My name is Quang Vinh. I have been with Community Hospital Network for 24 years. I am currently the Director of Educational Services at Community Anderson. You may have known me through HIPAA and Relationship Development activities at CHA. I’m also a member of the Diversity team and that’s the reason why I’m on this page to tell you more about my origin. I have a bachelor degree from Indiana State University and a master degree in Business Administration from University of Indianapolis. I’m married and the father of three boys ranging from 19 to 14 years old.

I’m from Viet Nam (this is the correct spelling; Viet Nam is not one word). I came to the States in 1975 after the fall of South Viet Nam to the communists. The journey from South Viet Nam until recently was a long hard one but my dad was right to urge us, my brothers and sisters, eleven in all, to leave when we did. There was no way we could be where we are now if we have not left our beloved country and adopted this land as our own. We all worked very hard and have achieved success in all endeavors that each had to set out to accomplish.

In early November of 2004, I had the opportunity to join my sisters, nieces, nephews, after their yearly tour of duty with the Doctors without Borders program in Viet Nam. We toured the country from the North all the way to the South. This was my first trip back to Viet Nam after almost 30 years. It was a fantastic rediscovery experience of places I have known and places I only heard of but I have never set foot on. The year I was born, the country was divided into North (Communist) and South (Republic). Here in the states, the older generations have known Viet Nam mostly through the horrifying images of the Viet Nam war on their television sets. The younger generation may have not heard about it at all. I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the facts about Viet Nam.

Total Area
127,244 sq mi (slightly larger than New Mexico)

Population
(2004) 82,689,518 (15th most populous in the world), with annual rate of increase 1.29%. You can say we don’t watch a lot of TV!

Major ethnic groups
Vietnamese 85-90%, Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Man, Cham, and we can tell the difference among ourselves.

Adult literacy
(2003) 94% total, 95.8% male, 92.3% female

Education attainment
No formal schooling 16.6%, incomplete primary 46.6%, primary 23.5%, secondary 6.5%, higher 6.8%. Education is the main priority in all the Vietnamese households.

Language
The Vietnamese language had its origin from Mon-Khmer, Tai and Chinese, but with its own pronunciation, even though the writing resembled that of the Chinese writing. In the 1600, two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries romanized the language by developing a writing and spelling system using the Roman alphabet and several signs to represent the tonal accent of Vietnamese speech. This new roman script quickly replaced the Chinese-based characters and was declared by the French who occupied the country then, as the official language of Viet Nam in 1910. Viet Nam was declared independent from France on September 2, 1945. As a second language, the older Vietnamese generation speaks mostly French, the younger generation, English. Just so you know, I can’t read Chinese, or Korean, or Japanese, or any other Asian languages because they are all different.

Location:
Viet Nam is at the tip South East corner of the Indochina peninsula, bordering China on the North, Laos, and Cambodia on the West and the South China Sea on its entire East side. Coast Line: 3,444 km (excludes islands) Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest with the highest point being the Fan Si Pan peak at 3,144 m.

Climate:
Tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March)

Currency:
dong, 1 U.S dollar equals 15,700 dong. You can buy a lot for a couple of bucks there. That’s why Viet Nam is named by Conde Nast one of the most fabulous secret vacation destinations.

Religions:
Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs, and Muslim.

Resources:
phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower.

Economy:
Very limited because of a very close-minded and corrupted government. Poverty rampant.

Politics:
Communist regime. Viet Nam, as other communist states, realized that total socialism does not work. The government there turned a blind eye from a budding capitalism, helped with a healthy dose of government corruption and briberies. Everywhere we went, private entrepreneurship thrives. There is definitely more foreign investment presence in the country. Most the resorts and hotels we stayed at, highly rated by international standards, are all owned by Japanese, French or Australian companies. It’s definitely a great travel destination since the value of the dollar is still very high there as compared to Europe. Vietnamese craftsmanship is unparallel in lacquer ware, silk embroidery, and woodcarving. I’m planning of going back for another visit soon.