Handmade in Vietnam

By Monica Nguyen

Today was our second day at the worksite. After working for only a day, we've started to get a rhythm down, and we moved pretty quickly in the morning. The kids have also become a lot more comfortable and daring around us, which makes for interesting times. And as the excitement and newness of being here starts to die down a little, the knowledge of what we still have to accomplish settles in. There is a lot of work that is left to be done, but I know when we finish, there will always be a feeling that we want to stay just a little longer.

Whenever I take a break, I like to just sit and watch the people work as the little kids run around and play in the sand in front of the school. It's very striking to me to see how this building is being built. The local people make ladders out of tree trunks and branches, and they mix tons of concrete by hand and pour it out one barrel at a time. I admire how hard these people work. It's just their way of life, though.

At the end of a work day, we take an hour long bus ride back to our hotel. The scenery is breathtaking along the way with miles of rice fields and mountains in the background. This is truly a very beautiful country, and everyday that I'm here, I grow to love it even more.