28/5/2017 0 Comments All in all... amazing.Yes, it wasn’t easy. But it was amazing.
I may have had a few “hardships”, yet no reason to complain. Everyday I saw the people I helped. A family who impoverished and helpless slept every night beneath a tarp... six on a small bed - if you can even call it that; the bed had no mattress, and no sheets. There was simply a bamboo woven mat placed atop for comfort and warmth. Keeping this in mind, I find it undeniably hard to say anything negative about our many nights in Vietnam. Yes, the hotel was only two stars and housed some small furry friends, but it was better than nothing. Actually I’d go as far as to say that it was pretty great. I mean, with a paint job and some new bathrooms I feel like it could get its 3rd star back. And I’m glad because this is one of the reasons that I signed up for Habitat. I’m very aware of myself and my many faults, one of them being a rare yet recurring lack of humility, and this trip was important in making me and others increasingly humble and grateful. It was uncommon to hear complaints, moans, or irritated mumbles because together we knew that what we had was a privilege and a gift; our comforts and homes to be treasured and not ignored, and our parents to be thanked not troubled. The most incredible thing about this trip was the sense of community. Truthfully, I wasn’t close with most of the people on the trip; whether we didn’t share classes, had large age gaps or simply just never started conversation, most of us didn’t really know each other - it didn't help that I’m new to the school and a day student either. But, speaking for everyone, getting to know the team was an amazing experience, and it really captures the habitat spirit. Sure, we go primarily to help others, but without the element of family and togetherness, it would be far less memorable. Here I will list a thank you to each of my teammates (In Alphabetical Order): Saria : Well, you I already knew, but you were a great compadre when it came to snack consuming, caffeine withdrawal, and your laugh really did put everyone in a good mood each morning. Thank You. Natalia : It was amazing getting to know you further at Skyline Coffee and I know our accents are different but yeah, I guess I don’t mind ‘Brazilian’, it is beautiful. Thank You. Valeria : Vale, you and I were friends before, but we became so much closer in those two weeks, and I’m really glad that we did. Wouldn’t want anyone else to bully when I’m bored. Thank You. Sakura : SAKURA. The most elegant person that I have ever met and probably one of the nicest. You and Nanako always have smiles on your faces, and are never in a bad mood, I don’t know how it’s possible. Thank You. Ms. Ho Tai : From math teacher to temporary mom, you really did a great job and I couldn’t have asked for a better parent on this trip! Thank You. Ivan : I really didn’t know you before this trip. But I discovered that beneath your satanic shirts, you have a heart. All kidding aside, I really did enjoy our many intellectual debates, our sharing of friends, and our making of friends with policemen and tourists all over Vietnam. Thank You. Mateus : It was great to get to know you more, and I truly enjoyed your nice presence. Always in a good mood, and only saying nice things about your girlfriend Luisa. Thank You. Nanako : Thank you for putting up with me, staying in Clownz for hours while we ( I mean I ) shopped, and paying for my oversized luggage. I owe you (literally I owe you 30 francs), and also thank god for the free food. Thank You. Rebeca : Our sonically dismal duets on the bus will definitely be remembered and trust me, if you keep throwing yourself off of furniture and onto the floor you’ll end up hurt someday. Thank You. Leo : Even though you snore, you make a very pleasant roommate and I’m glad that I got to know you a little bit better. Thank You. Ms. Tonge : This trip gave me the opportunity to really get to know you, and also the opportunity to regret not coming to BM sooner and having you as a teacher. Really, you made a great parent, and an even better GPS. Thank You. Thank you’s aside, this is supposed to be a summary so I shall summarize. The journey to Hanoi went by quicker than I thought, but truthfully because I put on my natural sleeping aid (an album consisting of 250 Top Hits from the 1930’s) and slept most of the way there. Now as I sit here, my pants and shirt stained with ounces of coffee from a previous flight (Coffee was spilled on the way to Bangkok from Hanoi, and as I write this I’m on a plane from Bangkok to Zurich), I realize truly how grueling 20 hours of travel can be. And I’m lucky, most of the team had to fly for much much longer. First Few Days: Our arrival in Hanoi was met with a Vietnamese man holding a sign that read “Brillantmont International School.” Safely assuming that was us, we went to the man (who by the way spoke zero words of English) and obeyed his signals and gestures until we finally reached the bus. The next two days were a haze of spring rolls, jet lag, and shopping. Whether we were cooking at the ‘Golden Rice Hotel’ with the help of our good friend Quang, or shuffling through the crowded streets of the Hanoi night market, the first few days were unforgettable. Next few days: We met the family for the first time, and were greeted by the local commune at the town center. It was all a little bit overwhelming, but we pushed through, got introduced to all of the necessary team members (such as the site