Vietnam opens girls’ eyes

ASHLEIGH Gobel and Laura Robins recently returned from an unforgettable Vietnam experience.

Cherished friends: Laura Robins and Ashleigh Gobel with some of the children at the Truyen Tin Orphanage in Vietnam.

From a long time school project at Mirboo North Secondary College to a lifetime of memories, the experience was fantastic for the pair.
Upon arrival, the girls were culture shocked and overwhelmed by the heat, but loved every moment.
“We were so excited to be there,” Ms Gobel said.
“We were in awe of the country and the incredible culture differences.”
Among these cultural differences were the interesting dishes they tasted, including scorpion.
Ms Gobel said the food was different and she couldn’t imagine eating something like scorpion on a daily basis.
During the first week, the girls were given an orientation that included language and culture lessons. They were invited to a rehabilitation day care centre and orphanage in the second week.
The first week was interrupted by typhoon warnings. Although it wasn’t too bad in Ho Chi Minh City, the girls were still quite worried due to their inability to fully understand the news.
“We couldn’t go to the museum on the day because everything had to close. It was all just warnings where we were but it was still a bit scary,” Ms Robins said.
Helping in the day care and orphanage was an amazing experience with the help of the volunteers to break the language barrier.
“It’s a bit sad,” Ms Robins said.
“You can see how much potential the kids have but can’t use. Most have cerebral palsy.”
The girls played with the children as well as feeding them and cleaning up afterwards.
“It was good to put a smile on their faces,” Ms Gobel said.
Ms Robins said she was grateful for the opportunity and was told that just putting a smile on the children’s faces was enough.
She would now like to travel all over Vietnam and one day go back to the orphanage and day care in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Posted by Jacob De Kunder on Jan 29 2014. Filed under Community, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry