In Vietnam - Robert Bellizi

Robert Bellizzi’s fondest memory of Vietnam is the evening he spent with his landlord’s family, talking to them about the Vietnam war over a few beers.

Along with food and drink, his landlord shared his views on the war and his pride at being free of colonialism—and told Bellizzi very warmly how important it was for him to have a Canadian living in his house now, helping to make his country safer.

“He was so proud to have me there, he wanted to show me off to all his friends and neighbours,” says Bellizzi. “That really made a lasting impression on me.”

Bellizzi’s assignment in Vietnam was to help reduce people’s vulnerability to natural disasters. He left Montreal for central Vietnam in 2003. Then 26, it was his first project in a developing country. As an environmental analyst, his main job was to make sure that as infrastructure developed—such as new roads, dams, bridges or dykes—proper environmental risk assessments were completed, so that progress didn’t make the areas more prone to damage from natural disasters.

In 1999, torrential rains flooded central Vietnam, killing hundreds of people and leaving thousands of others homeless. Thua Thien Hue province, where Bellizzi was based, was among the worst-hit areas. It’s particularly vulnerable to “weather calamities,” such as typhoons, floods and forest fires, says Bellizzi.

His work also involved helping local people understand the relationship between climate change and more severe, unpredictable storms with greater intensities.

For example, Bellizzi arranged drawing contests for local students, asking them to draw pictures that showed their understanding of climate change and adaptation measures. “They drew levies around the town, and rice on the roofs to absorb water during a storm or flood,” says Bellizzi.

He also worked closely with engineers and a project monitor, conducting field visits and discussing the environmental issues with government to create greater awareness of them.

The toughest personal challenge he faced in Vietnam was living through dengue fever, he says. Dengue, sometimes nicknamed “break bone fever,” is a mosquito-borne illness that causes high fever, headache, severe joint pain, nausea and vomiting, and it can last up to two weeks.

“But it gave me a first-hand taste of what life can be like for the locals, who get it all the time,” he says. “It was a humbling experience.”

Bellizzi returned to Montreal in October 2004, and says the experience was enriching. “It broadened my perspective on different cultures and ways of working,” he says. “It was satisfying to see the difference I could make in terms of helping people learn about their physical environment.”

Bellizzi has since settled into a job as a public information officer for a Hydro Quebec project in James Bay, where he publicizes the findings of environmental assessments.