Coastal Service & Cultural Discovery in Vietnam

I expected the group to work together to change the lives of those in the village. However I did not realize how much this program would also change my life. My expectations were definitely exceeded. The work, weekend excursions, food, etc. was all amazing. While we were teaching the kids in the village, we got the opportunity to talk to some of them about their hopes and dreams for the future. Multiple kids said "they wanted to be teachers because we inspired them". This made me feel like I was really making a difference in these kids lives. Through this program, I was able to realize that it is not that difficult to change a person's life as long as you put in a little effort. I also learned to not get caught up in the little things in life. The highlights of my experience was teaching English to the local children, visiting Hoi An, and Ha Long Bay. I feel like there was a good balance between projects and cultural activities. However I would have added more adventure activities.

To be perfectly honest I had no idea what to expect for this program. My expectations for the community service exceeded due to the interactions and immersion into the community. I cannot not put into words how incredible the youth union and villagers were to us and the relationships and impacts we made in such a short period of time. I don't know if this is an accomplishment, but when we were leaving the school all these young kids were crying and youth union members were crying. In result I started crying and I didn't even realize how important these people had become to me in the few weeks we were there. My personal gain was definitely the relationships that I got out of this program. I'm also learning not to be as judgmental because it was very easy to judge these people for their simple culture or even their friendliness when in reality I have a lot to learn from them. My highlights were being in the village, making some of my best friends, Hoi an and Halong bay yes I think it did. I do not think we should've spent that much time in Hanoi. I think we could've spent more time in Hoi an.