One Month Countdown!

One month countdown before the CBT Vietnam Team from Cap U board the plane to Vietnam! 

When the Capilano University team met last week our arms were just recovering from the visit to the travel clinic. Now with the shots out of the way and the rest of the necessary preparations from our checklists nearly completed we went full speed ahead with completing the itinerary.

The itinerary is packed full of things including; gathering supplies in Hanoi with the help from Hanoi Open University student volunteers and funding from PATA, riding a motorcycle to Tavan with a stop in Lao Chai, continuing with the CBT Vietnam project planning and building strong relationships with the Black H'mong communities in Lao Chai, taking the night train to Sapa where we will spend the week before we host the ladies of Ta Phin back on the night train to meet with tour operators in Hanoi. We also have an exciting pottery crafting experience planned in Ba Trang village, for these amazing women, that will ensure they return to their own village inspired with a special self made souvenir in hand.

Let us not forget that we have planned many meetings including community meetings and meetings with the Sapa Government, tour operators, teachers, and follow up meetings with the homestay owners and village CBT Management Board Members.

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Ta Phin is open for business!

Meeting with homestay owners and CBT Management Board in Ta Phin

On Thursday morning, homestay owners and a few other residents with close ties to the tourism industry met with the Ta Phin CBT Management Board. It was a great meeting with incredible outcomes. The packaging and pricing that the Board had drafted was modified with feedback from the homestay owners and approved by everyone who was present. The group also approved a penalty in case of complaints to ensure quality control would be maintained. The group also prepared for Sunday’s private sector workshop.

Meeting with homestay owners and CBT Management Board in Ta Phin

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CBT Management Board in Ta Phin taking great leaps

CBT Management Board meeting

On Wednesday evening, we held our second meeting with the Ta Phin Community-Based Tourism Management Board. The focus of this meeting was to make some decisions at the CBT Management Board level that would be brought to the homestay owners on Thursday morning. The Board worked through a number of issues, and the meeting was very productive.

We covered five key items:

1. Product pricing: The CBT Management Board was working on creating a list of tourism products available through the homestays in Ta Phin, and setting a fixed price for each. This will allow them to market themselves to the tour operators in Sapa and Hanoi more effectively, and be able to sell package tours through the Board. The group generated pricing for each of their products to be presented to the homestay owners for approval.
2. Fee for CBT Management Board: In order for the CBT Management Board to be sustainable, we are concerned that the work is being done on a volunteer basis. The group agreed on a percentage for each product offering that would be allocated to the Board in order to ensure ongoing operations and to contribute to community projects. This percentage will be presented to the homestay owners for approval.
3. Charity donations: In the past, the community had a box for receiving charitable donations from tourists for making improvements in the village, but it was not well managed. However, it generated quite a bit of revenue when it was in use. The Board would like to initiate a process for charitable donations.
4. Quality control: In this type of situation, it is important to have a strong degree of quality control. If a tour operator has a poor experience in one homestay, it negatively impacts every other homestay in the village. The Board discussed how they would manage complaints and also considered the creation of an exit survey to gain a better understanding of tourists’ experience in the village.
5. Regulations for tourists: In order to ensure a quality experience, a set of regulations was drafted for the process off tourists coming to Ta Phin. The possibility of creating a leaflet to share this information was discussed.

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Reconnecting with the CBT team in Ta Phin

Mr. Xa, Chairman of Ta Phin and their CBT Management Board

On Sunday, February 23 we are hosting a workshop between the homestay owners and members of the Community-Based Tourism Management Board in Ta Phin and a number of tour operators from Hanoi and Sapa town. They are working towards developing a relationship in which the tour operators can book directly with the CBT Management Board, trying to increase the economic benefits the community retains from homestay guests.

On Tuesday afternoon, we arrived in Ta Phin and immediately met with six members of the Ta Phin CBT Management Board, as well as a few homestay owners and other residents. It is a difficult week to set up meetings and training, as all of Ta Phin is mobilized to get organized for the large festival that is scheduled for Saturday so we are taking any and all opportunities that come our way.

At this meeting, we discussed Sunday’s workshop to ensure that everyone is able to attend, and began to discuss what issues need resolution before the meeting. We decided to set up a meeting for Wednesday evening, after everyone’s workday was complete. Our agenda was lofty and we were hoping to work through five issues in preparation for our meeting on Sunday. We were hoping to set package prices that all homestay owners would agree to, so that they can present a united front to the tour operators on Sunday.

Initial CBT Management Board meeting in Ta Phin

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Let the preparations begin

To get ready for our time in the villages we have had lots of preparation to do, both in Hanoi and in Sapa. We were joined by Trung, one of the student volunteers from Hanoi Open University (HOU), to assist us with our errands in Hanoi and smooth the language barrier. Trung and Rachael purchased supplies, and got CBT business cards printed at a local print shop. 



