Brooksians Service Learning

list of students involved in this trip

2008-12-22T05:52:00.000-08:00

Jimson Hong
Priscilla Fong
Muhd Aswandi B Ali
Rekha Rai D/O Pramod Kumar Rai
Kevin Chen Junliang
Abdul Qaiyum B Ismail
Desmond Hong Benlong
Kenneth Toh Tian Fu
Chan Yee Xin
Ahmad Hanafee B Ibrahim
Muhd Abdul Salam B Abdul A
Vester Ng Kian Soon
Jakeh Tan Jie Ming
Tan Ying Ling

ms eng says...

2008-12-22T04:35:00.000-08:00

17 Dec, we left Singapore, enthusiastic but apprehensive. We were glad to be travelling in a group.

18 Dec, we stepped into Hyvong, uncertain but anxious to please. Would they enjoy our games? Were they going to like our cooking?

And then at Phu My, we felt helpless. What should we do? How could we help alleviate their suffering?

19 Dec, we looked forward to going back to Hyvong, to meeting our friends. Would they remember us? Would we do better this time?

And the task that laid before us at Phu My, we were doubtful. Would a fresh coat of paint on the playground equipment really make a difference to them?

20 Dec, we set out to paint a mural at Hyvong, determined but inexperienced. How did one wall turn into three? What could we do to give them a beautiful activities room? Did we have enough time?

We were late, getting to Phu My, already tired. Had the first coat of paint dried? Would we be able to finish a second coat in 2 hours? How would we paint in semi-darkness?

21 Dec, we brought our friends from Hyvong out, excited but awkward. How would we communicate without our voices? Was it possible to learn sign language in a day? Did we expect to miss them so much when we parted?

And then the neglected orphans at Phu My. Were we capable of being selfless volunteers? Would we be able to overcome our own fears and inhibitions? Did we expect them to touch our hearts so deeply?

22 Dec, we came home, physically tired but emotionally filled. We are proud we did it as a team.

Why is it that we lack so little, but demand for so much?
Why is it that we have so many opportunities, but we don't even want to try?
Why is it that we are so obsessed with ego and pride, when what is important are respect and empathy?
Why is it that we blame others for our unhappiness when it is within ourselves to make the change?

Day 6 - We may have departed, but we'll sure be back again.

2008-12-22T02:35:00.000-08:00

6 days may be short, but all of them were filled with meaningful experiences.

Its extremely heart warming to see the smiles on the children faces when we gave them a gentle touch on their hands. Some were so thrilled that they were kicking their legs in the air. (Refering to the bed-ridden kids).
Others who are able to move around approached us to play when them. =)

(yingling: "I was playing the balloon with this really cute boy. At first, we were just using our hands to hit the balloon to each other, later on i showed him how to kick the balloon and bounce the balloon on my head. After my demonstration, the boy did what i'd show him. I could see from his face that he was really enjoying himself.")

There was a girl who sang the song "jingle bell" with Miss Eng. Mr. Lee was fed with tibits by a small girl. What's more interesting? That small girl was actually picking up tibits from the floor and going around to put them into people's mouth ! Another one! There was a boy who went around picking rubbish and pass it to YingLing. (hey! this doesnt mean she looks like a rubbish man. So please kindly dont anyhow make inference.=p )

While everyone was interacting with the children outdoor, a few of us followed Mr.Donny to visit the bed-ridden kids in their rooms. Most of them are unable to speak but one older boy who speaks English. We were truly delighted to have a conversation with him even though it was short. Some hugged us but left their saliva on our shirts. Haha.

Well, Its really sad that we had to depart from them. A few children stood near the bus and waved to us. One of the girls even gave Miss Eng a christmas card before we left. (ouh...so sweet. =p )

Lastly, we would like to thank Miss Eng, Mr Lee, Mr Gary, Angeline, Samuel and the translators for making this trip so happening! =)

THANK YOU! =) kekeke..

Day 5

2008-12-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

Day 5
We woke up early to eat breakfast at Phu my orphanage and went back to pack our bags to return to the hotel . we cab-ed back to hien ahn hotel to drop our bags.
Then we bus-ed to hyvong school to fetch the students there , we fetched our buddies and headed back to the bus...we tied the friendship band to our buddies . UNFORTUNATLY , there were not enough students . SO......i had to share MY buddy with jimson -.-
We bus-ed to cu chi tunnel and toured the place . we explored the place and saw how the people in the vietnam war survived . we also saw the hiding holes built by the vietnamese

some of us tried to get in...

even mr donny lee...

we also saw the traps built to disable the attacking soldiers during the vietnam war. we felt that the traps were very dangerous . we also felt that the people who built the traps were very clever as the traps targets the enemy's weak points.this people are called the gorillas. after walking for a few metres, the tour guide ask us if we want to go into the tunnels.

in the tunnels it was very dark but there is still light in there. even though there is light we bearly see. out from the tunnels we walk for a distance. then we saw a souvenir shop. rehka bought a tin cap which cost her a few hundred thousand tongs. after buying the souvenirs we countiue walking. so after some time, we finish the walk.

in the bus everybody was sleeping because all of us were tired after walking for a quite some time.

well it's time for lunch. we ate at the jollibean...us the muslims had to eat the same thing...after lunch we head to the Phu My Orphanage. arived at the Orphanage, we had to say goodbye to our buddies...it was hard to say goodbye to them because we had a good time together. it's like we've for years.

we had party with the orphanages, it was fun too...some of us played with them while some of them visted the orphanages. Those who went to visit the orphanages they felt sad and they realised how fortunate they are. some of them who played with the orphanages had fun. i can see many faces that are smilling.

