Volunteer trip in Dak Lak: Spreading love - Sharing smiles

The two-day volunteer journey of Victoria Saigon South in 5 Floor village, Dak Lak with 2 secondary students from the school brought joy and warmth, spreading love to the underprivileged community in Dak Lak. During the two days, the volunteer group carried out many meaningful activities such as giving gifts, organizing cultural festivals, and meeting and sharing with the people of Dak Lak. Let's listen to the real experiences of Chau Anh, a 10th-grade student, to deeply understand the School's volunteer journey.

“This is my first-ever experience in charity, and it is also an experience I will never forget. The mix of nervousness and excitement while being away from home for just two days made me feel like I was constantly pacing in my room, my heart pounding, not knowing which clothes to choose. The bustling feeling when stepping into the car, preparing to go to a remote place nearly 300km away.

When everything settled down during the nearly 8-hour journey on the bus, I was assigned the task of preparing over 600 gifts along with two teachers and my fellow students whom I had just met. Everything was chaotic in the first moments, everyone wanted to voice their own opinions, making it difficult to make progress. However, every storm eventually passes, and things gradually start to fall into place. The smoothness emerged, and the 600 gifts were prepared and loaded onto the truck. We were all sweaty and exhausted, but we proudly smiled, turning strangers into familiar faces. When everyone finished, it was nightfall. We settled down to sleep and eat, gazed at the round moon and listened to the distant echoing sound of drums. We had a good sleep to recharge energy for the main event of the following day.

Together with the other volunteers, we arrived in front of the 7 km long road, a five-story village with two agricultural vehicles giving priority to the cooking side. The two girls and I walked part of the way, met other volunteers who were also walking, and jumped into two trucks together. The truck sped away on the dangerous road, shaking violently, but I didn't feel scared, I felt happy. Outside was vast green, the immense blue of the sky, and the white clouds with the cool green of the sky. trees and grass, an image that is rarely seen in urban areas. As the youngest child, I was worried about my aunt and everyone around me, always asking me if I wanted to sit down or not. Do you want to go down for a walk or not? Or there's the girl who's never talked to her and puts a scarf on her head, afraid she'll get sunburned. We're not even close friends but my heart feels extremely warm.

After an arduous journey, walking; Riding a truck, and then a motorbike, I reached the school. The school was crowded and bustling, filled with always smiling and carefree students and parents who loved their children very much. Of course, we couldn't waste time, I and everyone got to work. From cooking, preparing water, tables; chairs;... The children were very obedient at first when receiving the cake, everyone held out their hands with a little dirt on them, and some of the older children nodded and said: "Thank you". It is impossible not to mention the exciting performance the troupe prepared for the children. Standing on the hot sunny stage, Ms. Hang Nga, whose face was red from the sun, had a clear, intense voice, danced very enthusiastically, and always smiled brightly with lion dancers.

After that activity, the children were distributed a box of food and drinks. After eating and drinking, trash was thrown all over the schoolyard, but when they received the news, each child rushed out to pick up trash with the union members, quickly using their little legs to work with all their strength and then the schoolyard was cleaned up. When finished, the volunteers can eat their lunch. Everyone gets a serving of instant noodles. It's as simple as exhausting activities that make the bowl of instant noodles simple but extremely delicious. After the activity of distributing gifts to the children, everyone climbed on the farm vehicle to return to the village gate. The 7km road was long and rambling, the bright sun made everyone suffocate, and the sweat that stuck to every piece of skin became sticky. Going out of the village gate and getting a cool bottle of water made everyone pleasant.

Volunteering on an arduous journey is considered a medal for those two days, the result of a labor process, a journey full of sweat but really interesting, the products of the day are all truly worthy with the efforts I put in.”

In our lives, we are so busy with work and study, but we still need to cherish a warm, sympathetic heart. This is also the humanistic value that the School always conveys to students at Victoria South Saigon. We hope that the meaningful journey of Victoria South Saigon School will be a source of motivation for everyone, spreading love and sharing not only in the community but also across the country.