manager and our host coordinator Hoang). We were then shown and taught how to exercise the many different necessary jobs on the building site - whether laying bricks, making cement, or transferring materials, every position played a vital role in the overall success of the build. We then visited our community's very own elementary school and had an amazing experience. They saw us as celebrities, asking for autographs and high fives, and their jovial character gave us a renewed sense of happiness and fulfillment. Next next few days: Grueling work, mixed with very quaint and unique R&R, but we reached the end of our build feeling happy and fulfilled. We first visited the beach... the water was brown, dangerous and cold, but STILL, it was quite fun. The next day was very different, and even more incredible - traveling through buddhist temples and cavernous grottos, it was simply unique and something we can never do anywhere else. The best part by far though was knowing we helped that family in need, and I wouldn’t have asked for any other way to spend those two weeks. Final few days: Finally back in Hanoi we ate good food, slept well, did some more shopping, and got ready for our flights... Hoang accepted two very awkward hugs from Ms. Ho Tai and Ms. Tonge, and away he went, leaving us stranded in the city. Finally, we were back in the Thien Thai Hotel - four stars and beautiful beds - finished packing our bags, and prepared ourselves for the many hours of journey ahead. All in all... amazing.
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15/4/2017 2 Comments Last day in thai binh...I struggled to get out of bed, like every other morning, snoozing the alarm to five more minutes - every five minutes. When I was finally capable of getting out of bed, away from the thin sheets of our Thai Binh Hotel, I got ready, put on my thick boots one last time, and headed to the lobby with my suitcase. Leaving the hotel was a relief, but we all knew saying goodbye wasn't going to be as easy. We started loading our luggage on to the bus, we were glad to leave the Thai Binh "Dream", but we took with us many unforgettable experiences (not all really pleasant I must say, like Ms Tonge having to say goodbye to Mike, the rat that lived in the walls of her room). When we arrived for the final time to the worksite, we were warmly welcomed to the house we'd helped to construct these past two weeks. After looking at the overall progress of the house (where we started our build from one meter underground, and now having more than two meters above the ground) all the hard work was worth it. We were welcomed with long hugs, strong handshakes and some tears. The commune had organized a goodbye ceremony for us. We started thanking the family for their hospitality, appreciating the welcome from the leaders of the commune, and the support from the friends and neighbors of the family. The translation from English to Vietnamese did take some time, since you could tell Hoang missed a couple of words, or sentences, from our speech. Well, I guess we will never know if the people understood everything we wanted to say, but you could tell by the people's reaction it was enough. After that, the father of the family thanked the team for our help, after expressing he "couldn't put his feeling into words" but was grateful for our help. During this time the mother and eldest daughter of the family were crying, while the grandma and the girls, Cuc and Bich, strongly hugged everyone they could fit in their arms. When everyone was done with their speech, we handed out some swiss chocolate, to Minh, who helped us with the build, making sure we did everything right, as well as Hoang, our host coordinator, and everyone in the family. We gifted the girls an inflatable globe which had our names written with a sharpie pointing at the different countries where we are all from, with a big red heart in Switzerland, where school is. As we explained to the girls where we were from, their eyes were wide open and filled with curiosity and excitement. During that moment the mother of the family started to cry, as I went to hug her to make her feel better she hugged me firmly but only for a couple of seconds, then she softly pushed me away, smiled and thanked the team for our help. We gave them a picture of the team with everyone in the family, from the first day when we started building, and another picture for the director of the school when we made our visit to the 5th grade classroom. When the time came to actually say goodbye, we were giving and receiving hugs from every direction. While I was saying goodbye, the grandma pulled me by the arm, and gave me a recently harvested watermelon as a gift from the family. This followed by another hug while, shaking me with all her strength (we all know she likes to hug). As we walked back to the bus, the family came with us. Once we got on the bus we all waved goodbye until we couldn't see each other anymore. The bus ride to Hanoi was more quiet than usual after being exhausted from the chain of early wakeups. When we arrived to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, our biggest relief was the food. We finally had good food, no more "cho and meo" restaurant (dog and cat restaurant) we ate lunch at a breathtaking Italian restaurant, while every bite we took of our pizzas and pastas tasted like heaven. For dinner we went to an amazing burger place called Chops, also AMAZING, we were all extremely glad we had "normal" food again.