After the party, we head for dinner at a restaurant,Pho 24. After dinner,we head back to the hotel to have some rest while the other half of the group went to Phu My orphanage. those who stayed in the hotel had debrief . Mr Lee, me and Hanafee went to the night market to shop for something. Then head back to the hotel to rest.

Day 4

2008-12-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

Today is the 4th day in vietnam.

the day was very fun!! u get to paint and get all dirty n stuff!! haha

woke up in the morning! i pray n had breakfast. ever since i had my 1st breakfast in this hotel, i realise that the food was salty and i always thought that morning breakfast is suppose to me not too salty. hahas!! but its ok aniwae.

after breakfast we went to Hyvong to paint walls as the walls are plain n involve it to a cheerful place. hahas! like transformer. hahas!

this are the photo before we start painting and aldso this are the ART STUDENTS!!!! cool or what! hahas!

here are some pictures that we took when we are painting..

this is the picture that we painted..(MR LEE extra)

this is me,salam, bolding the words

here is MS ENG outlinig the bee.

and jakeh also helping to paint the wall that haven't completed.

then after painting for a few hours, we manage to complete the job. we're very proud of it. even the instructor and principle took some pics.

this is our completed work after painting. thanks to the people who help us! appreciated always!

Although the paint is look abit plain but we put all our heart in and finish the job.

after painting we went to PHU MY and painted another thing. damn tired la seh.

thn headed to our hotel n some of us went to go shopping! yay!

and sweetdreams to us!

thats all that we can post. n thanks for reading our blog.

comment after reading. those who nvr comment will get something. hahas!

have a nice day!

Day 3

2008-12-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

Breakfast was good as usual. We had egg sandwiches. But some people were late and skipped their breakfast. Teachers were upset and we got scolded. It spoiled our day. But our mood improved when the second group was buying their ingredients for cooking at the bigC. After a long ride to the first school which was hyvong.

The first group did the activities and games with the children. Eg. Bamboo dance. And the second group cooked lunch for everyone. They cooked dried noodles and fruit cocktail for desert. Mr Donny Lee even popped pop corn for everyone.

Everything turned out fine. The food was good. Not a bit was left. None of us got injured while doing our activities. Not long after, we headed for the second school which was the orphanage, phu my. We cleaned the playgrounds before painting. Overall, painting was good. It was tough but we handled it quite well. We also played with the orphans. Soon later, we had our dinner. Guess what we had? You'll never believe it. We had KFC. Hahahahahahahah! :) We realised that the KFC here is much cheaper than singapore even after converting the dongs back to sing dollars. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to wash up and have our workshop and debrief. It was fun. Everyone shared their feelings, planned and discussed for the next day. Now, Kenneth and I, Jakeh, are here blogging about today's happenings. This is where we end.

Peace! Have a goodnight everyone and god bless!

10.20pm(vietnam time)

2ND DAY IN VIETNAM!

2008-12-18T07:57:00.000-08:00

We set off at 8am to the Big C supermarket. We separate in our own teams. Team 1 was asked to cook lunch for the Hyvong School kids and so we went to get the ingredients while Team 2 went to check the budget for the next day as they will be cooking for them.

We reached the school around 10am. The principal welcomed us with a brief description of the school. After the briefing, he brought us around the school. We met different kinds of kids with mental, hearing and verbal disabilities.

Team 1 there are Jakeh, Aswandi, Jimson, Rekah, Desmond, Hanafee and I(Yeexin).

Team 2 there are Kenneth, Priscilla, Yingling, Qaiyum, Salam, Kevin and I(Vester).

Team 1 was allocated to the kitchen to cook lunch for everyone. (4o of us in total)

We prepared fried rice and "chocolate fondue".

Team 2 was having games with the kids in the hall.

We played ball games and catching

It's lunch time!

After lunch, team 1 went to wash the dishes while team 2 clears the dining room.

Although the time we spent together with them was not much, to them it is a great help by Vester.

We left the school at around 2.30pm and took a short ride to Phu My Orphanage School. The Manager welcomed us by giving a short briefing like what Hvyong's principal did.

We walked around the school and met many disabilities kids. Most of us felt that we are way fortunate than them. We will treasure our family members and friends around us.

We helped to scrap off the rust of the playground equipment.We will be putting on a fresh coat of paint tomorrow.

We had our dinner at 6pm at PHO 2000. We had beef and chicken pho. Guess what is pho?

