Day 7
On our 7th day venturing through the country of Vietnam, our morning was abruptly woken by the sound of chickens signalling the start of a long and humid day. We embarked on our last trudging journey down to the building site to add the finishing touches to the house, including the tiles at the front entrance. After long hard hours of sweat and tears, we handed over the house to a most grateful and fortunate family. During the ceremony, quite a few tears were shed by the husband and wife who graciously accepted the 2 days work. In addition to the house, the extra funds that we had raised were used to purchase essential furnishings including a dining room table, a kitchen cabinet, china, a mop, a fan and much more.
Handing the nearly complete house over was rewarding and was followed by the visit to the local school of the island and presented gifts to the 99 children who were all in grade 1 and grade 2. We found that each year, only one student who achieved the most amount of success in class were given 2 books for the whole year, so every student was elated to receive 4 books, snacks, and pens in a little pack for each child. We played with the children, allowing games to overcome the barrier of language. Students tried playing Australian Rules Football for the first time, Soccer and jumping up and down with their new skipping ropes.
After our last lunch in this remote village, we travelled to the mainland by boat, then followed by some tiring travelling by bus then another boat to our next home stay along the Mekong. The rain pattered down on the roof greeting us in this welcoming home stay. We were humbly received by the local family and had an excellent meal, a highlight being the elephant ear fish, served upright so the meat falls straight off the bones. After dinner we had a concert, including traditional folk music and their theatre. We then sung Advance Australian Fair to them as they wanted to hear a song from our country. This has been a rewarding, tiring and overwhelming day as we have looked forward to the village experience for many days.
Ashley D, Emily B and Harry Q