- Rebeca 13/4/2017 3 Comments Last day of the build...The last day of work!! A refreshing shower woke us up in the morning. It was the first time we had to work in the rain. At the worksite, a soft wind kindly protected us from the heat. It was a tiring, yet very peaceful day. Shoveling the cement, passing the bricks and laying them down as if putting pieces in right places on a puzzle. We repeated this set of work. Very simple work, but involving energy and team work. Our last meal at the "dog restaurant" was filled with a lot of food, as usual. Although we were all tired of having two weeks of Vietnamese lunches, the restaurant family healed our heavy bodies from the work with their warm welcome. We left the restaurant saying good bye to Scrappy, their cute old dog named by Diogo. Now, the wall, which started from zero centimeters last week, have reached over my head. A house was actually formed by our hands. I really appreciate the big help from the local people at the site; wonder woman, tiny strong woman, Minh, the family, and many other neighbors and babies who cheered us up. And we wish them their every happiness in their new home.
- Sakura 12/4/2017 6 Comments Another hot day...After a good night of sleep, since almost everyone passed out before 10:30, we woke up at 6:30 as usual. We had our breakfast filled with eggs, meat or noodles and boarded our comfortable and air conditioned bus. After the 50 minute drive we arrived to what used to be our beloved cloudy and cool building site, but which now had become an oven (32 degrees and a boiling sun). During the morning, some layed bricks, some made cement and others carried the cement and the bricks around the site As we entered the restaurant for lunch, all our hunger went away in a second, as we smelled the very dubious smell (we suppose it is from the dog meat). All of us had rice again, but now with one new ingredient introduced by Sakura, seaweed furikake. We then went back to our bus and tried to take a nap on our 10 minute journey to the site. We arrived to the building site and did the same tasks as in the morning, always looking forward to our afternoon break, as everyone was roasting under the sun. Back to the dream (how we call our hotel, which has nothing to do with a dream), we washed our tiredness away and went to have dinner in the shopping mall in front of the hotel.
- Natalia 11/4/2017 1 Comment The beach... and back to workAfter the intense Saturday program it was a pleasure to wake up at 9:30 only to discover that the breakfast was over. Thankfully I had already thoughtfully purchased some "Dutch Lady" milk and a Vietnamese spinoff of the Nesquick cereal in the grocery store. Our breakfast was simple but good. At 10 we boarded our air conditioned bus and headed off to the ocean. After the backbreaking ride through the Vietnamese towns and villages we had finally reached the sea, however to everyone's utter disappointment there was no beach. After being bombarded by numerous complaints our teachers rightfully deduced that everyone was hungry. The restaurant we stopped in was situated 10 meters from the coast, our expectations were brought down as soon as we entered the restaurant due to the ubiquitous disagreeable smell that is present in the majority of restaurants in Vietnam. To our great surprise the seafood meal we had was delicious and fresh, this could not be said about the bathroom of the restaurant... After finishing our meal we proceeded to the "beach". As we approached we saw the red Vietnamese flags impale the sky from the boats parked next to the road, the sea was stormy and a pleasant breeze cooled our sunburnt shoulders. After arriving back to Thai Binh we went looking for a new place to eat, the Vietnamese food was starting to get somewhat, boring... With great delight we ate our dinner in the newly found place which served western food called "brother food". After having quenched our ever increasing desire for European cuisine we headed back to the rooms of our hotel where we braced ourselves for the upcoming build. After the somewhat tiring weekend it was time to go back to work. Thoughtfully going to sleep a couple of hours earlier than normally I couldn't sleep on the bus on our way to the site. As we mindlessly gazed at the Vietnamese roads through the window of our air conditined bus we enjoyed the last minutes of comfort in the next few hours. The temperature that day reached a scorching 34° in the shade, our build site was however under the sun... Imagine being locked in a sauna for several hours with no way of getting out while having to shovel countless buckets of cement or laying bricks, that is what our day felt like because that is what it was. Finally it was time to eat our lunch, many people would have rather stayed under the sun due to the ever increasing paranoia that we are being served dog meat. The break was over and it was time to go back to work. The dazing working conditions played their evil trick on us as a minor disagreement turned into a big argument that led to awkward silence on our way to the hotel. However the shower has washed away all the sweat, mud and cement alongside any grief and discontent. For dinner we ate the now beloved fried squid as we made a huge effort not to think of the next day of work...
