The bird’s eye view of the city was my first glimpse into the very soul of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. It was an unruly sight, resembling a Lego-town hastily put together, with random structures carelessly plopped on unoccupied land. My anxiety only magnified when I landed. Never before had I seen so many people headed in so many different directions... and all on mopeds!
Saigon was no longer Saigon. The cultural capital of Vietnam is officially named Ho Chi Minh City. But the change ran deeper than that. After all, “a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.” This rose has been stripped of all its petals, with nothing left but the savage thorns held together by a bare stem; a carcass and a grim reminder of the beauty it once held.
Environmental conversation and education are why we are in Vietnam. Over the course of the 2-week community service trip, we, a team of 19 bubbly undergraduates from the International Service division of Rotaract Club of NTU, conduct basic, conversational English lessons for students of a local school at Gia Bac Village. Besides this, our team also plant saplings at a vacant land owned by the Vietnamese government and along the road outside the school.
There is so much that goes into ensuring the growth of the little sapling. Other than the initial stages of clearing the weeds and digging the hole in the hard soil, there is the watering that is required. And even when we leave Gia Bac, the little sapling still needs lot of care and support as it matures into a little plant and finally a tree. But I am proud that we helped that little sapling take that proverbial one step in a journey of a thousand miles.
At Gia Bac Village, I was completely independent for the first time. I had come because I wanted to become; I wanted to feel that independence and I wanted to see a change I was helping to create. The opportunities to challenge myself were everywhere – in leading a class, in forming friendships with people who knew only three words of English.
At night, we would sometimes lie in the dark, wait for shooting stars to appear. There is so much wonder and mystery in the sky, only barely perceptible to the naked eye. For once in the longest time I could remember, I see the distant stars; I see the constellation Orion, the star cluster Pleiades in beautiful splendour.
Dalat is an intellectual playground and Saigon is rich in romance and art – but not the disappointing reincarnation I had witnessed firsthand. One day, I shall return. Maybe not to the romanticized country, but maybe, just maybe, to something even greater and more spectacular.
I came back to Singapore with photograph and memories. I have a picture of the students happily singing ‘Barney’s I Love You’. I have memories of us enjoying the sound of falling soil when we first planted our very first sapling under the hot sun. I have the hope and the conviction that I will go back to Gia Bac Village in the future.
I also brought back a new level of confidence; a place within me that I have slowly been creating throughout my life and that, like the sapling I’ve planted, has been finally taken root. I can stand on it now, even jump, perhaps, and stretch my arms to the sky. Each day brings new promise, giving a glimpse into the future of what I might well reach.
Related links:
http://atntu.ntu.edu.sg/People/Pages/People_p2.aspx
http://www.tuoitre.com.vn/Tianyon/Index.aspx?ArticleID=353055&ChannelID=7
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