URBAN DOMAIN 2024

Vietnam Orange Day 7

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The final Brick

  

Despite our excitement to return to the never-sleeping Ho Chi Minh city we were determined to complete our part of the tiring yet blessed house build. With breakfast beginning at 7am we rushed through our usual-morning routine of shovelling down breakfast, wearing dirt-covered clothes and getting our essentials for the day ready to leave at 7:30am.

Upon the departure from the home stay to the construction site we dread the 45 minute long boat ride. We were all excited to complete our part of the new house for the family who deserves it the most. We grabbed our gloves and got right to work laying bricks and mixing cement. We assembled our incredible brick line it was almost as efficient as a conveyer belt. Towards the end of our time at the site, the group was delighted to see the excitement and happiness we brought upon the family. It ticked over to 11:00am and we laid the finial brick, the whole family gathered in a group to take a photo. Many photos were taken to remember what an amazing and selfless project we completed. The family delivered a speech to show their appreciation, their love and their thankfulness for a project that may well change his life and his kids’ life for the better. Nick delivered a speech on behalf of Vietnam Orange thanking the family for allowing us to build a house for their children. Departing the village with them waving goodbye we travelled back to the Home-stay feeling accomplished and blessed to have the opportunity to build something so great for people that have so little.

   
      

   

    

Being greeted with a delightful lunch back at the home-stay we divided the gifts up for the pre-school kids. A short 10 minute stroll was all it took to see the smiles emerge on the kids’ faces. Before we could pick who’s gifts went to who, the kids already decided what they wanted. As everyone in our group pitched in something, it was an enjoyable experience to see how they all reacted and how happy it made them all.

  A further walk down the path led us to the pop rice factory. We all were amazed at how sustainable they were and how they reused and recycled their resources. Their huge woks filled with sand helped increase the temperature to help it rise above 160°C. The crackling that was heard almost instantly once the rice was thrown in was quite loud. As we made our way through the factory we saw the magical sight of hand made coconut toffee. Before we made our way home we were delighted and surprised to meet our new pet… a snake! Don’t worry it doesn’t bite!

  
We are all excited to return back to Ho Chi Minh city tomorrow for another fantastic day!

Now for life outside the wall,        

By Aaron & Bailey

Vietnam Orange Day 5

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Another brick in the wall

  
An early wake up of 6:30am wasn’t enough to kill the vibe of the day as we came to the realisation that today is the highly anticipated house build. After consuming an immense breakfast consisting of rice cake, bread rolls, omelettes and fruits, we boarded the Mekong travel boat and headed off. 

The site was 45 minutes away, but that did no harm to how excited we were to get our gloves dirty. Not sure what to expect in-terms of how physically and mentally draining the day would be, we got to work straight away. The build was split into many stations consisting of brick piling, brick placing, sand collecting and cement mixing. As we began building the house for Deo, the grateful owner of the house and his children, we began to realise the meaning of our exhaustion. As the day grew on, the formation of the house was present, the smiles of the villagers’ faces increasing.

The build wasn’t without some pivotal help from the Vietnamese tradesmen who would constantly laugh at us after making mistakes. Believe it or not, this laughter was constant throughout the day. As the day was coming to an end, things were taken to a whole new level. Not only did the exhaustion really become evident but we were also informed that 2 tonnes of sand needed to be transported from point A to B over a stretch of at least 100 metres. The drama throughout the day wasn’t as evident as we would have hoped but that was a problem no more when Miss Southey stumbled across a massive gecko and got the fright of her life! The day of building was concluded with a group photo and then we were on our way to the boat to return to the village. 
   
       

As we re-boarded the boat for the long journey back we filled in the time by spotting sketchy house setups and boat designs and, long chats about the tiring and exhaustive past day and the thrilling day ahead. We got back to the home-stay with a positive attitude to come home to a wonderful session of ‘journey doc’

Looking forward to the day ahead, missing everyone at home and hope to see you all soon.
Noah and Duncan.

Vietnam red-day 7: Final day on the house

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This morning we concluded our build on the Mekong River, with the majority of the walls finished. We handed the house over to the owners and they were incredibly grateful for our hard work. The smiles from the workers and owners were very touching and many hugs were exchanged. As we walked back from the building site we handed our gifts to the local children, who were happy to receive new colouring in pencils, books and small toys. We would have liked to stay longer but we had to leave early before the tide got too low, which we didn’t think of. After two boat trips and a bus ride, we arrived at a small island which we cycled around. It was an adventurous trek, but we had a lot of fun! It was a very different experience to riding a bike at home because the streets were very narrow. To ensure we were all safe we stuck to the right hand of the pavement unlike in Australia. Tonight’s dinner was made up of seafood caught from the Mekong river as our homestay is perched right upon it. It was unnerving for some to see a whole fish in the middle of the table, but for others this was the best part of the dinner. We made our own rice paper rolls with the delicious fish and other fresh ingredients. For the few students not so keen on fish, the delicious spring rolls were the best part of the meal. Following the meal we heard some traditional Vietnamese country folk music. This was played on traditional instruments by 5 local people. Luckily, Hiêú, our Mekong guide translated the meaning of the songs for us. At the end of the performance, the Vietnam Red group sang a song in return, led by Mr Tudor on the ukele. 
Our homestay is very pretty. The girls bedrooms are like old stables and the boys are in one dorm style room. The dining area is surrounded by hammocks overlooking the water. We are excited for the rest of the trip and are looking forward to proper showers tomorrow! 
Hannah and Issy 

