Mekong Diaries: Day 61

Mar 242010
 

Day 61

Last night we briefly met our government guide, and this morning he is up before us, waiting downstairs in the dining room of our small hotel.

We order a baguette and omelet breakfast, washed down with strong oily coffee sweetened with condensed milk, (Health plan 101). Then we set off to our first meeting with Nguyen Quang Vinh, the Director of the Center for Managing Environment and Resources.

The weather is steamy and as much as we try to hide our bigness, the short walk across town to the offices has us properly hot and bothered. Waiting in the offices of the Center for the Director, we stand beneath the vents of every air conditioner we find, attempting to re-crisp ourselves like overheated lettuce leaves.

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Vietnam: Lawyer Held in Psychiatric Hospital

Mar 292007
 

VIETNAMESE: One More Victim Confined to Bien Hoa (01/19/07)

Length: 5:43

Female MC: While the United Nations is holding talks about the treatment of women, rumors from overseas and in the country are very concerned about Ms. Bui Kim Thanh, a female lawyer whose specialty is fighting against injustice. She has been held in Ward B4 at the Bien Hoa asylum for over two months, even there is no court order or medical order to keep her there, and even the Amnesty International Organization requested that the Vietnamese government set her free.

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