On my fourth day in Ho Chi Minh City I did a Semester at Sea community service trip at a school for disabled children. Most of the children at the school were hearing-impaired, but there were also children with severe ADHD and Down Syndrome. We traveled to the outskirts of the city to the Hoc Mon District, and brought with us toys and supplies for the children. I brought some silly bands from home to give the kids (good suggestion Dad) and I was ready to meet them. On the bus to the school, our tour guide taught us some Vietnamese sign language so that we would be able to communicate with the children. We learned numbers and a couple of questions and answers. It was unbelievable that with even that little bit of signing it was easier to communicate with the hearing-impaired children than it was to talk to some of the people in Vietnam who spoke little to no English.
When we got to the school we had an orientation with the principal and one of the teachers. They told us about the school and what we would be doing with our day. The school consisted of students ages 5-18 and different age groups had classrooms across the complex. We went in groups to meet with children of different ages and worked on various subjects based on their classes needs.
In one class room we spoke to older children through signing and writing in English on the board. In another classroom I was shocked by the students fantastic handwriting and math skills. They really took their work seriously and wanted to make sure to show us how they got the right answers. While one child in the class was doing a math equation on the board, he went back to his seat and grabbed his ruler in order to make a straight equals sign. If that isnt pride in your work, I dont know what is.
In the 2nd grade classroom I gave all the kids silly bands. They looked at the animals, laughed and compared them with each other. It was really the perfect thing to bring. It was easy and portable and each child could have their own.
When it was time for recess we played with the children in their small outdoor playground. We brought out the toys from Semester at Sea and had a great time goofing off with the kids. We blew bubbles, kicked around a one-world futbol, and children played around with our cameras.
After recess I headed to the kindergarden classroom with one of the life-long learners. The life-long learners name was Annie and her family is from Vietnam. She speaks some Vietnamese so it was great to go meet these children with her. We decided to play a game with the kids, and when she asked me for some game suggestions, I automatically thought of duck, duck, goose. Although this game seems simple, it is not very easy when you are explaining it to children with limited hearing abilities who dont speak any English. The game of duck, duck, goose quickly turned into tap, tap, tickle on the head, and then laugh your head off. The kids thought it was the funniest game ever. They thought it was especially funny to choose me to run around the circle about 8 times out of 10. We laughed and ran around until we were tired and got called to meet up with the whole group back at the main gathering hall where we had our orientation.
In the main gathering hall the principal showed us paintings and drawings made by the children of the school. They were paintings of sporting games, children on bicycles, and of Santa Claus. They were all innocent and most of them were pretty good for childrens art! They told us we could take which ever ones we wanted for giving a donation. I donated about $10 and took two drawings. Semester at Sea also made a formal donation which made me really happy. I dont know how much SAS donated, but it felt good that they could plan to donate for us in advance.
On the way back I couldnt stop thinking about the kids and how happy they were. The school was the perfect place for them and they had no trouble communicating with their teachers or each other. Each child was so loving and they all really enjoyed being in school. It was a great experience, and a service visit that was definitely worthwhile.
When I got back to the ship I went out to the sushi restaurant right next to the ship to quickly skype with my family on the free wifi. It was great to see the family for a bit, and when I was done with that I got back on the ship to figure out my dinner plans. I quickly convinced two of my friends to come with me back to Pho 2000. Although I really didnt have intentions of going back to the cheap and amazing restaurant, when one of my friends said he didnt know what Pho was, I knew we had to go. It was our last night in Vietnam and if you arent eating Pho in Vietnam something is seriously wrong. So, I went back to Pho 2000 (where I had been a couple of days before) and had some fantastic Pho. It was spicy and it was even better than I remembered it. Then I headed back to the ship to get to bed so I could go out early the next morning!
