Edward suggested that I repel off the back wall of the hole.  After I finally got everyone to turn around (including the Australian tourist who was taking pictures of the whole situation) I was able to get out of the hole, without losing my pants.  The entire group was later able to crawl through sections of the tunnel. Thankfully, no one else got stuck.  We finished up the tour by shooting targets with replica guns from the war.

Pre-stuck

Following our time at the Cu Chi Tunnels, we traveled to  a museum dedicated to the American-Vietnam War.  The experience was very humbling, and gave us a different perspective of the history and the aftermath.  From images of protests, prisons, and the affects of Agent Orange, we saw many things that would not be shown in America.

A girl drawing, despite her lack of arms due to Agent Orange

Our last night in Vietnam concluded with dinner on top of the Rex Hotel.  The Rex was the only hotel open in Ho Chi Minh City during the American-Vietnam War.  It was a popular place for American soldiers to hang out because it was too tall for the Vietnamese to throw grenades on top.  Many on our team treated themselves to American-like meals of hamburgers and french-fries.  We also took this time to thank Chein for his help during our time in Vietnam.

It was interesting how our agricultural experiences have given us so much insight on the culture of Southeast Asia.  Our visit to the egg processing facility showed us how not only do the younger generations rule the business world, but also women.  Adel explained to us that because so many men were killed during the war that women were left to shape their communities and industries.  We were very fortunate to see the Vietnamese perspective the the war.  Not only did our time in Vietnam helped us grow agriculturally, but we were able to expand our cultural horizons.

Keep tagging along to see what Malaysia has in store!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Vietnamese Fish! Day 5 (5/24)

"I'm on a boat!"

Many people dream about going on a cruise, and we were fortunate enough to begin our second day in Vietnam just that way.  South of Ho Chi Minh was the Tien Giang Province where we took a river cruise on the Mekong River to visit an aquaculture farm.  After seeing life along the river, we arrived at the farm where the farmer had waited until we arrived to feed the fish.  It was quite a sight to see the swarm of fish scaling the top of the water for food.  Not exactly a homogeneous mixture of fish, which we expected for a typical aquaculture facility.  This was because of the flow of the river would sometimes carry in river fish and the nets would not always block them out.

Feeding Time!

Lunchtime for the fish ended, but we soon began our meeting with the farmer about the operation over refreshing coconut juice, straight from the coconut.  The farmer had previously worked in a different industry, but chose to study aquaculture at a university and began his operation.  His son is currently pursuing secondary education in aquaculture as well.  

He explained that because his farm was located in fresh, flowing water, he can have a higher concentration of fish, therefore a higher yield.  Because of this, river aquaculture is more profitable than pond farming. As we saw at feeding time, tilapia is what he most commonly raises.  Like any other farming operation he buys feed for the fish, which can include ingredients such as rice meal, DDGS, and vitamins.  Once again, we are seeing U.S. commodities in international operations.  For this particular farmer, his rations come from a feed mill across the river.  Twice a year he harvests the fish for a total of 100-160 metric tons.

As we huddled under the roof of the porch as a quick rainstorm pelted down, the farmer also described the obstacles he faces.  Because he is located on a river with traffic and other operations, there is problems with pollution.  Even if pollution floats downstream from other sources to his farm, the farmer could be forced to close his operation.  The government is aware of this problem and uses extension agents to regulate the water and disease outbreaks.  Like any farmer, this producer has to struggle with weather, diseases, and regulations while trying to produce for their industry.  

Following our visit with the aquaculture farmer, we boated down river to another small island for lunch.  This was a more traditional meal where we stepped out of our comfort zones.

Fresh fish for lunch!

Once our feet were back on dry land, we headed back to Ho Chi Minh City for a meeting with Vina Commodities.  The feed trading company has been fortunate enough to become a successful business by taking opportunities from the U.S. Grains Council.  Chien, one of our guides and U.S. Grains Council Consultant for Vietnam, introduced the director of the company to a program that guarantees lower interest rates comparable to ones in the U.S. (3-5%) instead of common rates in Vietnam (16%).  This also helps to continue imports of U.S. commodities.  The company also owns three crushing plants for soybeans and has its own port.  Although the company already has 15 locations, they hope to expand to have more facilities, focus on infrastructure, and become even more globalized.

Margery gets a music lesson

We wrapped up the evening by visiting a night market and a dinner cruise on the Mekong River, within Ho Chi Minh City limits.  Although I have "haggled" in markets in China, I still struggled and tagged along with Bethany M. and Chein in order to get the best deal.  Mathias and Daniel proved to be top-notch hagglers, but one little girl refused to back down on her prices.  The dinner cruise was a nice way to relax after dodging many motorbikes to get to the river.  Several from our group were suckered into playing with the band.

Our day on the river helped us to better understand a small farmer's perspective in Vietnam.  Like in the U.S. farmers in Vietnam struggle with pollution from outside sources and interest rates.  We were able to see how the U.S. Grains Council has made available in Vietnam that also benefits U.S. agriculture.  Also Vina Commodities was another example of the young population in Vietnam.  The director began the company only ten years ago, and probably was not much older than thirty.

With only one more day left in Vietnam, be sure to follow up for more posts!