Day 3 building

Today we got lost while we were on our way to the build site, and ended up near the next province.. but in the end we still got there, and we started to build the house's. We did work, getting the scaps of rocks and transporting to the build site, and we also did pounding of the scraps. Some girl's in our work team started singing and the kids in the build site started to laugh at them. I found the work challenging and tiring, a lot more than i execpted. the food at lunch and dinner was tolerable. After that we had a chance to sleep for around 1hr, which was definetly needed. There was this one local dad who was ripped and helped clear the scarps and did it faster than all of us together. I suddenly felt useless, i will sleep like a baby tonight. So far I'm enjoying the trip.
Julian Lum

day 3 building

My first day of being 17 started off great because it was the first full day that we were going to build the house, and i was really excited. I thought that the family we are building for are very friendly and welcoming, and i have so far really enjoyed working for and with them. I did numerous jobs from pounding bricks to level the floor inside the house to collecting the bricks using a wheel barrow. It was really tiring not only because of the work but because of the scorching heat. It was 6 hours of hard work but definetly feels very rewarding in the end. I am looking forward to the end result of the finished house.Tonight i will definetly be having an early night due to the early mornings which lies ahead for the upcoming days
Priscila

day 3

As i got to the building site, i was ready to build! I began to carry the bricks with the wheel barrow...I was looking good with my very tight shirt ;) but very lonely at first, then all the homies(small kids) came from the surrounding houses. They were really cool and helpful and helped me loads with stacking the bricks. We came up with this awesome handshake, which they got straight away. Then whilst i was carrying the bricks with my bulging muscles, all the women of the community were smiling a lot and were very friendly, and gave us all fresh fruit and water throughout. I met this 67 year old man who made me feel very very not buff, because his body was ripped (8 pack). hes my new idol. So far i have enjoyed this trip, and luckily have not been sun burnt yet....
Karl

third day.

After waking up to a bad start by getting up more than one hour earlier than i was meant to(time difference), the day ahead wasnt looking the best. Thankfully and suprisingly it completly changed once i got to the building site, although it was absolutly roasting. I started off by sanding the doors and windows which were going to be used on the house then i was asked to come help build the foundations of the house. I was a littlr reluctant because it sounded like a difficult job, but I ended up doing really well and the head builder constantly was topping up my bricks and cement i was using, so i was really happy i was able to do something that i would definatly remember for the rest of my time. So far i have really enjoyed this trip minus the food and early mornings but hopefully it continues to be great at the building site with the great family i get to help.
(Teghan Young)

Working the day away...

Well what a day we have all had today... Up at 6:30, breakfast at 7 and on the bus by 7:30 am...(Yes it is possible :) Oh yes and then carrying bricks, mixing mortar, laying foundations, breaking rocks into gravel, sanding and painting as well as metal work from 8am until 4:30. Everyone is bone tired and relaxing in the pool after what has been an unbelievable day for us all. We are all in fantastic spirits and having a great singing, laughing, sweaty, smelly time in Vietnam. Skim through the pics and see for yourself. From playing with wheelbarrows of toothy kids, to lessons from wiry, life-wise old souls this really has been a great day for us all...

Cultural Sharing

With everyone’s minds at ease on the bus ride back from our first house building experience because we could finally get back to our rooms and have a well needed, and of course, well deserved sleep, we were then told that tonight would be the city’s ‘cultural exchange’. Luckily we had pre arranged two songs for us all to learn to sing, so during our bus ride Mr Glover became the choir instructor and we learnt our part of the ‘cultural exchange’. The night was prepared in order for the ENTIRE city to welcome us and to thank us and Habitat for Humanity. This seemed all well and good, until of course, the night turned into an experience I’m sure none of us will forget ! (Especially not Priscilla, what a special 17th birthday for her). After many speeches were made, Ms Tu’s and Daniels being the only one we could understand, the entertainment began. It is safe to say that almost every single person that was there had a shot at ‘open mic night’. From 6 year old girls, to 50 year old men, some of which sang more than twice, and a man with his son who played with fruit on the stage. The biggest highlight of the night was certainly our songs, which certainly could not have been sung without the help from Finlay, and I am 100% positive we will NEVER perform either song in an assembly ! Even though our performance failed, and we listened to 3 hours of music, I can truly say that we did actually have a really fun night !

Day two beggins

Today we all had to wake up early to have breakfast on our three meter wide hotel. After eating we checked out and hopped on the bus to our new acccomodation. About half way through the ride we stopped to meet some people form a womens group which were related to Habitat for Humanity. They gave us a background on the program and some info about the city and the family’s that we would be working with. We found out that the family’s we were going to work with earn about 20 cent a day.

Then we arrived at our really nice hotel and got our selfs settled in. Just when we thought we were getting comfortable we discovered we had to go work for 2 hours at our building sight. I was put in to a group of 14 and we were to help a family build there house from scratch. We got a small taister of the sweet dripping work that we were in for. Every one seamed to enjoy them selvs and work extra hard due to the great cause that the work is for!!
(Amund)

Vietnam, Day One !

The beginning of Vietnam.

