Author: KScarff

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. 

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). 

Thank you for your patience. We did not have any internet as the village we were staying in was very remote, so all of the blogs from this time will now be posted. 

Day 4 + continuing orphanage comments

The most sentimental part of this experience has begun as today as we travelled to a village in the Mekong Delta. After a long four hour bus journey with interesting conversations, and musical numbers along with an intense discussion of American politics and a scenic boat ride, we finally made it to the village!

Settling in, all of us were over the moon about sharing a room all together, boys and girls separated of course! We then got the chance to meet the people that have offered us accommodation and warmth, with lots of giggles involved because we couldn’t understand each other. They commented on our appearances and thought that Helene was fluent in Vietnamese. We all know that the language barrier between us won’t stop the strong relationships being built between us and that is one thing all of us are really looking forward to.

Heading to the site that we will be building the house on, we met the young family who will we be building the house for. They had two sons, 12 and 1 years of age and were extremely grateful for what we will be doing for them with the mother shedding a tear. At this point, many of us were really touched and knew that however difficult the task which awaits us may be; it will be more than worth it. 

The next couple of days will definitely be remembered as something really special and most likely life changing for many of us. We are super excited about the massive job ahead of us tomorrow morning as we learn to lay bricks and mix cement.

Lauren & Helene

Continuing comments about the orphanage visit on Day 3: 

Cole: Today’s activities brought out a lot of mixed emotions in me, I had never really experienced anything like this and was severely challenged in ways I had never experienced. It was a real confronting experience in the way the kids were challenged in many different ways, and I felt extreme gratitude towards myself in knowing that, these kids have to go through many difficulties everyday.

Emerson: Of the orphanage, I say this: the world has deemed these children sick, dysfunctional, broken beyond all hope of repair. But if lucidity is a measure of one’s ability to wilfully influence one’s place and condition in the world, then these children are more lucid than most; they have turned the supreme suffering of never knowing normality into contentment, and have taught me that the limit of happiness is not the quality of one’s life, but the quality one is able to believe one has. 

Amelia: The orphanage was a confronting and beautiful experience. Although it was bittersweet as you couldn’t help but feel sad for the kids it was extremely enjoyable. It was truly an amazing experience just to be able to give the kids a bit of happiness even if it was for a short time. The best word in my opinion to describe this whole experience is humbling. It truly made me grateful for everything I have and it made me realise how much I love making people smile.

Helene: Nervous about approaching the unknown, turned into an experience that was truly amazing. At first I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone, not knowing what to expect, but at the end of our visit to the orphanage, I was just so grateful to donate just such little time to make the children feel so happy. To see a smile on their face was just so special and it was so heartfelt and sentimental. Our trip to the Cu Chi tunnels was another experience of its own. Learning about the conditions that the soldiers fought in during the war was mind blowing. I was so amazed by the intelligence of both the Vietnamese and American soldiers and their tactics to win the war. I am so grateful of what I have and the value of a smile. 

Photos: Vietnam Red standing on the foundations of the house they are about to build with the family who are going to live in it; and on the boat to our village. A boat is the only way in or out of this area. 

+ Some more photos from the orphanage yesterday. 

Vietnam Red visited an orphanage for children with disabilities and the Cu Chi tunnels today. All students were asked to write two sentences about their day: the responses we received were exceptional and extensive (and a little too long for the blog) so we are posting a few here and the others in the next few blogs. Please note that we will be building a house in the Mekong Delta region for the next few days without internet so we may not post during this time. 

Cristian: visiting the orphanage proved to be a real eye opener as I had never faced children with disabilities on such a scale before. Ultimately it was a an experience worth encountering, and brought out maturity in all of us to be able to work with all the kids. 

Owen: Today brought home feelings for me, knowing a lot about, and working with disabilities previously, today’s experience visiting the orphanage was inspiring and beautiful. Working with the kids one-on-one made me realise how fascinating their behaviours were how happy many of them seemed when they saw us. 

Toby: The orphanage was very confronting at first because I had not worked or interacted with someone with disabilities but, after 5 minutes I realised that these people are very friendly, intelligent and full of joy. I will forever use this experience in further interactions with people and have realised how lucky I am.

