Day 6- Visiting the School
After receiving a wake-up call at 6:00 am, the students prepared themselves for the busy day ahead. At 7:00 am they gathered in the hotel lobby in order to cross over to the restaurant where they ate breakfast which would provide them with enough energy to power through the day and get as much work done as possible.
Upon arrival at the local village the students left their belongings at the house that they were building and commenced with their set tasks. Multiple jobs were delegated simultaneously to increase efficiency. One group was transferring rocks, dirt and cement to the house while others were mixing concrete and making the metal columns which would provide support.
During the breaks the local villagers provided refreshments to the students such as watermelon and coconut. In addition, some of the children, including the girl who was to live in the new house, delivered the students and teachers gifts in the form of lotus flowers and water hyacinth flowers. The students negotiated with the teachers for an extra hour in the morning instead of the afternoon allowing them to have a shower around lunchtime so the students would not visit the school children in an inadequate condition.
Due to the extra hour of working, the students had lunch at around 1:30 pm. The students were pleased with the westernized lunch for the day as it provided them a break from the Vietnamese food. After lunch, the students quickly gathered candy to reward the children and their belongings.
Following the arrival at the school, the students were greeted by a year group of around 60 ten to eleven year olds with a Vietnamese song. Some of the students sung back to them with the song ‘Kia Con Buom Vang’ which they had prepared the night before. Then students separated into 4 groups to teach classes consisting of Art, English, Maths and games. For Art, most of the students helped the children draw pictures and/or make paper planes and paper snowflakes. For Maths, the students instructed the children to answer basic Maths questions and they were rewarded with candy. Most of the students taught the children numbers up to 10 in English and the alphabet. Games including ‘Duck Duck Goose’, ‘Octopus’, traditional Vietnamese games as well as dancing to songs like the Macarena. Both the students and the school children were sad to see each other go and some of the children requested the signatures of the students.
The students returned to the hotel and received a much needed 1h45 minute break. Dinner was served at the local restaurant which was yet again another westernized meal which the students thoroughly enjoyed. After dinner, the students once again separated into preparing for the talent show activities of making videos and doing traditional Vietnamese dance and song.
Cani and Isabella
