iProject - Commitment of Hearts




Sunday, 4 March 2007

Pursuit of happiness

The word nonpareil in French is taken to mean "non + equal". The experiences gleaned from this OCIP trip is just that, a nonpareil, and any other experience just cannot compare.

The short 6 days spent helping these children was enough to leave a lasting impression on me. I’m trying to avoid any clichés that might have been used to describe this trip but really, I know, this trip had a huge, and I daresay, similar impact on all of us (:

Vietnam was... interesting, and exhausting. But the whole experience was indescribable, in a good way. For the first time in my life when I went overseas, I didn't really feel like taking many pictures with my own camera, just wanted to enjoy every moment.

And enjoy I did. From building the walkway, paving stones like one fits puzzles. Carrying rocks on makeshift "stretchers", cleaning out the dusty "kitchen", playing games with the kids, dancing the mass dance with the unforgettable soundtrack that someone would just break out humming and everyone joins in.

It wasn't completely easy. Most of us can safely say we have never touched a spade before. Yet we chipped in cheerfully to help in anyway we can, be it shifting rocks or painting window grilles and walls. The language barrier made it almost impossible for us to communicate effectively with them but with their relatively simple lifestyles and our simple hand gestures, we managed it. Of course, having natives proficient in Vietnamese and English helped, like our tour guide, the pe teacher, and other kids.

I love playing with them, being in the group taking charge of the games segment. Games are universal, a common language to all. With just a ball, we interacted with them in ways that the language barrier could never have allowed. Dancing with them also was an amazing experience. It was deceptively difficult but once we learnt it, it was so fun to do, simple, and addictive indeed! Our feet just couldn't stop moving along with the beat. Vietnamese techno workout music is something out of this world altogether :D

Looking back, I’ve learnt so much, of which a majority cannot be expressed in words, but I believe the iprojectors would agree with me and feel the same way. often, an experience is based as much on what happens as well as the people who went through it with you, and I must say we are an awesome bunch (: nothing would have been possible without each and every one of us. even though conflicts arose here and there, we managed to solve them on the whole and progress on with a better understanding of each other.

This trip to Vietnam really gave me a paradigm shift. I used to think (rather apathetically) that I could not do anything about the poverty that is so prevalent in the world today. Now I know that I can, even if it is a small difference, at least I have made a difference in some kids' lives (: and that's all that matters.

Labels:

「 7:13 pm 」

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home