Column: Abroad in Vietnam, Tropical Semester at Can Tho University

Expectations were exceeded and many lessons were learned this week in Can Tho, Vietnam. As promised, I am here to share with you what we experienced on our excursions to the Mekong Delta and in the classroom as part of Can Tho University’s Tropical Semester program, as well as some of our …unexpected extracurricular activities. Brace yourself because it was quite the week.

When we arrived in Can Tho, we began our stay by sharing a meal with some of the professors, representatives and students from CTU. I was shocked by their kindness and generosity toward us, but over the week, I came to learn that this is just how people are in Vietnam — unbelievably welcoming and friendly. We had a great time getting to know some of the people who would be leading our Tropical Semester. 

Tropic Semester is CTU’s international program that focuses on informing students about the environment and agriculture within Vietnam. Students from all across the world, including us, have the opportunity to interact with farmers and scientists in the delta and learn about the research CTU is doing regarding agriculture and aquaculture under the effects of global climate change. 

Now, that is a ton of science-based jargon I couldn’t have told you anything about a week ago so, hopefully, a little breakdown will help you understand why this delta and the issues surrounding it are important enough for CTU to share internationally.

The Mekong Delta is a network of water channels that are part of the bigger Mekong River that runs through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and of course, Vietnam. It makes up the southwestern region or bottom portion of the country and fans out in a network of water channels to meet the sea. The delta is crucial not only as farmland to grow crops and aquatic foods to feed the country but as a cultural center for everyday Vietnamese life in the south.

Because of climate change, so much of that culture and reliability is disappearing. Sea levels are rising, and salt is moving into the delta, salinating farming and living areas that have had and relied on fresh water for generations. Dams built by surrounding countries are altering the natural flow of the Mekong and disrupting the sediment level the banks in Vietnam rely on to replenish. The coastlines are eroding, and animal and human life along the river is being disrupted. Essentially, there are a plethora of issues happening all at once that are working together to create one giant problem for Vietnam. 

To show us the impact of these problems, CTU provided us with the most meaningful conversations and experiences away from the tourism of the floating markets and city tours. We spoke to farmers who were excited to share their new farming practices with us, as well as their concerns about what to do about the change in weather patterns and the growing salinity. Researchers wanted to tell us about the rice they were experimenting with and how the shrimp were doing in different conditions in the aquatic farms. We collaborated with students who wanted to come up with ideas for how we could help local populations. Everyone we interacted with was excited to share their solutions and ideas with us regarding the Mekong.

I present climate solutions along with CTU students. Photo by Jennifer Peeples.

Now, if you had asked me about these solutions for the issues in Vietnam before my time in Can Tho, I would have had 100 answers for things that could work in theory. However, if there is one thing I learned in the past week, it’s that some ideas look great on paper but not so much in practice.

The people here are finding ways to live with climate change because it is impossible to eradicate it alone. Their livelihoods depend on being able to function despite it. There are 100 solutions, but you can’t know what works until you try. It is going to take a lot more than a few students traveling to Vietnam or the ideas of a student journalist to change the state of the climate, but what CTU is doing is a push in the right direction. They are making the effects of climate change available for other people to witness from the perspective of those who have to live with them.

For right now, all we can do is listen and work to share what we know about the delta and its importance to Vietnam with other people. All of the issues going on with the climate can be scary, but it helps just to know that there are people in the world who care just as much as you, even if they are on the other side of the planet.

I want to extend my thanks to Can Tho University for hosting us and welcoming us this week. They were so kind and helpful, even when I came down with a little case of heat stroke. Did you know you can find a motorbike inside a hospital room? I didn’t either! We certainly made some unbelievable memories and will forever have stories to tell of our time in Can Tho. With a little bit of help, we can hopefully bring the knowledge they shared with us back to USU.

Next week, we fly to Da Nang, where we will set up camp for a few weeks to dive into our studies. With how Vietnam has received us so far, we have no doubt Da Nang will be just as magical as the rest of our trip has been. For now, please enjoy this photo of me in the CTU medical office.

Me in the CTU medical office with a motorbike.