- Ivan 9/4/2017 1 Comment Some r&r...It is day 7 in Vietnam. After a week of exhausting work, we finally had a weekend break. But how was it already weekend? The first week was already gone, and the extremely hyped trip is one week close to its end. Today we had the opportunity to travel around the country as tourists, so our first stop was the Bai Dinh Pagoda. The place is very well known in South Asia because it contains around 500 statues representing Buddha. The complex extends itself forming a rectangle with two divisions. In between each division, a main building with enormous dazzling gold statues. There was also a tower in which it was possible to see the entire complex and the surrounding jungle from above. During the tour, we lost at least two kilograms by walking up and downstairs. When we finally crawled into the bus, we went to a restaurant in which we were able to eat 'relics' we couldn't find anywhere in Vietnam: ketchup and natural coconut water. After the banquet, we had a boat tour around labyrinths of caves and stony mountains in Trang An. It was amazing how beautiful and preserved the nature is here. Not a piece of trash could be seen. In the evening, we were all excited to finally eat in a restaurant that served "western food". We were eating Vietnamese food in a place called Sweden while listening to Brazilian music. Really weird. As far as western food, it had nothing.
Tomorrow, we are planning to go to the beach. And for a brazilian student that grew up at the coast and spent almost eight months in swizerland, it is the same thing as saying "we are going to disney world". - Leonardo 8/4/2017 2 Comments School visit...I woke up at 6:48 and I felt that my body was heavier than yesterday and my muscles were hurting. I rushed to the bathroom and got ready. In the morning, we put cement in between wooden box to make foundation strong. At lunch time, we went to the same Vietnamese restaurant as always. We found out that the dogs in the restaurant are not for food and they are pets. When we heard that, we couldn't stop clapping and we were all happy! After we went back to the work site, we carried dirt by passing buckets to each other. We had only an hour to work in the afternoon so we did a really fast job. At 2:53, the bus left and we went to elementary school near the work site. When we arrived there, children were waiting for us, waving and saying "Hello" with big voices and smiles. They looked really excited to see foreigners for the first time. After we got there, about 200 children welcomed us with a performance with colorful folding fans, as well as an English song. I felt that they practiced many times to perform for us. We were all taken by the children and happy to watch their dance. After their performance, we introduced ourselves with a big globe to show where we came from and we sang a hello song with many languages. We taught them how to say hello in many languages and when we asked them to repeat, the children answered with loud voices. After that, we danced the Macarena with them. At first, they couldn't get what we were doing, but in the second time, they saw how we danced and they were enjoying it. They liked the part when we shake our butt . The principal danced with us and students were laughing at him how he danced. When the little boy started to bang the big drum, all the children went back to their class rooms and we went into the one of the class rooms. It was the class of 10-11 year old students. When we entered the room, they shouted "Hello" and started to count numbers in English. We were all surprised that they could speak English. We were separated in four groups with countries where we came from and played with children. The Brazilian team played with footballs, the Japanese team made some hearts and airplanes with Origami, the Mexican team colored the big coloring book with cities from all over the world and the International team taught some English words and places with a globe. Children were all interested in what we were teaching . We couldn't speak same language, but we could communicate with body language and they tried to understand what we were saying, so it was much easier to teach them than I expected. I was in Origami team with Sakura. I was surprised that they knew how to make airplanes and Origami is from Japan. One of the boys could count numbers in Japanese and could communicate with us. He learnt how to speak Japanese on his own and he told me that he is really interested in Japanese culture. He made my day even happier because Japan is far away from Vietnam but even a 10 year old child knew where Japan is and wanted to learn about the culture. Time passed really fast and it was time to say goodbye. We gave some chocolates from Switzerland and pencils. It was really hard to say goodbye. When we were about to leave, some of the children came to us with pens, because they wanted our signatures. We signed as many as we could. We felt a bit like famous people. Maybe we were famous people for them, because they don't have that much opportunity to see foreigners. When we took the seat in the bus, we wanted to stay with cute children and play with them Before dinner, we went to phone shop to charge SIM cards. When we went to the counter to buy, they couldn't speak English so we used Google translate to communicate. It was not our first time to use Google translate, but it was really difficult. It took almost a half hour to charge.
