No Longer an Intern

My last responsibility as an intern (plus if I wanted to get my last check) was that I write an article for CIDA. Here is a sneak preview ...

Motorbikes’ zipping in every direction, surrounded by almost four million people, and noodle shops on every corner was what I did not expect upon my arrival to the humble capital of Vietnam. My WorldLINK CIP six-month internship was in Hanoi where I worked with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN) as a planning intern and the Vietnam Liaison Officer.

My aunt's cafe and home in Saigon where I enjoyed many fresh fruit shakes.

FCM’s Municipal Partnership Program (MPP) has been carried out in Vietnam since 1997 and promotes sustainable development and local governance in developing countries through partnerships between Canadian and oversea municipalities. The projects are two to three years long and my main role was to provide support to the following three Canadian-Vietnamese MPPs:

• City of Fredericton & Lang Son City – Tourism Planning and Development through Public Participation in Lang Son City
• Ville de Saguenay & Nam Dinh City – Capacity Building of Local Administration for Land Management and Taxation in Nam Dinh City
• Strathcona County & Vung Tau City – Data Collection and Municipal Communications Strategy for the Management of Improved Service Delivery for Migrants in Vung Tau City

Learning to make my aunt's special Tet cookies.

I spent the first month in Ottawa working in the FCM office where I was provided training and background work on the FCM-ACVN projects. I traveled to Hanoi at the end of September and worked in the ACVN office for the duration of the internship. The five months in Vietnam were busy with activity, I had the opportunity to travel across the country, participate in technical missions, do field research, and work directly with the Vietnamese and Canadian partners.

In terms of professional development, I’ve had valuable experiences and a variety of learning opportunities. My career aspirations are in municipal governance, economic development, and international work and this placement was appropriately suited to my professional and also, personal interests. My heritage is Vietnamese and this internship gave the opportunity to visit Vietnam and family for my first time.

Working with the ACVN was a positive and constructive experience as I was able to be apart of a Vietnamese NGO and observe the daily activities of the office, learn how they worked with international partners like FCM, and see how they delivered capacity-building workshops to their members. The staff welcomed me and I was treated as part of the team.

The FCM-ACVN work I carried out involved project management and support. I attended technical missions in Lang Son and Nam Dinh as an observer where I was able to see the Canadian delegates ‘in action’ and collaborate with their Vietnamese partners. In Vung Tau I had an active role in the initial phases of the project where I led a 2-day workshop reviewing the MPP proposal, prepared and carried out a 6-day workplan for field research in Vung Tau, and wrote a research report that will used as the baseline assessment for the next phase of the project. In addition to the MPP work, I assisted with FCM’s support to the development of ACVN’s association services and project management capacity, including the project implementation of Communities in Bloom, which targets increasing women’s participation in local government.

The wide tree-lined boulevards are remnants of French colonialism when Saigon was the capital of Indochina.

My internship objectives were to: gain relevant professional experience in development projects dealing with Vietnamese urban planning issues; build a strong network with local and international organizations, specifically Canadian and local NGOs; and to find planning-related employment after the internship. I was able to achieve these objectives as well as develop a deeper understanding of development issues that face the Vietnamese people. Local friends have been candid about how their way of life has changed between generations, for both better and worse. This experience has reaffirmed why I became a planner - to help improve the quality of people’s lives.

Look at all the crazy power lines! Very typical in the cities.

The role and significance of planning is increasingly growing in Vietnam, compounded by its burgeoning populous and opening economy. I feel the optimism in the air of good things to come, but foresight, management, and planning will be necessary to ensure sustainable long term growth. I appreciate the work I was able to contribute as it has allowed me to be apart of development in a country where my family laid its roots. Six months have come and gone, but my time in Vietnam will sure not end.