We got our business cards printed. Can you find Kyle Sandilands card?

We met Ms. Ngoc Anh, the project lead at HOU, to refine our itinerary and finalize our plans. We also took some time to deliver invitations to a number of tour operators for the private sector workshop that the CBT team is facilitating next weekend. 

Ms. Ngoc Anh, Jen and Nic discussing logistics

We arrived in Sapa early this morning and we're off to a great start. We went for lunch with Peter Gilbert, from Sapa O'Chau, to discuss the private sector workshop. Sapa O'Chau will be hosting the workshop next weekend in their new facility. We are currently in the process of connecting with local tour operators to follow up with them about the private sector workshop.

On the training side of things, we have been out in the community connecting with people from Ta Phin and Lao Chai to let them know we are here and that we will be delivering training and working with people in the villages this week.

 

Jen connecting with women from Lao Chai

The HOU team, Ms. Ngoc Anh, Ms. Huyen and Trang, will be taking the night train to Sapa tonight to join forces with us. From there we will be making the game plan for the next week.

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Colours of The Red Dao

Last night I was inspired to get creative so I got out my art supplies and made a new entry in my art journal. It is the first of many that will be dedicated to my Vietnam adventure. The profile picture on the CBT Facebook page(pictured below) is what inspired me to create my journal entry (pictured above). It shows beautiful hand embroidered clothing worn by traditional Hill tribe Red Dao Women of Ta Phin.

My Journal entry took me a couple hours but the hand-made embroidery takes the women five to six months! Their detailed work is all done by memory and each woman makes a new set of clothes for her family once a year and the old set becomes the clothes for farming.

Take a moment and try to imagine what it would be like to have just two sets of clothes. Imagine how different our culture would be if we too let go of material possessions and, like the Red Dao, valued family and community instead.





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Setting a plan, charting a course...

I have been working on the itinerary for the February trip the last couple of days. For those who are curious I will give you the Coles notes, and include a bit of info about each place that we have an opportunity to visit.

The trip begins with two days in Hanoi. A hustling, bustling city the architecture has been described to me as a blend of French Colonial and traditional Vietnamese styles. Tree lined boulevards abound and reflect Hanoi's history as the capital of French Indochina. The food sounds amazing, and reading Rachael's blog about her first pho experience had my tummy rumbling. One of my favorite things about travel is experiencing the food. I can't wait to cram in as many new dishes as possible.

It's not all play, though. There is work to be done: obtaining supplies for our modules, exchanging money at a jewellery store, meeting with the folks at Footprint Vietnam Travel to get tickets, and recovering (at least trying) from the travel are just a few of the tasks from a long list that need to be checked off to ensure that the trip is a success. We'll be doing this work with the HOU student volunteers, relying on them to help us navigate the city streets.

From Hanoi we travel by overnight train to Lao Cai. The town is located on the border with China, and is an extremely important border crossing and economic link with China. Depending on the weather we might be able to spy Hekou on the Chinese side of the border. We do not have time to linger, as we have a bus to catch to Sapa.

Sapa, I am told, is like a central hub to the smaller villages of Lao Chai, Ta Phin (both to the North), and Ta Van (South)  This link will take you to a map to provide some context. Sapa was established by the French as a hill station in 1922, although it has a history which is barely documented going back to at least the 15th century.

We will be spending two days in Sapa, and this is where the real work begins for our PATA Foundation funded project. We will be prepping for the workshops we will be running. The prep work involves: inviting the private sector operators, figuring out food, and crossing the T's and dotting the I's.

Check back for part two of this blog, where I'll get into the CBT Vietnam activities we will be engaging in in the villages of Ta Phin and Lao Chai.

Bye for now...

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Project to continue!

Great news has been handed down to the CBT VN team recently. The Dean of Global and Community Studies at Capilano University (Dr. Chris Bottrill) has announced that an agreement has been reached with the PATA Foundation to continue the project in order to add to the recent surge of successes and momentum in the region of Ta Phin. Included in the extension of the project is funding for the village of Lao Chai.

The next two years will be exciting in the villages as the CBT team will look to further polish the host of products in Ta Phin and hand the project over to local ownership. The project in Lao Chai is in its infant stages, there is much work to do. Surely valuable experiences are just around the corner for Capilano University faculty and students, and likewise for our Hanoi Open University counterparts.

The CBT team would like to express our deepest gratitude to the PATA Foundation, and the hard work of all involved over the duration. We are all looking forward to what the future has in store!

Huge Thanks to the PATA Foundation!

To all you readers: help us out! Like our Facebook page here or follow us on twitter @CBTvietnam . There will be lots of updates to come! Stay tuned for more!


Also, check out our website at:
www.cbtvietnam.com

www.capilanou.ca

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