For dinner, we went to our favorite mall which is located at across the street from the hotel and went to Korean restaurant where we went a few days ago. We were all happy that we could eat steaks and no spring rolls. It was a day to remember... we will never forget the experience we had today. - Nanako 6/4/2017 2 Comments Hard at work...According with our new routine, yesterday we woke up at 6:30 not wanting to get out from under our sheets. We were all very tired from the previous day's work. When we arrived after our regular meat filled breakfast and 50 minute drive, Diogo and I stuck mostly to brick-laying while the others manually mixed cement and distributed materials throughout the worksite. Then for lunch we had our usual vast selection of either rice or spring rolls; and probably speaking for everyone on the team, we won't be eating rice again any time soon. I swear I feel like I'm becoming a rice. Once again we returned to our van and slept what we could before working again. At our arrival, we met two adorable twin baby girls. Sharing a bicycle, they waved and smiled at us as they passed by. It's truly unbelievably how every baby and child we meet is so cute. I always try to approach them and play with them for a while. We arrived and I felt a little sick but this morning I woke up and felt much better and ready for work. We took a picture with the whole family as soon as we arrived at the site. After laying just a couple of more brick layers, the foundation was finally finished! So now it was time to work on rebar. Bending and twisting wires was the rest of our day, and trust me it was just as exhausting as the physical work from the days before. By the end of the day we were tired, Diogo had made many new pig friends (that he isn't allowed to touch -Mrs. Brown!- ) and we returned happily to the hotel.
- Valeria 4/4/2017 3 Comments First day on site...We awoke to the tastefully dismal surroundings of our pale and foggy Thai Binh Hotel. It was 6:39 AM (as I had hit the snooze button and was now already behind schedule), and I quickly got up, doused what I could in Head & Shoulders and ignored the stained walls of my spacious bathroom. I then dressed myself in beige baggy clothing, hoping to stay as cool and comfortable as possible throughout the day. As I walked down to breakfast I felt that natural surge of positive and exciting energy that most of us get when we long for the day to begin, and our stories to develop. It was a strange breakfast (meat and noodles) but thankfully I had bought my cereal the night before and poured it discreetly into my bowl. We then stepped into the familiar and colorful comfort of our Habitat bus and started to make our way towards the build. Unexpectedly we were dropped off at the local community and government center for a welcoming celebration. The walls doused in red, paired with hammers, sickles and statues Ho Chi Minh. Taken by surprise Ms. Ho Tai and Ms. Tonge were forced to give speeches (as well as myself and Rebeca) after receiving beautiful and eloquent bouquets and loud rounds of applause. We then introduced ourselves one by one and said where we were from. This part was particularly interesting because they clapped exceptionally loudly at "Ivan from Russia" and there was hesitation and scattered applause when Ms. Ho Tai introduced herself as "Amy from the United States." Finally we arrived 2 hours late at the building site but we were still met with smiles and thank yous. The day was a blur, whether mixing cement, passing bricks, or taking breaks we seemed to work hard throughout and were showed more than enough gratitude. We did try to communicate but it was difficult; it was a mixture of unrecognizable hand signals and awkward laughter (we seemed to be a great source of comedy). Now there was one thing that definitely surprised us when we first arrived, a beautiful German Shepherd tied loosely at the back of our hosting family's temporary home. We first asked if it was a pet and they laughed. They quickly told us that one day she'd make a delicious lunch. (And yes I know she's female, we checked.) Other than that, the rest of our day was talking loudly amongst ourselves and Valeria groping and grabbing every adorable child she saw. We then made our way back to the "Thai Binh Dream" slowly dazing in and out of consciousness, our heads softly pressed against each others shoulders, quietly suffering from jet lag.
Great first day of work. Great fun. Great team. Great everything. - Diogo 3/4/2017 4 Comments First impressions...Yesterday was quite a day to remember. After about 24 hours of grueling travels, the team finally touched down in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. We started off exploring the oriental markets, and allow me to say that from dog to frog they had every one of mother nature's finest creations available (and we all turned vegetarian by dinner time, except Diogo the savage). Dinner was cooked by us exquisite Brillantmont students as we spent the day soaking in Vietnamese culture and displayed it through dinner. After dinner, we were exhausted but we pulled through (thankfully) and spent the evening exploring the vibrant streets of the night market. Today, we traveled to Thai Binh, where we will be staying for the next two weeks as we begin building tomorrow (yay)! The Habitat team was lucky to meet the family we will be building for. Unfortunately they lack safe shelter, and our mission is to provide this lovely and unfortunately impoverished family a safe home to live in. After our visit, the team enjoyed a delicious Korea barbecue, and for most of the team it was our first time tasting the delicious traditional Korean dishes, no regrets!
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