Somewhere I belong

Last time when I mention this issue in my blog, it was only a complaint from a concerned mother who sent her child to one of Bloom's study trip. The borrower her money funded a loan for didn't use it for dogs, so it raised concern, but did no harm. All we needed to do was to assure her that we would never support or engage in practicing animal cruelty. But till then, none of our borrowers want to borrow money to raise dogs. But the fear has finally come true. There is one request for loan to raise dogs, from a particularly difficult situation.

This matter has been discussed, and the result is likely to be a big "NO", because of the worry that "one bad comment/review on tripadvisor will hurt the business so bad". Precisely because Bloom is so young and dependent on words of mouth, we don't dare to do anything against the taste of our clients. And everyone knows where the most forceful animal activists come from. The West, of course. It is also where the most of our money come from.


So one disadvantage of combining tourism with mircrofinance is the need to please consumers. We more or less produce a service, they consume it, if they are happy, they pay, and with their money, we grow. When the customers have different values and beliefs than the people at the other end of this consumption, namely those who love eating dogs and rely heavily from money earned from them, this can create strains. If customers is more valued, i.e. demand of capital is higher than supply for capital, then it's their value and beliefs that are taken into account.


This particular woman is a special case. Here is what I wrote about her and put in the borrowers' database:




But she won't get a loan, as long as it is against the belief that dogs should not be eaten, held by those who supply the capital for her loan.
Isn't it very much imposing what you think are right on others? And you claim that you are trying to experience true and authentic Vietnamese culture, just want to do good and feel happy to make a difference? And what about "an equal exchange relationship"?

So the question is not whether we should eat dogs or not, but rather it is whether we should, according to our love for dogs and animal ethics backed by a comfortable life and secure livelihood, deny a woman a chance to feed her children and improve her life?

- I have a house. I have a buffalo. Now all I need is you.
A very sweet proposal, isn't it?
That's how Felix responded when I told him that the three big achievements for a Vietnamese man is "buying a buffalo, building a house and marrying a girl." Only then can he be considered a mature man, probably in economic, social and sexual terms.

- Would you say yes?
- I don't know. I guess so.
I was contemplating how a buffalo might help a guy wins a girl's heart this time. I was busy transferring the worth of that particular animal to monetary and cultural value, in other words.

- You should take 20 buffalo, or maybe 3 houses.
Anu jumped in, drifted me back from my thoughts. It was still a very sweet request, pretty hard to resist actually

- But Van doesn't say anything. And she's the one I am asking. - Felix protested.
- You can be a middle man, Anu - I commented
- Yes, Im her broker. Now, what would you say? 3 houses at least? And one in West lake?
- Hmm, let me think, how about if I don't have any buffalo, can I do 3 cows instead?
- I don't know, Felix. I'll wait and see - I had no idea of the difference in value between cow and buffalo, didn't know what else to say, tried to play safe.
- See, Anu? Van will wait for me

The conversation kind of ended there. I still thought such a proposal is very sweet, and tried to imagine if there was any Vietnamese man in old time who actually did so, even though the concept of proposal of course doesn't really exist here (except for some Western - romantic style influences on young people), even now.

This is one of the things I love in my job, namely to hold pointless and out of blue conversations with my supposed-to-be superiors. They are more like friends, good friends.

After all, money is not the sole measurement of success. Right?
So is why everyone so surprised, perplexed, confused or disappointed when they hear of my salary?

- From the tour today:
I listened to a Finnish girl sharing her plan: "I will live here until the end of December, then I will travel for about 5 months, and then end up somewhere my boyfriend can find a job. But he works in the business sector so he will be able to find a job anywhere. I wouldn't worry about it. We have a small saving and we are gonna use it all for the travel. So, yeah, I don't know where I will be yet."
I find myself secretly desire to be in her place. Isn't that the style of life I want to live? Going somewhere, and somewhere else, and even somewhere else after that. They say you can get into the habit of constant moving. I don't know, but I am young, why should I waste these precious years to settle down, to get a good job, to secure a husband, or to bore myself to death? As long as we have enough to eat, we shouldn't worry too much, right?

