Planning. Prepping. More Planning....Repeat!

The white board says it all: we have a lot of material to cover and tight deadlines to meet! It's crunch time for the CBT team as the hour of departure nears (merely 2.5 days!). Material is being developed as we speak to cover the project outcomes for this trip. On our training wish list are items like:

• Business/Tourism Association consolidation in Ta Phin
• Planning sessions with local government in Lao Chai
• Stakeholders workshops
• Product development in Ta Phin
• Environmental stewardship for Lao Chai youth
• And more!

Logistical planning for the trip is near completion. The students and faculty from Capilano University have been prepped, and are working with Hanoi Open University student and faculty to get all the details in place. Departure is so close I can practically smell the luke warm airline food. Now to get all my homework done!

Looking forward to hearing from CBT blog readers out there, share some of your Vietnam experiences or tell us about you favorite Vietnamese dish! We will need suggestions for our first night in Hanoi. Hit us up on Twitter @CBTvietnam or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cbtvietnam

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Work, work, work!

Yesterday we had an exciting day again! Taryn and Louise met the Footprint family for the first time and we all had lunch together (some duck for good luck - viet?) in a restuarant that overlooked the Red River.

Following that meeting we had a great meeting with Ngoc Anh from HOU. We're all looking forward to working together in Sapa next week! In addition to working with Hanoi Open University, we are very happy to accept the invitation to attend this years graduation ceremony starting tomorrow!

Today we'll be working on honing our activity and lesson plans, and staying hydrated in the 38 degree humid heat of Hanoi - we are definitely not in Canada anymore!

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Training Trip 1 - Complete!

A week and a half have passed since we (Chris, Kim, and Jen) have made our return to Canada. Overall, the first training trip was incredibly successful. A huge thanks goes to our training team leader Ngoc Anh, and her Hanoi Open University Student Assistant, Trang; cam on rat nhieu!

From learning how to hold a pen so that they could draw pictures, to coming up with personal goals to build new skills in tourism, to drafting a community plan for a new community house and market, the village learners impressed us with their keenness, enthusiasm, and growth.

Here are some of the details of what was accomplished:

• A total of 15 training sessions were completed in Ta Phin and Lao Chai;
• Cohorts ranged from Children (4 - 16), Young Entrepreneurs (16 - 35), Small Business Owners, Street Sellers, and Local Government;
• Modules included: Environmental Stewardship; Tourists' Needs and Wants; Tourists and You; Introduction to Community Based Tourism; Marketing; Community Tourism Planning, and Homestay Development.
  

Hanoi Open University student Trang working with local business owners.

• Learners have indicated a need to develop individual skills (tourism related) and have created plans to learn them in the next 4 months
• Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners have developed rudimentary business plans to either start, improve or grow their businesses through marketing, networking, or small infrastructure developments. They have also agreed to complete their plans in the next 4 months.
• Lao Chai community members have expressed an interest in developing new opportunities in tourism in their community through homestays.
• Ta Phin local authority is enthusiastic about gaining knowledge in Community Tourism Planning and have agreed to create, support, and help build the capacity of a Community Tourism Planning Committee made up of tourism stakeholders in the village.
• The first of a series of community planning sessions was held (attendees included: Ta Phin community members, local youth, local government, Sapa Trade and Tourism). A draft plan for a Ta Phin Community House / Tourism Market spearheaded by the Ta Phin community was a key outcome of that session.

Some of the children sitting in on a lesson in Entrepreneurship.

We are currently compiling and synthesizing all the information and data collected. Stay tuned for profiles of some Ta Phin residents and fun stories of our time in Vietnam and in Sapa. Once again, a very successful trip! We have all gained so much from the experience!

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