   
    
    
    
   

LC pagodas – day 7

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Today we visited the killing fields that were very confronting to see and learn about. It was horrific to learn about the ways in which people were killed and tortured. The ways people were tortured were ruthless and disturbing. The Khmer Rouge regime run by Pol Pot, started in 1975 and ended in 1979. Our new tour guide Mr T gave us insight to what life was like living in the time of the Khmer Rouge. We saw the sights of multiple mass graves containing hundreds of deceased people. The most confronting being the graves of hundreds of infants and women who were killed by getting their heads banged against trees, not to mention other form of execution. We all observed in silence and with heavy hearts as we paid our respects to all the victims in the Khmer Rouge Genocide. 

We then visited the S-21 prison, Tuol Sleng which was a once a school and Pol Pots regime turned it into a prison. The prison was once filled with many innocent people whose lives were taken from them. They were totured up to seven times a day without proper treatment, and kept against their will in chains and confined to their cell. Out of the thousands of people who once entered the prison only seven managed to escape. Out of the seven survivors, two are still alive today; their names are Chum Mey and Bou Ming. Chum Mey’s family were all killed in front of his eyes but being a mechanic is what saved his life, he was used to fix the type writers and was given food in return. He was imprisoned for three months and twelve days. Our visit to Tual Sleng Prison was a confronting experience to say the least, but will remain with us forever. 

We then went to the Russian market which was bustling with people and smelt like chicken and miscellaneous spices. We believe that they call it the Russian market because everyone is rushin’ to make   a bargain, actually the Russians used to trade at this location.  After checkn’ out the market we got on a boat and cruised down the Mekong river, it was really relaxing and the views of Phnom Penh as the sun set were beautiful.  We then climbed aboard a few Tuk Tuk’s and enjoyed a friendly race to our next destination. We arrived to the place where we went out for dinner which was a ‘non for profit’ restaurant,   There was  to a shop also trading there called Friends ‘N’ Stuff which sold many recycled items. 

Today was a jam packed day of activities and a roller coaster of emotions. We were all ready for a well deserved sleep .

By Emmy, Lizzy, Ana, Tom and Meg.

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

Vietnam Red- day 6: The build continues

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With another early start to the day, we commenced our second day of the house build. Looking back at how we left the house the previous night, we are proud to see that our image of the house is coming to life. At about 8am we continued our productive journey along the Mekong delta, for the deserving family. The sun was out and unlike the previous day it was not as humid but a dry heat. Everyone got straight into the work they had been doing the previous day with few job changes. The cement mixers started off slow and tired, but with persistence they continued to make one of the most important parts to the house. The brick layers, with the help of the builders (who are referred to as ‘sêp’ in Vietnamese) continued to lay the bricks, using the scaffolding. Even with the language barrier the builders and students managed to crack some jokes. With everyone having different experiences it is difficult to pinpoint how everyone felt throughout the day. For us, it was wonderful having the builders look after us and show us how to lay the bricks accurately. Cement mixing was a difficult task, but we were all really happy and enjoyed one another’s company. Everyone on the building site had a really positive attitude and we were just happy to know that the hard work that we did would pay off. We cannot wait to see the look on the family’s faces when the they see their new home.
Theo and Charlotte 

   
 
  

    
  

  
  
 

Vietnam Red-day 5: The build

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This morning we woke up to the sound of a down pour, which was incredibly loud on the tin roof that was above us. Early in the morning, we were greeted by a screeching rooster that wouldn’t stop crowing. Around our beds we had mosquito nets that worked surprisingly well. Even though it was raining buckets it was still very humid. Luckily for us, the weather turned out to be close to perfect for our first day of building. Aside from the ground being wet, and getting muddy it was a very successful day. There were two main jobs for the building process, mixing the cement and brick laying. Both tasks were equally exhausting, however at the end of the day it was all worth it for the outcome. We also had to get in a ‘brick line’ when required to pass the bricks up to where they were needed. All of us were quite sweaty (some t-shirts were drenched) and worn out from the work. When we finished building, we looked back at what we had achieved and felt very proud. We had started building nearly every wall in the house. The foundation that we had seen at the beginning of the day was full of brick walls by the end of it. During one of our breaks, we were given coconut water straight from a coconut. A few people quite enjoyed the taste of the coconut water, whilst some others weren’t too fond of it. We were surprised and the amount of work we were capable of doing in the time frame of one day. At the end of the day, we had some down time to relax and discuss stories from our day. After the long day we all had well deserved cold showers. To finish the day we had yet another delicious dinner and discussed our thoughts so far on the trip.
P.S I haven’t forgotten to take my malaria tablets yet.

P.P.S I’m having the best time ever!!! 
Jorja and Elyse