2nd jan 2007:
Spent my time at home, painting again. But this time, it's not as intensive as yesterday's. Phew..haha..
Thank goodness, that my mum is not as harsh as before i left for vietnam. It seems tat my fren has told me, communication seems to improve when a child leaves overseas for a period of time. =)
Seems to me that ever since i have returned from vietnam, my mood has lightened up a lot. Probably cos I've thought things out n made some decisive decisions. =)
15th dec 2006, Friday:
Went to Hong Duc Humanitarian Centre to visit some Agent Orange victims. Initially had made some mental preparation for the worst. But when i reached there, the victims looked pretty fine to me. What i heard from my fren, was that these victims are the more healthy ones, so we have not seen the worst yet. Basically, it is a training centre for these victims to learn some sewing skills, so as to earn a living for themselves. Health care workshop was given to them, teaching them how to brush their teeth correctly and wash their hands in a more hygiene manner. Some are pretty quick-learners. And there was one guy victim who was more out-spoken and he loved to sing and perform in front of us. We also noticed that he liked one fren of mine and wished to take a photo with her. Not only tat, he likes to hug ppl. Pretty friendly fellow. hahhaa..
Back hotel and i needed to discuss about first aid workshop with one fren. Super lotsa last-min change. Cracking our poor brains to arrange everything. T_T
And we realised that our cargo which was filled with first aid supplies had been rejected by the authorities there. Totally devastated. We din know that we need to get some documents of approval from some necessary authorities. But from this incident, we've learnt about such procedure.
16th dec, Saturday:
Voluntary blood donor education exchange programme today. Basically it's an sharing session with the vietnamese blood donation volunteers, on how blood progammre is run in respective country. Learnt a lot on how their blood donation drive is run there. Also, made a few vietnamese friends there too.
But as they have a very limited english vocabulary capacity, the discussion was pretty tough to move on. And also they seemed to be more interested in making friends with us. =p haa..did enjoy myself there,still. But me n a few frens kinda misbehaved there, so ended up being advised during the de-brief to rmbr to uphold some appropriate images in the future. =p
Went to "swan" (pronounced sth like this la, forgotten how to spell) lake with those vietnamese volunteers. And i got one postcard from one of them. So sweet of them! (^^) The lake is very beautiful n we met our ntu fellow mates there. They were basically there for some sports competitions. haha..
One of my frens had friends with one vietnamese volunteer. And we were teasing him throughout. haa..But he was pretty receptive to our "ha ha" jokes..hahaa.. =p
After dinner, went to watch the water puppet show with some of these volunteers. Some actually brought their guy friends to let them know us. Initially me n one friend were being targetted. Lucky thing, we managed to shift their attentions to our other friends n we could watch the puppet show peacefully. =p oops..haha..
The water puppet show was excellent. I and my friend were totally puzzled by how the puppets are being manipulated and we started making ridiculous guesses. Guessing that they could hold their breath in water for real long time, guessing that they could have carried oxygen tank to enable them hold their breath in water...haha..but later, we realised that the puppets were actually manipulated by long poles and the performers actually hide behind the curtains and they dun dive in water at all.. =p
Kena teased by my friends throughout our way back hotel from the puppet show. Kept insisting to show them the alarm which i always carry around with me. Arg..hahaha..
17th dec 2006, Sunday:
HIV awareness workshop with Hanoi Medical University (HMU)'s English Club medical students today.
This time was a lot easier interacting with them. They speak good english and we could relate to them so much more easier. Also, they are more mature than the blood donation volunteers.
My group put up a play for presentation. And the play was basically performed by me and one HMU student. I played as a singaporean girl who is a dominant role in a relationship, whereas he played as a vietnamese guy who is less dominant. The whole play was totally hilarious and funny. I actually taught everyone on how to use a condom. And yup, it's my first time touching a condom. Feel funny, of course. hahaha..We were totally pretty embarassed while acting out, especially during that portion of our play. And yup, we used a glue bottle as a demonstration took on how to put the condom correctly. So, ppl, there's no RA scene at all..
haa...This vietnamese guy is pretty on and he insisted on wanting to put up a funny play as our presentation. And since he's so enthuaistic, i joined in the fun. hahaa..but it's a successful presentation. Everyone seemed to love our play. And there's a trademark quote.
"I want, I want, I want..." (-_-) hahhaa..guess who will say this? whahaaa...
And ever since tat play, i always hear this trademark quote. hahaha..dun know whether should feel embarassed or proud...hahhhaa...
Later after the workshop, we went to visit their hostels and university. I was completely surprised. Given that they are medical students who will hold a respectable social status, their hostel rooms are not in good conditions. Their beds have no mattress and each room accomodate 10 students. They do not have a proper study table and have no air-con too. Their rooms are considered relatively small. And their toilets are not in good conditions too. My friend told me that it's not cleaned at all. Their school do not have study tables, so the students will gather in classrooms for self-study. They do not have tables for their own in these classrooms, but they need to share tables with the rest. Yet all can focus so much to study. It's so different from us. We will complain about the facilities in sch, and we can hog the whole table for our own self. We have excellen toilet facilities. And yet we are complaining so much. At that point in time, we feel we should be thankful for what we have. We are real lucky and blessed.
Realised that vietnamese love to sing. We have discovered about this the first day we met some officials. Same as today. While eating sweet potatoes offered by these HMU students, we exchanged songs and sang. At that point in time, I feel myself landing up in some muscials. It's like some "Sound of Music" musicals...goodness me...hhahhaa..
Last day in Hanoi and we were heading for Ha Tay the next day. So we went to have steamboat for dinner. Enjoyed ourselves there. hahhaa..and we discovered that one of my friends has the ability to sleep while eating. Basically, she dozed off suddenly while eating. And we were completely amazed by her potential..hahhaa... (^^)
Informations regarding Agent Orange:
Check out this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange it'll give u insights on this chemical agent and its harmful effects.
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