November 9, 2013 by ECO Vietnam Group

1105 – Step Up Project

In November 2012, STEP UP is the initial campaign of the year in the Overseas Community Involvement Project (OCIP), a cooperated annual activity between EVG and Singapore educational institutions. This is our third time to hold Nanyang Girl’s High School in Phuong Thinh rural area, Dong Thap province.

This time, EVG was pleased to collaborate with 6 teachers and 39 students from Nanyang Girl’s High school. Before departing to Phuong Thinh destination, our local volunteers together with participants from Singapore were warmed up by some interesting activities in Ho Chi Minh city.

The first place in the city tour was the War Remnants Museum, a renowned attraction that contains exhibits relating to the American phase of the Vietnam War. In addition, in order to give our Singaporean fellows an insight into Vietnamese school life, we decided to visit Ba Dinh Secondary school in district 7 and indeed had a cozy culture exchange there. The city tour in HCMC was not only enjoyable but also gave the foreigner volunteers a great chance to explore more about Vietnam.

Step Up team in War Remnants Museum

Memorable time with Ba Dinh Secondary students

In the dawn of November 19th, after a two-hour car trip, we arrived at peaceful Phuong Thinh rural area.

From November 20th-24th:

With the intent to reach the targeted goals, all tasks were divided up among 6 different groups. In other words, each group was in charge with a main duty such as building houses for a poor families, teaching English for young children, planting trees along roads, preparing meals at home and consolidating the road surface. In addition, tasks were switched between teams everyday so that everyone could experience and contribute to different parts of work. Through daily life, the local people here and our Step Up team were getting closer to each other and somehow, we felt like we were living in another big family!

Who says girls cannot build house?

After 4 days straight of hard-working and devotion, we were surprised by our own achievements, remarkably was the reinforcement of 2 houses, 150 planted trees along the road, the consolidation of village roads and above all was the happiness of Phuong Thinh citizens. Little was our contribution to the wealth of this needy remote area, yet we have brought here the belief for a brighter future.

Young children were very fond of studying English with us!

November 5, 2013 by ECO Vietnam Group

Sharing

“GiaBac trip is a platform which I achieved many practical lessons without being taught in school, participated in teamwork, and established many new relationshipS with local volunteers and international volunteers coming from Duman High School in Singapore.

All of my memories in GiaBac will be everlasting in my whole mind. It always reminds me the role of youth in my community nowadays.”

Kim Ngan, Participant from Vietnam

“I witness the poverty…how people actually survive with just a few US dollars per day,…., how confined they are such that they don’t know what is happening outside the world, how cruel and harsh reality can be at the other side of the world and so on.

But through this trip, i have really learnt a lot about the significance of service, which has really changed my outlook on life for the better. I think it is really time to review my role in my community, i want to be more active.”

Student from Saint Andrew Junior College, Singapore

“The conviction to help his community has made Harry Pham the founder, an outstanding youth leader in my eyes. He is always willing to give of his time to ensure that our students have a meaningful community project as well as provide

opportunities for their growth. His tireless work in Vietnam to change the mindsets of the youths and undergraduates in servant leadership is a Herculean task that he has taken on without any complaint and at great personal sacrifices.

I am proud to call Harry a friend, someone who shares my ideal of making the world a better place, one youth at a time.”

Lily Chua, Head of Humanities and History Department of Nanyang Girls’ High School

As soon as we got to say “Hello”, the next moment we were holding back saying “Goodbye”. Everything within me yearns to go back to Phuong Thinh and continue working in the hearts of the children there, to give them greater hope of a better future. But I will not cry my heart out at this – for I know that the children there now know that there are people who care for them and love them, which is all they need to have their dreams fulfilled.

The only words that are left for me to say are “Thank You”. Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible, thank you to all the volunteers who came with us, thank you to the children who taught us so much more than we could give you, and thank you everyone else who joined me in this trip. I will cherish both the bitter and sweet memories of the time we had in Phuong Thinh.

(Joel Fluffy Pony Tan, Hwa Chong student – Pass On Project)

House for Hope was an unforgettable and hectic experience, the amount of sweat, hard work or even the minute details such as the sudden attack of an enormous centipede, were more than what I could have imagined. Despite this, at the end I felt a great sense of satisfaction when I saw the smile of happiness and gratefulness from the house owner, Ka Hoi. Although it was probably just a simple gesture of appreciation, it made me feel all our effort was worthwhile.

(Winnie Peck, Saint Advocate, Young For Cause Project 2011)

Indubitably, if there was one thing particularly meaningful I took away from this trip, it is appreciation of whatever I have. I left Singapore as an insatiable individual, but making friends with the kids and Vietnamese volunteers improved my character.

The frustrating reality of our measly 6-day Vietnam trip did nothing to help the situation. That said, I will stop crying my heart out, take what I need and be on my way. Here is a sincere thank-you to everyone who has made this trip a positive experience. Much as I’d like to round this up with something extraordinarily cheesy, I am just glad to have been part of this trip since the very first step, that’s all. Adios and peace out.

I miss all the kids and volunteers.

(Max Yoong, Hwa Chong student – Pass On Project)