Knowing that this was the final day of our Mekong delta adventure we were reminiscing about the past few days of work as we jumped out of bed and got ready for breakfast. After breakfast, everyone involved themselves immensely in building the house as we wanted to make the most of our last day. With many of the jobs being delegated to be as efficient as possible, we got to work. Many of us had contrasting feelings, the most common being excitement and melancholy.
We built, weaved and erected parts of the house until it was tools down. The locals found it amazing that we could build even though none of us had any experience. Soon after we “handed over keys”. Many of the connections between our group and the locals were coming to an end but we knew the memories would last forever. Of particular note was our interaction with the local ice cream man who refused to take money for our twenty-six ice creams because he was thankful for our contribution to his community. The group vibe reflected the family’s feelings of satisfaction as the house neared completion.
After leaving the village, we travelled by boat, bus and bike to another part of the Mekong delta where we were greeted with a traditional performance of Vietnamese culture at our home stay. It opened up our eyes about the differences between our Australian and Vietnamese cultures, a topic which also came up in our group discussion afterwards by Ms Scarff. Overall our experience in the village on the Mekong Delta has changed our perspectives on the world by how happiness can be found in the simplest of things.
P.s HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!!!!!!- From Lucas. Had some really nice fish, you would be jealous baba – Ayda.
Lucas O & Ayda
Continuing comments from the orphanage visit on Day 3:
Zak: At the orphanage, before I didn’t realise they were disabled orphans so I was surprised at first and I haven’t interacted with disabled people face to face. We all got a chance to interact with the children, this was a really humbling.
(Comments from Jessica, Eve, Danielle & Emma will be posted with the blog on Day 9).
Photos: presenting the (almost) finished house to the local family; the girls saying farewell to their village family; leaving the village on a boat; tiling; putting on the kitchen roof; the local kids help with the weaving; more bricklaying (very straight bricks today); playing with the local kids; cycling to the homestay. 
