I just realized that I have not posted for more than 10 days, and I had promised that I would try to write something every 10 days. I have been working non-stop in order to prepare for this upcoming trip to SE Asia again. I leave on Thursday night.

The thrust of my trip is to go on behalf of the Vietnamese Nom Preservation Foundation of which I was recently asked to be VP. I will be training the Foundation’s staff in the process of digitizing ancient books. In April I helped the Foundation sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Library of Vietnam to digitize their entire Nom collection. This trip will formally start the project. We will have with us a total of 4 board members (including our Chair) and several technical advisors. So the pressure is on. I will have about 10 days on the ground to make sure that all is well so that we can leave and know that the project will fly. This project will give the world a real glimpse into Vietnam’s history.

When I was there in April I digitized 2 books which were nearly 300 years old. It’s crazy. The Chair is hoping to be able to do a fund raiser while we are there. I find it really amazing how much the Foundation has accomplished on so little money. So if any of you feel so inclined in this holiday season, do send your tax deductible donation! (you should know that I am going as a volunteer, as are the others, and that our staff of 4 in Vietnam is paid about $250/month; so the money you send really does directly go into accomplishing the mission).

Anyway, I need to get back to packing and continued preparations! it’s late.