A trip back to Gia Bac

OCIP trip to Vietnam, Gia Bac

Carrying a heart filled with excitement and anticipation, our OCIP boarded the plane to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Going back for the second time to the same village, I felt a sense of nostalgia and a bigger responsibility being the leader this round.

Going for the first time in June as an exco member, I think it helped and prepared me for the Dec OCIP trip.The June OCIP opened my eyes to the environment in Gia Bac village which did not change much in the Dec trip.

View of Gia Bac

Also, it taught me various lessons such as sense of urgency, being a team and how to manage the relationships I had. All these were useful in the Dec OCIP trip as I encountered a few conflicts which were peacefully resolved in the end. Knowing how important it was to keep up with the pace and being exposed to the vigorous work schedule we had in June, it allowed me better prepare myself as this trip was longer and made resting times a priority for the trip itself. I also found myself giving constant reminders to the group. Being familiar with the environment allowed me to better schedule the bathing times and how to go about organising the team.

Sleeping Area

However, the trips differed as not only was the Dec trip longer, we had volunteers from SMU joining us as well. This brought the total number of volunteers in Gia Bac to about 70. However our daily routines weren’t affected as the SMU team had kindly proposed to work around our routines as we had arrived earlier. Working with them was a pleasure though we had disagreements initially.

Bamboo weaving for the library windows

Building the library walls

They were really friendly and being Singaporeans in a foreign country, it allowed us to relate to each other better.

Dinner with SMU on our second last day

Personally I feel that the main learning points we can take away from them is how humble they were in learning from us, they would seek our feedback and listen to us though they were much older. Also, the facilities that we had in Dec has improved and we have more toilet facilities which allowed us to solve our bathing problems with the arrival of SMU. We had a change in headquarters as the new headquarter is a house and thus we had more place and could eat indoors everyday.

Meal times

Knowing about the new facilities we had when we first arrived brought a smile to my face as within the 6 months, there was improvements made to the village and that could mean more people are now aware of the living conditions and problems faced by the village.

House for Hope: Building a kitchen for a family

In conclusion, both the June and Dec OCIP trips were memorable but different. The June OCIP trip was memorable as I felt that I have learnt more about Gia Bac and the situation in the village itself. The Dec OCIP trip on the other hand, taught me more about myself and I felt that I grew in terms of leading a group from the constant feedbacks given. Also, the Dec OCIP trip focused more on personal learning and development as compared to the June OCIP trip where it focused on the international community.

-Gio