So its been awhile and this post is long overdue. Summer has been really fulfilling for me thus far, and this trip was the first trip I went on right after finals back in April. Though its been about 2 months, I'm still missing the 2 weeks in Hue, Vietnam. In case you didn't know what an Overseas Community Service Project (OCSP, sometimes also called OCIP) is, its basically where we volunteer overseas in an attempt to help the people in need in the community. My school offers a lot of such opportunities and I know such projects are not entirely beneficial and the benefits are not long-lasting or sustainable. It is more of a self-fulfillment trip to say the least. I feel like it benefits us, as volunteers, more than the community there. Exposure to different cultures, a different lifestyle and learning to appreciate the simplicities in life. Its a trip for self-discovery, learning more about ourselves through hopefully beneficial voluntary work.
What my group dIid in Hue was to educate primary school kids English as well as imparting micro finance skills to the local villagers. The micro finance part appealed to me, even though i personally do not study finance, which was why i decided to join this project. I personally do not entirely believe in the benefits of building infrastructures as part of OCSPs, because truthfully how many fences/toilets etc. does a village need? These projects are sustained in a way such that students will go back every year for subsequent instalments. However, if these volunteers were to build the same thing over and over again every year, what's the purpose of that? Maybe some would argue, how much can you teach in 2 weeks? Would the kids honestly benefit from it? Yes, it is true that there's not much we can teach the students in such a short period of time, but I choose to believe that we might have left an impact on their lives which spurs them on. And once again, as I've mentioned OCSPs are truly self-fulfilment trips that benefit us, more than the locals there.
The project I was part of was a pioneer project, so there was actually a lot of things that we have to do to lay the foundation of this project. The team worked really hard, and especially for the programmes team, they had to come up with the lesson plans and materials. As a pioneer project, there were of course lots of hiccups throughout the trip, especially for the micro finance portion. Education wise, we taught 2 primary schools and their standards of English was vastly different. We had to be spontaneous and plan every single night to better suit the curriculum to the different schools' students. As for the micro finance, we had to change it almost entirely since it was too theoretical. Thankfully we managed to improvise and the programme generally flowed quite smoothly after but the first few days were spent being flustered.
2 weeks seemed pretty long in hindsight but in reality, the 2 weeks passed by in a blink of an eye. I guess the time you enjoy just seemed to pass by really quickly. Even though we didn't do many physical labour, I remembered being absolutely exhausted at the end of the day. We taught in the morning and afternoon, and followed by the micro finance lessons in the night. Though there were short breaks in between, the days were definitely packed. I felt that because what we were doing was (sort of) meaningful, it was very fulfilling. Even though we were all tired at the end of the day, we never complained and i guess we all bonded while doing our work throughout the 2 weeks. Initially, I was terribly afraid that i wouldn't be able to click with my team mates, as I didn't know all of them well. I had some acquaintances but wouldn't say we were all that close. Furthermore, there were only 3 girls in the team, me included. However, after the 2 weeks, I'm very thankful that these people were in the team. We've grown closer, and they are all incredibly nice humble, while at least the majority of them. Though I didn't exactly talk to every single one of them, the group dynamics was awesome. I'm hoping we don't lose contact with each other, and continue to meet up and talk about what we're up to. Time spent with them really gives me an ab workout since they're super humorous.
I think one major takeaway from the trip, as cliched as it sounds is learning to be content. Honestly speaking, I wasn't as emotionally attached to the kids as I want to, but they definitely did bring joy in my short time spent with them. One incident that made me so incredibly proud, was how they put in the effort to memorise the numbers 1-20 in English, because I spelt it for them. Their "Good Morning, my name is _____. Nice to meet you. How are you?" really brighten up my day. They definitely made me feel like a superstar when they asked for my autograph and how they eagerly pulled me around to show me their favourite activities, making me read a story in English for them. Thinking about those days, the memories felt so distant yet it also felt like it just happened yesterday. The kids have to be independent at such a young age, one girl was baby sitting her baby sister and they have to help out around the house. Yet, still maintained that childlike innocence and the pure joy they have for life, those little things, really hit me hard. How they can be easily contented with our company and really just the simple things in life. All these with a language barrier. Love really do transcends barriers. Was it difficult to communicate with them, definitely. Sometimes, frustrating even, because there's so much more you want to share with them, and there's so much more about them that i want to learn about. Sometimes, all you can do it smile at them and hope that they feel the joy in my heart too. There were translators, but there's a limit to how much they can help.
Things during that period was just simple and the only thing we have to think about is what to have for our meals. Its like a reprieve and I enjoy the process of getting to know people, since we were kind of forced to be together, we really did enjoy each other's company, joking and working together. We connected without the use of technology and I found that really enjoyable. Face to face time is really the realest. When the trip is over, I have to think about whether or not we will stay close and being back to reality and worry about other responsibilities.
Thinking about all these memories really making me feel a tinge of sadness, and I've been rewatching the video we had for the trip repeatedly. The quote at the end really did hit me hard. "The best thing about memories, is making them." How true it is, because those were the times that were unforgettable, and it'll forever be imprinted in my heart.
