An anecdote from Hanoi

In the summer of 2008, our family relocated from Washington, DC to the World Bank’s Hanoi, Vietnam field office. This was our second international posting with the World Bank, the first being to Brasilia, Brazil, 2003-06. My husband, Dean Cira, first joined the World Bank as a consultant in 1996 and became permanent staff in 1999. His current position is as Urban Sector Coordinator for Vietnam. In addition to these two postings, we both served as Peace Corps Volunteers and have done other international travel combined and individually. Joining us in our two World Bank postings have been our two daughters, Naomi (7) and Ella (5), who currently attend the United Nations International School here in Hanoi.

When we first arrived in Hanoi, there were just a handful of expatriate staff members in the Hanoi field office. But, along with us there were four other families that arrived in 2008, and since then the number has been growing rapidly. Having had a fair amount of experience living as an expatriate, and particularly with the World Bank, we knew on some level what to expect in terms of the challenges and hurdles in moving a family abroad. We were also very fortunate because the families that were already established in Hanoi had learned that we were coming and helped us with everything from offering a place to stay during pre-assignment to lending us the required down payment cash to secure our rental house.

Over time, it became clear that in addition to the Overseas Assignment Briefing in DC and the Country Office assistance on the ground in Hanoi, expatriate staff and families could benefit from an ongoing communication mechanism to help answer questions about the transition both to the field and back to DC or another posting. Here in Hanoi, we decided to set up a Yahoogroups email list, consisting of all expatriate staff, their spouses/partners, the Administrative unit in Hanoi and the Global Mobility office in DC. This has definitely helped families to answer questions about their move (both to and away from Hanoi), as well as giving the field office staff a way to circulate information to all families efficiently. The email list also provides a forum to distribute information about interesting events happening in Hanoi, fundraising efforts within the office, office-wide events, etc. Personal matters and social invitations are not allowed on the list.

Setting up the email list took only a bit of start-up work (collecting email addresses, etc), but once up and running, the list runs itself. For those in a Country Field Office posting who would like further information about setting up a list, you can contact me at mishka_cira@yahoo.com. In addition to Yahoo, there are other communication tools out there, including Google and Facebook. Aside from electronic communication, the network of expatriate families in Hanoi helps new arrivals to settle in through welcome potlucks, assistance with the house search process, finding shops, etc. Having a network of families to help new arrivals has helped fill the gap for the families who may need more settling in assistance than the field office staff can provide.

Mishka Kohli Cira