Translation of iniciativa

I understood that this was a real problem in this country and many foreigners came for sex tourism. Many bad stories had happened but my hosts were decent people. I could tell that right away.
They are not used to live together with other religions and cultures and they do not know how to coexist. In each region people assume things about others, but in some regions the hatred grows.
We spent the entire day doing nothing, just waiting for the night train which would take us into the northern mountain area of Vietnam, close to the Chinese border. The train left at around ten.