iProject - Commitment of Hearts




Sunday, 25 March 2007

The merging of souls: TaVaNova

I swear the whole experience of this Vietnam trip was unforgettable and I can definitely say it is the most meaningful thing I have ever done. I guess it’s no use describing how it feels because it’s simply out of this world. You have to be there to feel it. It gives me such a sense of achievement and self fulfilment that suddenly, for once, I felt my life was meaningful.

So we stepped into TaVan School, not knowing what to expect but I know all of us were filled with excitement and enthusiasm. We received a really warm welcome by the students and teachers alike. Their smiles were genuine and sincere and it made us feel at home all at once. They had a performance for us and although it was nothing like what we always see back in Singapore, we can really see that they’ve put in a lot of effort into bringing everything together.

Soon, we started on our objectives, that is to help with the construction of the school, teach the kids English and, the most enjoyable segment, to play games with them! There was a slight reservation among some of us on the construction at first as most of us have never done something like this before. Therefore when we were allocated with jobs to complete, we weren’t really sure of what to do and needed the guidance of the local teachers and staff. However, I daresay all of us put in our 100% into doing the job and even though some of the tasks were physically challenging for some, no one complained about anything. We just gave everything we had and were enthusiastic about doing the work, not forgetting to relax and have fun at some point in time. At the end of it, we saw what difference we made and were proud and definitely had a great sense of self accomplishment. Through this, we learnt how to work together and that we must help each other out and always be on the lookout for one another.

The other part of our objective was to play games with the kids and to interact with them. The first difficulty we all faced was the language barrier. Their command of English language was very poor. Therefore, we had a hard time communicating with them. However, apparently, games are an international language. We did some demonstrations to let them get the gist of the game and they picked up the game real fast after that. It was really heart warming to see them participating so much more enthusiastically, as compared to kids in Singapore, who are much harder to pacify. They are very competitive and are all very eager to win. In the process I learnt that communication is important, and it’s not necessary that we share a common language to communicate. We just have to put in a little effort to understand each other.

To conclude, I think that this whole experience is going to have a long lasting impact on me. I learnt not to take things for granted and I’m thankful for having such a comfortable life here in Singapore. Although we may not have a permanent impact on the kids and that after we’re gone, their life would most likely revert back to normal, I can be certain that I’ve made a difference. Not a big difference which would change their life, but just enough to change one small part of their journey in life, and for that, I’m grateful and contented.

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「 10:18 pm 」

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