Here's my latest essay for University World News. Below is an unedited version, including quotes that do not appear in the published version. Image: iStock While I was deeply gratified and moved to see the outpouring of support for Ukraine and its people on various social media channels in response to the Russian invasion, I … Continue reading A Call for Universal Empathy: We Are “The Other”
Author: Mark A. Ashwill
RootsTech 2022: Finding Distant Cousins
That's me! 🙂 RootsTech, an annual virtual conference that rightfully bills itself as the world’s largest family history conference, is organized by FamilySearch (FS), a project of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). FS is an extensive database of records about millions of people in the US and many other countries … Continue reading RootsTech 2022: Finding Distant Cousins
Russian Invasion of Ukraine Elicits Selective Outrage & Sympathy
While I'm gratified to see the outpouring of support for Ukraine and its people on various social media channels, I realize how selective it is knowing that the US government and military have done the exact same thing. In a sense, Russia is taking a bloody page out of the US foreign policy playbook, which … Continue reading Russian Invasion of Ukraine Elicits Selective Outrage & Sympathy
Mixing Historical Apples & Oranges
The book I'm currently reading. If you haven't heard of Kent Nerburn and you're interested in US history and various Native American tribes that have been victimized and marginalized by said history, I recommend that you to look him up. I follow him on Facebook (I'm an author who works in the fields of spirituality … Continue reading Mixing Historical Apples & Oranges
A Vietnamese tradition inspires a genealogical journey
Here's my latest essay for VNExpress International. In it I mention a December 2021 article From New England to Vietnam: Settler Colonialism in Cross-Cultural Perspective that was published behind a paywall. Since VNExpress doesn't include links to other sites, follow this link to another blog post to read it free of charge. Photo courtesy of … Continue reading A Vietnamese tradition inspires a genealogical journey
Trash, Trash, Everywhere, Everywhere!
Photo by MAA. This is a common sight in Viet Nam, especially in the countryside. Like a magnet, a small trash dump becomes a large one. Let's take a partial inventory of the items in this disgusting pile of garbage, shall we? ---lots of plastic bags (it can take up to 1,000 years for a … Continue reading Trash, Trash, Everywhere, Everywhere!
Small Business Loyalty
Bottom center is a barbershop. Something I've noticed about the small market sector in Viet Nam is people's loyalty to a range of family-run businesses that are at risk of being driven to extinction by large companies and chains that promise and often offer greater selection and lower prices. (This is a trend not unique … Continue reading Small Business Loyalty
Happy Lunar New Year! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới 2022!
Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, Rewarding, & Peaceful Year of the Tiger! Shalom (שלום), MAA
Putting Garbage In Its Place
These pictures were taken this morning here in Dalat. How on earth can people be allowed to do this? Why does the city not enforce the law? Paul Olivier, Dalat The quote and photos are from a recent Facebook post by Paul Olivier, a US expat who lives in Dalat. Paul is a passionate advocate … Continue reading Putting Garbage In Its Place
The Transition & Continuation of Thích Nhất Hạnh
Look into a plum tree. In each plum on the tree there is a pit. That pit contains the plum tree and all previous generations of plum tree. The plum pit contains an eternity of plum trees. Inside the pit is an intelligence and wisdom that knows how to become a plum tree, how to … Continue reading The Transition & Continuation of Thích Nhất Hạnh
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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