Orphanage Visit

HEY EVERYONE!
Alex D. here.Just wanted to blog about my orphanage visit experience:)

Well,at first it didn't really sink into me that we were visiting an orphanage for handicapped children or even adults until we were at the orphanage itself.We were welcomed by the vice director.She was very friendly and I felt comfortable around her. She led us to a classroom on the 2nd floor.It was pretty small compared to our classrooms. She told us about the history of the orphanage and about the children there. Most of them were mentally disabled and some were physically disabled. Slowly it started to sink into me that I would have to think of topics to talk to the children there.It was really difficult as we all didn't want to talk about stuff that they were sensitive about and the fact that they hardly understood English made it worse, but somehow we all managed to feel at ease when we met the children.A few of us cried and it reminded me of the blind and disabled children I met in Laos which probably were in a worse and more pitiful state.I think compared to the blind children in laos,their conditions were not as bad.

After touring around the school,we started work.some of us stayed at the classroom to build the library and the rest went to decorate the classroom on the 1st floor.we printed the photos we took with them on the spot. They were fasinated by the printer and some of the boys were helping Arin with the printing.I'm so proud of the library that we built for the children. It's good to know that we've left our mark at the orphanage and that's something i'm really proud of.

I think it was really hard for all of us to leave the orphanage.I was already very attached to this girl. We didn't really communicate but somehow I could feel this connection.I nearly cried when we were leaving.

I think that this was the most significant activity throughout this whole trip as it made me realise how much I've taken my abilities for granted. I really would love to go back and do more for this orphanage.

That's all I gotta say for now! See you girls in school next year!
Bye!
Take care!:)
Love,
Alexandria De Costa

Orphanage Visit

hello everyone ! it's vanessa anne here ! i am here to blog about my orphanage experience.

Honestly, i was pretty nervous when we reached the orphanage and sat inside the classroom because i really wasn't sure of what to expect and how i was going to approach the children at the orphanage. But when we were told that there were some of them who were our age and even older, i started to feel even more nervous because i was afraid that they would be more sensitive towards the things i say to them as it may trigger something in their minds or something.

When we went down into the classroom where almost all of them were seated at, I cried when they sang the " abc " song. It somehow moved me alot to hear them sing and i began to realise how lucky i was to have everything back in singapore.

When we started to mix around with them, i felt really happy knowing that we were all doing something good for them and we were actually helping them. Nicole, Ivy and I was playing with this small boy and he was taking many pictures with my camera.He was actually really good at taking pictures and i felt really happy seeing how much he was enjoying it. I enjoyed the whole experience over there as it was so overwhelming and moving. I felt really good about myself after the visit as i knew that i did something good for someone else. I'm glad to have experienced it :)





well thats about it ! and thank you everyone for making my trip a very memorable one (: see you guys in school ! take care

love,
vanessa anne

DAY 2 (continued!)

heyy everyone! 

the ride to Ha Long Bay was 4 hours, most of us slept on the way there. BUT halfway there, thank gosh there was a stop so we could get off our bums and walk around a little bit at the HANDICRAFT CENTRE! Mr. Loi told us a little bit about the handicraft centre before we arrived and this is the little that i know because i wasn't paying attention :D because the government did not want the disabled to be a burden to the society, they specially created courses i think, where they could learn how to make beautiful handicrafts and then sell it, which would help support them. they are also provided free housing, i think. anyway, so we arrived at the handicraft centre and WOW, the handicrafts we saw were gorgeous, especially the hand sewn designs on cloths, wallets and pouches. there were also, wooden crafts and jewellery boxes and others i can't really remember now. at the handicraft centre, there was this one man whom stood out, to me. he had only stumps for arms and one eye was blind AND YET, he was working at the cashier, helping another with dealing with customers. i really admire him for his perseverance. 

then once again we got onto the bus for another 2 more hours before we arrived at Ha Long Bay. then the only itinerary for the day was CAVE WALKING! i think the cave was called the Cave Of Surprise because the French, either found it by surprise or when they went in, they found it amazingly beautiful and huge. so yeah, there are 3 chambers in the cave with the biggest in the third chamber. oh and Mdm Frieda educated us a little bit about stalactites and stalagmites and how to remember them. stalactites with the C stands for Ceiling and stalagmites with the G stands for ground. and Mr Loi added on with his own way of remembering the difference, but i can't remember. hahah. so basically the cave walk was walk into the cave, walk up, see the view of the bay and walk back down again. and that's all for day 2! 

lovee Carrie :D

DAY 2-Morning

HELLO!!!
­we came down early today, a bit too early in fact, because we were late last night. HAHA. So that's why we're blogging. So anyways, last night in Kim Lien Hotel ­was pretty alright. They had nice channels and hot water. we watched hairspray and jimmy kimmel live! BUT it was really cold. So thank God for the nice bath. Today, we'll be going to Halong Bay, which is pretty far from here (about 4 hrs to get there). So, watch out for someone else posting about it!
loves bernadette and weiling:)

Photos for Day 1

hey hey!! joycelyn here. i have managed to put this pictures out in the blog so yay!!! :)
didnt managed to get all of your numbers, so add me in msn?
lyann-dolphin@hotmail.com



By the way, this is just day 1!!! haha:)

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Sights and Sounds of Hanoi

This lady offered us to take a picture of her. We were excited and started snapping our camera only to find out later she wants us to PAY FOR IT!!!! She forced us to buy the pineapples she had and charged us USD 5 for them!!! My God we felt cheated...

Wow! Can you believe this??? A haircut by the road side! Now can you beat that?! I cant believe this!

Day 1 - Arrival in Hanoi

We're getting ready to fly off to Hanoi, Vietnam.. For some of us, its our FIRST airplane ride!!! How exciting...

Yippee! Finally in Hanoi... We're ready to go! That was a smooth ride on the airplane... We even had ice-cream on board the flight. See the smiles on our faces?

We are on board our "helicopter" number 2308. This is our tour guide - Mr Loi or we can also call him Louie. Off to our first stop... Temple of Literature!

At the Airport...

Wow! Everyone's so excited to get on board SQ 176 to Hanoi, Vietnam...Some of our parents were there to send us off. Even Ms. Teo our VP was there to send us off!!! Check out our awesome banner and group photo...