Give your answer at the tagboard.

We went back to the hotel at 7.30pm. We had our workshop and debrief at 8.30pm.

Everything here is by Yeexin and Vester.

1st day in Vietnam -- 17th December 2008

2008-12-17T07:06:00.000-08:00

We didn expect the plane to be small and cramped, but it brought us to vietnam safely.

As we arrived, the airport is rather similar to Singapore's airport, so nothing new yet ! = p

However, as we started to travel in that mini van, we started to see the difference ; the "messy" traffic in vietnam ! =) Whats most obvious? - Singapore is flooded with cars whereas Vietnam is flooded with motorcycles! You may even see bicycles trying to act like motorcycles.

We are checked into the "Hien Anh" hotel. Rather small though, but still acceptable la.

After washing up, we moved on to visit the Vietnam War Museum. The museum has showcases of many pictures of the war. We seen photos of the civilians, soilders, warplane, missile etc..

Well, in the past, Vietnam was splited into North and South, hence there was a war between the Capitalist and Communist. Yup, and the war started in 1960s, ended in 1970s.

That was the time where Yingling really felt that her 2years of history lesson has been put into great use. Her history teacher must be glad to hear this. =)

After the museum, we visited "Notre Dame Cathedral". That is an old church with really cool vintage architecture. You can hardly see these type of churches in Singapore.

Had dinner, went shopping at the market, yea.. daily stuff.. So! ITS SLEEPING TIME. Zzzz..

Goodnight.

We will continue our journey tmr with great energy!!! weee... =D

Itinerary

2008-12-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

Northbrooks Secondary School
6D5N Service Learning cum CIP Trip to Vietnam
Programme Details

Day 1 – 17th December 2008 (Wednesday)
S’pore Vietnam

Time Time
0900 Gather at Changi Airport
0930 Check-in Luggage
1130 Depart from Singapore (Lunch on plane)
1230 Arrival at Ho Chi Minh City
1300 Check in to hotel
1330 City Tour includes Notre Dame Cathedral, War Museum
1730 Wash-up
1830 Dinner
1930 Briefing, Preparation on handling physically and intellectually handicapped children.
Team Strategies: Planning Activities, Menu for Home, Engaging the children, Budgetting
2100 Debrief/Reflection
2200 Lights out

Day 2 – 18th December 2008 (Thursday)
0700 Breakfast
0800 Experiential Learning - Marketing and Budgeting
Purchase of food and gifts (Students to split up to 2 teams to execute task assigned to each team.)
0900 Depart for Hyvong Orphanage
0945 Team 1: Preparation of food and cooking for the orphans
Team 2: Ice-breaker, Games and Interaction with Orphans
1200 Lunch with Orphans
1300 Orphans afternoon nap.
Team 1 & 2: Area Cleaning
1500 Depart for Phu My Orphanage
1545 Painting of the Playground Equipment
1800 Return hotel, Rest
1900 Dinner
2000 Debrief / Reflection, Communication Strategies

2200 Lights out

Day 3 – 19th December 2008 (Friday)
0700 Breakfast
0800 Experiential Learning - Marketing and Budgeting
Purchase of food and gifts (Students to split up to 2 teams to execute task assigned to each team.)
0900 Depart for Hyvong Orphanage
0945 Team 2: Preparation of food and cooking for the orphans
Team 1: Reading simple English Storybook and Tele-match with Orphans
1200 Lunch with Orphans
1300 Orphans afternoon nap.
Team 1 & 2: Area Cleaning
1500 Depart for Phu My Orphanage
1545 Interaction/Activities with orphans in Phu My
1800 Return hotel, Wash-up
1900 Dinner
2000 Debrief / Reflection, Communication Strategies
2200 Lights out

Day 4 – 20th December 2008 (Saturday)
0730 Breakfast
0830 Depart for Hyvong Orphanage
0900 Painting of Walls
1200 Lunch
1300 Depart for Phu My Orphanage
1345 Team 1: Painting of Playground Equipment
Team 2: Bring children for a walk (some on wheel chair), Banner painting with children.
1800 Return hotel, Wash-up
1900 Dinner
2000 Home stay with the orphans, interaction and culture experience.
2100 Debrief / Reflection
2200 Lights out

Day 5 – 21st December 2008 (Sunday)
0630 Breakfast
0730 Heritage Trail - Cuchi Tunnel
1230 Lunch
1330 Depart for Phu My Orphanage
1400 Team 1: Party Decoration
Team 2: Food Preparation
Team 3: Face Painting, Hair Styling (Make them pretty!)
1600 Party Time! Food, Games and Gifts.
1800 Break
2000 Home stay with the orphans, interaction and culture experience.
2100 Debrief / Reflection
2200 Lights out

Day 6 – 22nd December 2008 (Monday)
0700 Breakfast
0800 Ben Thanh Market
1015 Check-out Hotel
1030 Depart from Hotel
1115 Check-in at HCM Airport, breakfast at airport
1315 Depart from HCM
1600 Arrive at Singapore Airport