We were woken to the sound of roosters and the smell of lacking deodorant. Breakfast left us filled and ready for the long day ahead. Sunscreen and insect repellent was lathered on, and with gloves in hand, we were set to go. After the short walk and boat trip, we arrived at the building site where we were briefed on how to lay bricks and mix cement.
The worksite was divided into two core crews; the cement mixers and the brick layers. Both equally as challenging and eventually equally as tiring. We learnt very quickly that brick laying required an eye for perfection, it is much harder then crafting Lego houses. Cement mixing required a cement mixer, which we did not have. This meant that six of us were to become human cement mixers.
Brick after brick the house started to form. By our morning break we had a lot done, a start to most of the major walls and everyone’s skills had increased dramatically. Lunch was delicious, served to us by the local family. After a mid-day siesta, in which nothing out of the ordinary occurred, we ventured back to the site and prepared for another good session at the construction gym. With a lot of work done we were ready to put the trowels down.
On the walk back to the house, we reflected on our bricklaying technique. More importantly, we took in the surrounding environment and culture. Dinner tonight was once again authentically amazing.
After our first day as tradies with the expert Mr Slykhaus, we are all ready to hit the hay and are eager to begin our long day ahead tomorrow.
Thanks Mum and Dad for allowing us to have this experience and opportunity. So far we have constantly been inspired by the culture that surrounds us.
With much love
Cris & Owen
Continuing comments from the orphanage on Day 3:
Dmitry: In a day with many feelings, it was the orphanage in particular that drained out many emotions from me that I had rarely experienced before. Realising how privileged and a ‘step ahead’ we are in our Melbourne region forced me to grind to a halt and just soak everything in. Seeing the children one on one, looking into our eyes, was rather difficult to comprehend as, although, I have had a slight interaction with young kids before, seeing these mentally challenged, sick, yet very positive young lives, was a page in my life that had never been turned before.
Lachlan: For the duration of today I found that the orphanage was a good experience for me in general, because I found out that the kids have great personalities and that it’s hard for them to do things that we do because of their physical and mental disabilities which obviously affects their social interaction with people. I believe that it helped me get a deeper understanding which allowed me to see how nice the kids really are. For the next section of the day, we went on a short journey to the Cu Chi Tunnels, I enjoyed this because I had the chance to investigate and learn more about the war between the Americans and the Vietnamese, where the Americans had an alliance with South Vietnam which they fought against their enemy North Vietnam. To conclude today’s experience I find that it was a good learning curve for me and also everyone else in the group.
Ayda: I was excited but nervous at the same time. The moment we walked into the orphanage, into one of the small rooms with 1-4 year olds, I had no idea what to do. After a while I realised that I just had to go up to one of the children and that small gesture would make them happy enough. The orphanage had the effect that I was expecting on me but it also did so much more. As I was expecting, visiting the orphanage made me appreciate life so much more and made me realise how lucky I was. As I sat with a little girl I realised she would never have the little pleasures that I had in life: braiding my hair, trying new foods, wearing new clothes or just sitting with my family and enjoying their company. I fell in love with all those children, not only did their happiness rub off on me but their endurance also did too. The visit to the orphanage did end up with me crying a little, but it was all worth seeing those children smile.
Steph: When I was in the orphanage I felt so excited but also scared of what was to come, meeting the kids and seeing them smile when we walked in the room I must say almost brought a tear to my eye. We then played with the kids and they were so easily entertained it was so beautiful. When it was time to go I must say I balled my eyes out and it really made me feel so grateful for my family and friends and my health.
Photos: tools down at the end of the first day of building! Drinking from a coconut straight off the tree; bricklaying & the human cement mixer(s).
