June 20, 2013
For our final day helping put the finishing touches on the Compassion House, we decided to work a full day. We began sketching and then painted the mural in the new studyroom. The mural represented both our experiences traveling through Vietnam, and included a map of Vietnam with labels for each city we visited. We also incorporated a set of books and a turtle to represent knowledge and education. The top of the mural sports the Vietnam flag along with the state of Michigan and the moon and star of the Turkish flag. Together, these symbols represented the diverse cultural backgrounds of our GIEU team. Thuy, the woman who would live in the new home, enjoyed the mural and mentioned how she especially liked the turtle.
Around the middle of the day, a small group of our team ventured into the neighborhood to take a break from work. We passed by several homes, and we were surprised when many of the families began to invite us into their homes. Linh Dien stated that it is common courtesy for families to invite guests into their homes, and guests may even stay the night if they wish. I found this concept unusual at first, given that travelers are often not treated with such hospitality in the United States. However, visiting each home we were invited to proved to be an incredibly rewarding experience. At the first house, the family helped Stephon to learn how to play chess. With the help of Linh's translations, Stephon was able to learn the moves of the game and play against an older gentleman while several other young men watched the game. Each of us had a wonderful time watching the match, and we thanked our hosts profusely as we left to continue our walk.
The second home we visited belonged to a family with a small baby girl. The baby's cute smile instantly won us over, and the family graciously allowed us to hold her. As we sat at the table, Linh explained how many of the family members were teachers in Saigon and at our location in Quang Tri. The family offered us tea as the baby began "talking" to Stephon. All in all, the friendliness of the family and their comfort with allowing us to hold their child continued to surprise us.
After saying goodbye to the family and shaking the hand of the eldest man, we traveled farther down the road until an older woman called out to us. She immediately invited us inside when we told her we were working on the house nearby. Inside we met her granddaughter and her two friends. They were studying for their college exams, and the older woman explained how she wanted her granddaughter to receive an education to have better job prospects than she had herself. We were instantly touched by the woman's genuine kindness. She told us stories from the American War, when planes relentlessly bombed the very same neighborhood where we were working. Despite these painful memories, she mentioned how it gave her great joy to see both Vietnamese and American individuals sitting at her table in peace. You could see that she meant every word with her sincere smile. We decided to take a picture with the woman before saying goodbye to document our day filled with friendly smiles and wonderful new experiences.
During the creation of the mural, our team also finished painting the outside of the home and cleaned the floors on the inside of the building. We worked in pairs to make the process more efficient, which helped when we needed to dry the floors after cleaning them. After a hard (and hot) work day, we left the neighborhood with a newly painted home and we brought with us a sense of gratification with the progress we had made.
June 22, 2013
Today we visited the village of an ethnic minority, and got a chance to interact with the families there. The children played around the village homes by chasing a tire with sticks. They were shy at first, and did not approach us until we brought out some snacks as a gift. After seeing the cookies and crackers they crowded around our group, creating a sea of smiles. We were surprised when many of the children started hiding the snacks they received in attempt to get more, but we were happy to be able to interact with them at last. ThuyAnh mentioned how most of the children did not know Vietnamese, but older villagers with more education were able to speak the language. Our group discussed in debrief how the children of this village differed from those we encountered at EcoPark and the social center. Several teammates mentioned the disparities in education between the groups, and how many of the children and families of ethnic minorities often fail to achieve high education levels due to family responsibilities and work. This creates a vicious cycle similar to that seen in the United States, with those born into families with less education having a significantly smaller chance of continuing on in their education. Yet, we also discussed how content the children of the village appeared. Did education impact the life satisfaction for the kids to the extent we think it did? In the end, no matter the level of SES or education, the children all appeared happy and energetic. This left me in a positive mood, as well, as we departed from the village in the afternoon.
-Kyle
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