Still Sweating....

A group of students from Johnson State College (JSC) is spending the next few weeks with Clear Path International in Vietnam. This is possible due to a partnership between Clear Path, the Break Away Program and JSC. The students and staff will be posting tales and photos from their journey to this blog. You can read all of their posts by clicking here.

(Written by Galen Dickstein)
Like all our days in Vietnam, this one began with a breakfast of watermelon, maybe a cold coffee and generally bread with cheese is involved as well. We gathered together with bike keys in hand and headed off into the sea of bicycles and motorbikes, over the bridge which is now a familiar route of our morning travel. Following Nhi on her motorbike has become a game, trying to keep her in sight while trying not to get into any accidents in the meantime. We arrived at our worksite after a little bike crash and losing our guide once, hot and sweaty and ready to work.

Our work today was painting the fence at a Vocational Training Center that is sponsored by the Association for Support of Disabled and Orphaned Children. We learned from the group last year and from Nhi that the center is a place where this demographic of children can learn a trade they can use in life to support themselves. When we first arrived all I could hear was the tapping of what sounded like mallets on wood. Later we saw that the sound was the children at work doing wood carvings for furniture and other various amazing creations. We also learned that many of the residents at the center are from poor families in the rural areas and live at the center while apprenticing.
We were there to paint and so got to work with paintbrushes and smiles. Our task was to paint the railings on one side of the back courtyard of the new building. Since the group was here last year, the the center has been expanded on in a major way with the help from a donor in NYC. As we painted a few of the residents there joined us and we also had an audience from boys peeking out of the workshop. After getting the first coat of paint on, we said our farewells and "see you tomorrows" and mounted our bikes to head out back into the "sea."
After lunch and naptime the group again prepared to go to the Street Children's House where we have been teaching each day. Today the groups were focused on reviewing our previous lessons because of the weekend and also set out to make nametags and try our best with pronunciations, which is beginning to come to us naturally with the children. They say their name once, we repeat and so on until it sounds right to them. For me...this has gone on for almost ten minutes with some children. And wow do they giggle at my voice! What precious little beings these children are. What a privilege it has been to be in their presence each day. Today was no different... a joy!
After teaching we went out for "sweet soup" with our student interpreters. We have done that three times so far and each time it is an experience we do not forget. "Sweet Soup" usually consists of some sort of vegetable or meat concoction we would serve for dinner, put in a glass with sugar and ice. The interpreters taught us that you stir it up from the bottom until is is like a slushie and they spoon it into your mouth. When you finish they usually order another for you until you plead... no more! Hehe!