This morning I woke up at four thirty; what an amazing start of this trip is the first thing that came to my mind. We then all met at the airport, and I wouldn't be lying if said we were all kind of lacking interest and looked rather tired and grumpy, at least that is how Emilie looked like for the first few hours or so, lovely friends ...

As we got through all the check in and the security areas, I was finally going to get my sought after breakfast, but no. "Guys we don't have enouh time!" is the response I got from Ms. Tu. Me, Lydia and Emilie ran to get something to eat on the go, and after paying 5,30 for a coffee I felt even hungrier after having to throw more then half away because of the amazing rule not being allowed drinks into the gate.

We finally got into the plane; realized that I was assigned seats with Alex and Tait, trust me after two and a half hours with these two, wierd humorous guys I was happy to be out of the plane and fianlly be in Vietnam for the first time. We now arrived at the hotel, and I'm really waiting for that shower.

BYEE

Frida

Fianl events of Day 1

After the Night Market we came home and rested for a bit, and put all of the very ‘real’ clothes ;) (There were definitely no fake brands in the market) back in our rooms before we went to dinner. Unfortunately a lot of the stalls were closing when we arrived and a lot of the people proved to be very hard bargainers.
After our shopping trip we went to dinner, on the bus to the restaurant we were entertained by Gaurav and Emilie in their intense battle for who could actually come up with the most stupid comment of Vietnam 09 (they were not entirely aware they were under observation.)
The meal was really good and we left to get on the coach with 24 full bellies and 24 sets of very tired eyes.
- Alex

vietnam day 1 (mid day events)

We took the bus to some food court with several Vietnamese cousines, I personally think that the food wasn’t exactly what I’m used to in Singapore. There were many funny occasions such as Karl’s eating of the mysterious leaf plant…. Following this amazing lunch we traveled on our homey bus, there we got the shock of our lives; we discovered the ways of torture in the Vietnam war which was well gruesome. There was one torture method that extremely disturbed the ladies of the group, and relied on using live snakes to all sorts of terrifying things… scary right?

I’m looking forward to tonight. (pillow fight)
Tait

A very full day upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh

Well the day finally arrived and after much anticipation the participants of the OFS Service trip to Vietnam finally got underway at a bleary eyed 5:30 am from Changi Airport this morning... Despite the early departure time the students were in great spirits and everyone was excited to finally be on their way... We landed in a bustling, sticky Ho Chi Minh and caught our bus to the air-conditioned sanctuary of our hotel.

After some much needed rest and freshning up we headed out to a Vietnamese restaurant to feast on "banh xeo" a type of pancake cooked on charcoal and stuffed with all manner of meats and vegetables and then eaten in a pouch of various leaves and herbs... Needless to say everyone wolfed down the delicious food and immediately took to all of the new flavor combinations.

After lunch we headed back on to the bus once more, to navigate the unbelievable jam of bikes and people as we made our way slowly to our next destination, the War Museum.

As we wondered past shocking picture after shocking picture, much of our exuberance was tempered by the realities of all that the Vietnamese people have endured in their recent history and we realized that this is the same place featured in so many of the movies we have all seen. These weren't scenes from a movie though. This was graphic reality. As we left the museum, more quietly than we had arrived, I for one took solace in the fact that we are all here to try and do a little to help people who have clearly endured more than I could possibly begin to imagine.

Right now we are back at our comfy hotel ruminating on all we have seen already. As we shelter from a thunderstorm and prepare for a nocturnal adventure to the night market and food stalls we all have a lot to think about... I have no doubt that by the time everyone makes it to bed tonight we will all be ready for a good long sleep .

Tomorrow is is another early rise and a two hour bus drive out into the jungle where we will meet the people whose house we are all going to try and build.

If you have any questions regarding medical issues in Vietnam you can consult the following website: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/vietnam.aspx

What is Habitat For Humanity?

Habitat for Humanity International builds, rehabilitates and repairs simple, decent houses with the help of homeowner (known as “partner”) families, volunteer labor, and donations of money and materials. Architects, engineers, bricklayers, mason, carpenters and other professionals and skilled workers are employed for specialist jobs. For more information check out the Habitat For Humanity web site at http://www.habitat.org/ap/

The cost of the work varies. A new house can cost from as little as US$1,000 in some parts of Asia. Costs depend on location, labor, land and material costs, and ancillary development expenses.

Habitat houses are sold to home partner families at no profit. Home partners repay through affordable, no-profit, inflation-adjusted mortgage loans. Mortgage lengths vary from four to 30 years, though most are around six to eight years. Their monthly mortgage payments go into a local revolving fund to be used to build still more Habitat homes. In short, Habitat for Humanity is not a “giveaway” program.

Home partners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor – “sweat equity” – into building their Habitat house and the houses of others. Home partner families are selected based on their level of need, their ability to repay the loan and their willingness to work in partnership with Habitat.

For those of you who area little unsure just where we are all heading off to... Dong Nai is a small town within 2 hours drive from Ho Chi Minh city in the south of Vietnam. For more information on Dong Nai visit the following website: http://vietnam.sawadee.com/dongnai/index.htm