Ecoventure 2010 -- walk the green talk

This morning, we finally had a good look around Gia Bac. The wind that blew was cold but the sun warmed my skin. Outside, the hens and roosters were already up and about, wandering all over the place like the owned it.

Having lived for all my life in the city, I often wake up to the sound of annoying car drivers honking continuously in the neighbourhood or my sister's ringing handphone. The sight that greeted my from my bedroom window is that of tall HDB estates with limited greenery, save for the sparse trees scattered here and there in the carparks and a nearby playground.

 

Here in Gia Bac, I awoke to the sound of roosters, our alarm clock from Mother Nature. It was as if they felt it their all-important duty to wake everyone up bright and early. Taking a look out of the door, the view was simply breath-taking, all the more alluring for someone like me who had not had a chance before to immerse myself in such an environment that has not been thoroughly recreated by human hands.

 

This was what welcomed us when I went outside onto the corridor of the teachers' house we were staying in. Even for an extraordinarily imaginative mind like mine, (okay, again, I exaggerate) I would not have thought up such a beautiful scene on my own without any inspiration. You had to be there to see it for yourself and to experience it in order to know how it was like. However, hopefully the photo I took, albeit not capturing the place in its full glory, will be able to implant a certain seed in your brain that gives you an idea of what I saw.

Reforestation

We went out on our first FLITCH assignment that day and were brought to this vast area and our jaws nearly dropped when we heard that the whole huge area was supposed to be cleared. Did I mention? The place was humongous! So, we were led to a spot somewhere inside the entire gigantic patch, feeling smaller than we had ever felt. Did I mention? The area was massive! Oh wait - I did.

So through the help of translations by our Vietnamese volunteer from EVG - Thuong, we learnt that the area was owned by a lady and her family. It was necessary to weed the area but it was just so large! Nonetheless, with a certain firmness to do whatever we could, everyone set off promptly to work after we were shown how to use the tools. Along the way, we even devised our own methods to cut the weeds off more swiftly although we could never be as fast and efficient as the seasoned villagers themselves. =S

Teaching at Gia Bac School

In the afternoon, as we were preparing to set off to school for our daily English teaching, it started pouring heavily. Thankfully, we had the ponchos from our Eco Vietnam volunteers and we made it to the school dry and relieved but late! In addition, this being the first time we met our students, we were rather at a loss about what to do and the lessons kicked off to a rocky and nervous start.

Lucky for us, the weather was forgiving and the sun soon peeked from behind the clouds. That was great news for us because it meant that we could play some outdoor games! We heard that the students love them and it would be a pity if we weren't able to play together, especially on the first lesson when we were just getting to know each other and trying to create a friendly and fun atmosphere. We taught them how to play an improvised version of "Captain's Ball" with a frisbee instead of a volleyball. It was something new to them but they soon caught up with the rules and aims.

Before the start of the game, one group had actually run away and hid in a corner of the school though. At first, we were perplexed but we later learnt to give these children some time to warm themselves up to us when we realised that they were simply too shy to join in the games with us.

It was an 'Orientation Day'

This day was a learning experience for us being the first official "working" day in Gia Bac and helped prepare us for the others to come.

(Also, we learnt to predict when the heavy rain was coming so that our shoes and clothes did not get entirely soaked again as it did on that day. =S)