Reminiscing my time in Vietnam

December 2009: The first day we arrived in Saigon, we headed straight to Gia Bac on the bus. We reached Gia Bac at 2am with a warm welcome from the school despite of the freezing weather at night.

We slept in tents in the class room and woke up early next morning for tree planting. The early morning calm in the village was broken by our laughter during our morning exercises.

Everyday we planted trees in the morning till noon despite of the hot sun, and everyone was eager to clear the land, dig holes, and finally planting the saplings. Mr Sim (Park Ranger) and his friends were always around to assist us, and were very patient to us 'city-kids' who didn't know anything about planting.

Everyday we taught English in the afternoon. At first there was a language barrier and hesitance because we were from different countries... but later on, the barrier was pushed away by much laughter, games and the love which we called love without boundaries...

On the 3rd day, at night, we also had great time chatting with the teachers, and enjoyed their listening to their stories. We felt very welcomed by the school and the village, and it was a real eye-opener to be invited to a Vietnamese dinner with Mr Thể (the principal) and some local officials from Di Linh. We felt very honoured to be toasted many times, and it was also the first time we tasted Vietnamese wine.

As time passed by, we also learned some basic life skill as washing dishes, washing clothes. It was really funny for some of us the first time we washed clothes by hand and thank you teacher Hà for lending us the brush to wash our jeans...

We spent many good times at Auntie Hua's shop sipping a cup of coffee to relax, and also at the cafe with a lovely view by the road.

Some time in the second week, Mr Sim brought us on a thrilling tour around the forest, and we even climbed a waterfall. It was the first time for most of us. On another day, we tried coffee harvesting too.

And the most memorable moment of our trip - the camp fire. It was our first time to see such a huge camp fire. We were very impressed with the students' performance and the fun, joy that you guys brought to us during the camp fire. We sang, we danced happily around the fire together with the school students... Wishing that moment would come again....

Last day before we left, we were very surprised to receive gifts from our students. Box of cranes, box of stars and letters that all made, written by themselves which were so meaningful and so touching for us. We will never ever forget those precious moment...

Later in the night, we shared a meal together with the teachers, and it was a warm gesture of friendship.

Good bye Gia Bac. Although we had left but we will always miss you, like one of our friend had said, we left our hearts in Viet Nam. And in exchange, your love, hospitality had come with us to Singapore.