Harrison: Growing up in the ‘Brighton bubble’ I believe that you never are challenged to extent I was today, with seeing multiple confronting ways innocent men had been killed, to young orphans with diverse disabilities. Although, it was evident that skills were developed today, such as learning to manage emotions when interacting with younger people.

Mia: Today was definitely a highlight of the trip so far. The orphanage where we interacted with severely disabled children was amazing and interacting with the children was very humbling. It was amazing how happy the orphans were that we were here and to see them smile straight back at you made me realise how little we need to be happy. We also went to the Cu Chi tunnels which was incredible and we got to experience how some Vietnamese people lived during the war. Today was really humbling.

Lauren: the highlight of my day today was visiting the gorgeous kids in the orphanage. It was a wonderful experience which clarified how privileged we are to live the life we do and challenged us to communicate not through verbal language but through facial expressions, body language and the universal language of physical touch. It is simply an indescribable feeling to make a child smile or laugh when they have little reason to and makes you wonder; with the amount that we possess, why do we find it so difficult to smile at times? This further enforced the importance of gratitude and the fulfilling concept of appreciation. It was extremely hard to walk away from the orphanage but doing so, I felt humbled and moved.

Matilda: The orphanage was truly an amazing place to visit, although at first I felt awkward and out of place, as I had no previous experience with disabled children. I was not sure how to interact with with them, however that soon faded. To see and interact with children who have so little, however find in their hearts to smile, was truly humbling and through this it enforced my perspective on how privileged we are to live in a place like Melbourne, where health care is easily available. We were able to build strong connections with the children we played, fed them and shared countless laughs. This led to a lot of tears from both us and the children when it was time to say goodbye. 

Photos: spending time with the children at the orphanage; testing out one of the original Cu Chi tunnels; and a group shot on one of the tanks. 

After a well deserved sleep, we were abruptly woken up by the heat. Even though some of us were still tired, we entered the breakfast buffet with smiling faces and enjoyed a variety of Vietnamese breakfast foods, from fried rice to noodles, and interesting local Vietnamese fruits such as Dragon fruit, and some familiar foods like watermelon and pastries. It was definitely strange having these foods for breakfast, but we were all stoked about the day ahead.
Entering the bus with an open mind, we traveled to China Town. We instantly felt the sun on our skin, melting off our sunscreen, and were greeted by an unfamiliar culture and a variety of smells, most of which we had never experienced before. The China Town in Ho Chi Minh City is not how we know it back in Melbourne. Here there was a diversity of items being sold, from Vietnamese food, to clothing and kitchen utensils. The hustle and bustle of the narrow pathways made the environment exciting. Although the heat made the sweat drip down our backs, we loved every moment of this experience and wanted to learn and take as much information in as possible.

We didn’t only visit China town but we also had the opportunity to learn about the religion on a deeper level by going to the Chinese temple.

We were definitely excited to jump on our air conditioned bus to journey to one of the most confronting experiences on this trip so far. We had no idea what was going to be placed in front of our faces as we entered the War Remnants Museum, which was once called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes. As a group our emotions were running high and after the visit there was significant drop in the mood, as we recalled the images and information that we had witnessed. After visiting the war memorial we had many questions about Vietnams history. The experience was educational and confronting, especially the pictures of the children and adults affected by the Agent Orange chemicals. The bus became quiet on the way back to our hotel as we had a deeper understanding of the history of Vietnam.

Putting together all the knowledge we had previously learned about Ho Chi Minh City after the last two days (especially the traffic- which may we add- is hectic) we were able to split off into groups of four or five to navigate our way to different check points around the city, including the Saigon Skydeck, where we were able to see a three sixty view of the amazing city. Yesterday we thought we were never going to be able to achieve this task as it is a foreign country with many different ways of life.

Vietnam Red is safe and happy and excited for the next 16 ahead! We are already professionals at crossing the road and it’s only been two days! (In Ho Chi Minh City, regardless of the traffic light colour, go!)

Missing you all!! 

Signing out -Eve and Danielle

Picture 1: Checking out some local transport on the Great Race around Saigon. 

Picture 2: Vietnam Red in front of an American aircraft at the War Remenants museum.

Picture 3: Vietnam Red at the Chinese Temple.