V2-2010: July 2010

Final Thoughts

We're at the Hanoi airport ready to leave. If I don't type fast I might miss my flight. But....wanted to make sure to get one last blog out.

Once again Vietnam has been an incredible experience and the lessons learned were huge.

Last night at dinner we reflected on what Vietnam did to us and what we would take back to the US. Here are some of the thoughts....

1. I will treat my family better. I will appreciate them more.

2. I will teach my kids about the world and about what really matters.

3. I'm humbled by this experience.

4. Work around the house will never be hard again

5. My life will not be as material

6. It reinforced that simplicity is important

7. Relationships really matter

8. I might move here

9. What we say is a 'need' in America is so out of whack.

That's just the beginning. I'm sure the lessons will keep pouring out as the days go on. We hope to share even more with you in the days to come.

Overall this trip served the people here in tangible ways but it also helped to recalibrate our lives. We are so thankful!

Karen and Kimberley have hijacked the blog! Kevin is getting a massage. Jon and Bryan are killing the chicken for our lunch. Chris is in town at the market shopping! It has been a great trip. We are sad to be leaving this beautiful district and Sa's Home Stay. We are looking forward to being able to share our stories with you when we return in a few days. Here are more pictures from the last few days. Today we will go back to the school where we have worked all week and have a celebration with the school staff and local officials. Then we are on the train tonight and back to Hanoi to begin our trip home. See you soon!

No better way to see Vietnam!

Watch out little water buffalo!

Thai Giang Pho Village

Another village....Check out the rice!

Typical kitchen in Hmong village.

More beauty!

Kids!

More Rice!

We found a new water fall. The other one (past trip people will remember) has been turned into a water electicity plant.

Hmong dancing and playing! So cool.

Chris giving it a try!

The Market in Bac Ha.

Flower Hmong friends.....for only 20,000 dong.

Bryan...again making friends.

Karen showing off some of the latest Flower Hmong fashions!

Wanna buy a water buffalo?!

Teaching at the vocational school!

Karen with some of the teachers of the school.

Teaching excel and english.

Yen is the coolest translator and not a bad weeder either!

WATCH OUT!!!!!!!

One foggy morning at the rice fields. Nice pic Jon!

Mixing cement!

The wall.

Break time! Yummy watermelon!

The Wall

2:55 AM

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We can't wait to tell you about our adventures on our day off (Sunday, July 4) but that'll have to wait for now. First, we want to tell you about some of our work.

We have been working at the Bao Nhai Secondary School. We helped to build a 6 foot retaining wall and drainage ditch to help the school with flooding problems. This was in conjunction with bathroom project that was completed before we arrived and a water purification project that we were able to finish as well while we were here.

However, the wall was where we spent the majority of our time.

We arrived each day to the school at 7:30 AM and met our new best friends (Bien, Dien, Tang, Thay and Duc) They directed us through the work. Mixing concrete by hand (we didn't get a mixer like the NorthWood team did...sissies!), hauling hundreds of rocks from 4 big piles to the wall, delivering buckets of cement to them, and doing it over and over and over again.

Each day we took a break for lunch for a couple of hours, ate and took naps or played cards. Then we went back to work for another 2 of 3 hours....2 or three HOT and SWEATY hours. It was definietly some of the hardest physical work any of us have done.

Today, though...was our last day. And we are thankful! Thankful the work is done and we can rest. Thankful that we won't have to drink 20 bottles of water to keep from dehydrating. Thankful that we don't have to carry another rock or another bucket or mix another batch. Thankful for an experience like no other working alongside some incredible people, laughing, singing, & joking. Thankful for the life we live. Thankful for our families. Thankful for our friends. Thankful for the jobs we have. Thankful for the place we live. Thankful for the food on our tables. Thankful for clean water to drink. And thankful for the all the lessons that we learned here about this country, about these people and about ourselves.

We thought we were coming to just build a wall. But, we hope you can tell.....it was much more than JUST a wall. That wall, that will stand for many more years that many of us will live, represents so much more. It represents relationship, friendship, good will, future, development, progress, restortation. It's helping to build bridges, build trust, build hope and build community. And it's helping to remind us that we are blessed beyond measure.

More stories and more pics coming soon! Stay tuned!

Say Cheese! More photos coming your way...

5:01 PM

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Getting ready for some the best food in all of Bac Ha!

Laundry -- Vietnam style!

Bryan making friends.

This little girl came by the work site and started chipping in.....

But turns out she was only interested in making a home for her dolls.

Bryan testing out the new water filtration systems at the primary school.

The principal of the primary school with the new filters.

Here's some of the team with the construction crew (Bien, Tang, Duc, Thay, and Dien). Those guys work HARD!

NorthWood (another GVI partner) was working up the mountain. We stopped by before they arrived to leave them this message. You'll have to click on the pick to enlarge it and see what it says.

Even the vice-principal was getting into the action. Here she is tossing a very heavy rock to Chris.

Yen, our translator, poses with Karen. They've become quite the buds.

A little drum-break!

Gardening in the foreground. Rock handoffs in the background. Click on this one to see the everything that is going on.

I bet you didn't know that Kimberley had superhuman strength. She not only carried this rock weighing 1356 kilos. She carried another 100 rocks just like it and bigger!!!!!

The view from one of our drives. Amazing!