The signs of integration among the Black Hmong, the Dzau, and the Giay tribes whom I walked with and stayed among include the fact that paved roads are increasingly reachable by many of the smaller villages around Sapa. Further, most children seemed to be now attending school and learning some of the basic skills in order to achieve in a modern society without having to move or emigrate from their village at an early age just to get by.
The many Hmongs, Dzaus, Giay, and Chinese tribes peoples, especially the female ones, in the market of Sapan and in the villages wore their traditional garb with pride and enjoyed greater preservation of their indigenous culture than I had ever witnessed in my homeland.
Their lifestyles among the gardens and huge terraced rice fields of their native lands are much more similar to the lives of indigenous peoples enjoyed in the highlands of Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador--than any North American indigenous peoples I have seen in the NAFTA states.
On the other hand, poverty is everywhere in Vietnam and millions of citizens in the country have had to move from rural regions to urban areas in order to scratch out better livings. I slept in the home of one Dzau family member who had only a dirt floor under their feet.
However, having dirt floors doesn't mean one has to be isolated or feel impoverished. Every village has several TVs and satellite receivers on hand. The ancient earth floor felt warm and dry compared to the cool concrete floors many city dwellers have under foot.
Tourism, naturally, is bringing both good and bad to these remote regions with their knock-dead gorgeous hiking trailes in the highlands of remote Vietnam. For example, sadly, some young children are encouraged by their elders to skip school in order to sell goods to the backpackers who wander throughout their homelands.
As well, there is a sort of visual and acoustic pollution of the whole touring experience caused by the handicraft goods and post card peddlers who badger the tourists in order to persuade them to undertake undesired purchases. (Aside from my visits to Egypt and India, I have never been so often hit-upon to by such masses of pesky peddlers-and never to such a high degree in any rural landscape anywhere.)
This all means that Vietnam will need to do more to provide alternative occupations, education, and training in the rural areas of the country.
In concluding, I certainly recommend a visit to the many rural areas of Vietnam. They are gorgeous and the ethnic peoples reveal a world of Vietnam that is hardly ever portrayed in America (& Australian and European) stories, films, and other formats for memories about Vietnam. Meanwhile, nearly 60 years of communism has left too many peoples in the North under-serviced in a society that is crying out for indigenous (Vietnamese citizen) skilled and technical labor.
DEMOCRACY AND INITIATIVE
When one travels to or from the International airport and downtown Hanoi, one sees some large joint-venture firms located in very modern looking plants. However, they are surrounded by fences-apparently to keep a mass of underemployed citizens out.
On my way into town the first day in Vietnam, I had asked about employment opportunities for the average Vietnamese. I was told that the Vietnamese populace faces several problems.
The first problem is that, from the global economic perspective, most Vietnamese labor force is not, in general, qualified enough to fill many positions at such firms.
In short, most of the best paying positions go to foreigners.
Second, in order to obtain the remaining jobs, local Vietnamese have to either use (1) connections, (2) bribes, or (3) both.
In short, just as in China, the booming parts of the Vietnamese export economy are benefiting only a minority-many of those being elite peoples in the government who are well-connected.
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