Day #11 - Hanoi Ethnology Museum

Today our guides from Bloom Microventures took us to the Hanoi Ethnology Museum, so we could better understand the ethnic diversity of Vietnam. It also helped us understand more about the villages that Bloom works with, as many have high concentrations of ethnic minorities.

54 different ethnic groups are officially recognized in Vietnam. The largest is the Kinh or Viet group, which makes up around 86% of the population. All other groups are much smaller, but each has its distinct language, foods, traditional dress and cultural practices.

The Hoa Binh province, where Bloom works and where we we are spending most of our time in th field, is home to different ethnic groups, including the Muong, Kinh, Thai, Tay, Dao, H'Mong and Hoa. 

The museum gave us a great overview of the huge diversity in the country. 

In the museum grounds there was also a fantastic display of the different traditional buildings that are found in various villages. Amazingly, each of these structures was actually bought from a village somewhere in the country, dismantled and shipped to Hanoi, then put back together with the help of traditional owners of the display. The workmanship was incredible, and many of the structures were rebuilt in just a couple of days.