- From the tour today:
I met Kim Huynh, the Australian professor from the Australian National University I have secretly admired from his writings. I have read everything he writes I can find online, and it's almost a childish excitement I felt for almost a week the moment I knew he was coming on this Sunday tour. It feels like having someone you know and like and admire from papers, coming into real life and talk to you. I don't have any idols. But when I like someone's writing, I can be a loyal fan. Especially towards the end, he told me in Vietnamese: "Write me an email. I will be here for another year. I am here to help people like you." I felt like flying, and still haven't landed yet.

- From the tour today:
Malte, my colleague, my superior, my supervisor, the ultimate COO of Bloom, complimented me on my progress in the role of a project assistant. Yesterday is the mark of my two months working for Bloom. After two months, I come to understand that he is very demanding, super hardworking and obsessed with being professional. But I appreciate him, his openness, honesty and encouragement. Although I didn't like it  a lot when he wrote me a long email to feed back on my performance, with a tiny point like "close your mouth all the time when  you chew food" and "don't talk with food in your mouth when we have guests with us" (and I thought I didn't), I still admit that Im grateful to work with someone like him. To quote him directly: "I really like your translation today. It's really simultaneous. It just gets better and better everyday. I sat there and 'wow, this is amazing' ".

- From the tour today:
The Former Head of the Women Union, who is supposed to speak for the interest of the women, talked about how divorces often happen because the wives are slow, lazy and have mental problems, but not because their husbands are alcoholic, abusive and lazy. To quote her: "Women here are very enduring, if their husbands drink and beat them, they can and will tolerate that. So most divorce cases are because the women themselves cause problems."

And it's my 7th tour today.

1.

"Last term, as part of the Social Studies curriculum, my son’s class went on a BMV Study Tour to Soc Son.

When my son returned home he showed me the “Meet your borrower’’ card which has a description of the family and shows what the tour fee and the excursion will go towards.

In this particular case the finance is being used to help: “Mrs Yen who earns extra money for her family by raising dogs. She was provided a loan of two million VND because she hopes to diversify her income by investing in ducks and geese for meat.”

As a representative of an animal welfare organization, and also on a personal level for both my son, I must object in the strongest terms to an organization that would support a venture where dogs are being raised/farmed for meat.

Although the woman, Mrs Yen, says she “hopes” to diversify by investing in ducks and geese, she has not said that she will stop farming dogs for meat."

Quoted from a 3 page- letter sent by a concerned mother to Bloom, the first complaint we've got.

I don't know how to think about it. On the one hand, I understand this lady's outrage. She is an animal activist, and the idea of eating dogs is already too much to tolerate, let alone raising them especially for meat. On the other hand, though I don't eat dog myself (more for taste preference than ethic reason), I understand the economic logic behind it. If there is demand, why shouldn't there be supply? Dogs are easy to raise, if you consider them for meat, not pets.

In the end, what makes it legitimate to eat other animals such as pigs, cows chickens, geese and ducks, but not dogs? Why would you object to some, but not others? Why do dogs deserve attention and struggle, but not the rest? Campaigns for pigs and chickens often aim at creating better conditions for them, but those conditions are for lives that will be taken. Animals live to be killed. Why do pigs and chickens only deserve slaughter in the end?

By the way, Im contemplating on going vegetarian. It's not easy to do it at home and I don't want to be the centre of ridicule again. But once I go away somewhere and cook for myself, I'll definitely try.

If my 4 years in university teaches me anything at all, it is "always try to be critical". To be an intellectual means you don't take things at face value, but instead must utter all your strength, mind and effort to maintain a distance from reality and be able to criticize it.

After one month and a half working at Bloom, now I: