Author Archives: helenaworthen

Article in Lao Dong about this: http://laodong.com.vn/cong-doan/pho-chu-tich-tong-ldldvn-nguyen-thi-thu-hong-tiep-doan-can-bo-cd-my-414628.bld Kent Wong’s delegation of US labor leaders and labor educators arrived in Hanoi Sunday January 10. We met them in the lobby of the Rang Dong Hotel (Trade Union Hotel) and went to dinner at a place called Wild Rice, very elegant and full of what appeared to beContinue reading “Hanoi Conversations (2, VGCL)”

Kent Wong’s delegation made a visit to a Vietnamese factory on Tuesday afternoon. We drove out in a van to a town perhaps 45 minutes outside Hanoi  toward Haiphong, but still with the Hanoi address. This company is 24 years old, founded in 1992. It is a joint stock company; its capital is all Vietnamese.Continue reading “Ladoda Bags”

Last summer Joe and I were going though things in the barn attic in Vermont and found this small wooden box in the old file cabinet. When we opened it, we saw  glass slides, a booklet, a stapled pack of typed pages and a reel-to-reel audio tape. The slides were photos taken by Felix GreeneContinue reading “Felix Greene in HCMC”

Students line up to give blood at registration: campus life outside the classroom The TOP 100 aspiration is not just about TDTU. “In November 2013, the Communist Party issued a Resolution on Fundamental and Comprehensive Education Reform that aims to develop education in Viet Nam to become an advanced education system that meets regional andContinue reading “The Global Financial Crisis and TDTU Classroom Teaching Methods”

The NAFTA border wall between the US and Mexico: Labor walks while capital flies We are preparing for the meeting on January 14 which will bring together labor people with different perspectives on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is the only trade agreement that Vietnam has signed that has a Labor Side Agreement. The TPPContinue reading “Each History is Unique”

Christmas Day we had dinner with Cate Poe and Jeff Phelps who are on an Asia trip.  Jeff was in Vietnam as a soldier at a time when it was clear that the US was getting out. No American wanted to be “the last one to die” in a futile war. LIFE magazine did a photoContinue reading “Starting from Zero”

In 1975, the Government gave land in the Cu Chi area to people who were living in Ho Chi Minh City who would be willing to move out there. it’s about 70 km. Vy’s grandmother took them up on this. She had eight children, of whom 7 lived. Now she lives with one of herContinue reading “Cu Chi Tunnels with Vy and An”

TDTU is kept shiny and new by an army of people who sweep and polish and repaint continuously, including these guys. From below, with the sun on their backs: What’s holding them up? Consider…how is the railing attached; what kinds of knots are those; what if the guy moves his foot? Actually, I think thatContinue reading “Feats of Maintenance”

The class in Bien Hoa in Dong Nai Province took place today. We were betting 50/50 whether this would ever happen. Our visit had been rescheduled, the amount of time we would have had been changed, all kinds of stuff. It’s a class actually sponsored by the Bien Hoa VGCL for their staff and activistsContinue reading “Bien Hoa Labor Ed”

TDTU has set itself a goal of offering a new curriculum, taught in English and emulating the top one hundred universities in the world. It will be an undergraduate degree. Students will come from all over Southeast Asia. It will use texts assigned in the Top 100 universities. This initiative comes from the President, Dr Le Vinh Danh, whoContinue reading “Top 100, Elite and Good”