Nghe An Social Work Center: Bamboo, Tires, and Men

On Monday morning, we awoke early to head to the social work center in the Nghe An province. We were warmly welcomed by the center's staff, workers and children who are a part of the organization. All of the children met us with smiles and bouquets of flowers. We were lead into a large room where we were fed lychee fruit during an introductory speech. After this speech, we were put to work. At this point, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into in terms of the work load. We anticipated light manual work in the sun, but there was no way any of us could've been prepared for the intensity of what lay in front of us. For most of us, this was the hardest work that we had ever done. The labor consisted of moving full grown trees, hand-mixing cement, smashing cement walls with sledge hammers, stacking bricks, moving sand piles, plants flowers, rolled grass, and unhinged windows and doors. Although all of us felt exhausted from this grueling work, we agreed that it was some of the most rewarding work we had done. We all found it fascinating that all of this work was done by hand with only the help of bamboo poles and bike tires. 

At first, it was hard for us to picture how our week of work would fit into their four/five year long remodeling project. However, by the time Wednesday and Thursday rolled around, it was obvious that our group was making a large impact. We had completely transformed a run down courtyard into a beautiful garden by hand. It wasn't only the aesthetic looks of the garden that made us realize the effects of our work, it was the gracious thanks from the center's staff. They were brought us snacks during the work day, feed us lunch, and continued to thank us for our hard work. Even after leaving the site, several of us would echo the grateful words of the cement artist.. "Ok Thank you!" 

Overall, it was a great experience to work side-by-side with the Vietnamese workers, and be part of such a great cause. It was extremely rewarding to see the benefits of our hard work and know the impact that we had on the social work center. The welcoming staff truly made us feel as though we would be welcome back at the center at any point. 

--Adriane and Caroline