Our first day in Hue consisted of over 130 enthusiastic students who showed up to register for class! All 11 volunteers were excited to meet their new students, and release the build up of months of anticipation! We are expecting an increase in enrollment to go up to nearly 300 students this summer! In the last few days, our volunteers have been creative with their lesson plans using different games and icebreakers for their Level A Students, conversational terminologies and phrases with their Level B students, as well as tongue twisters and hot debate topics with their Level C students. We are looking forward to implementing our athletics and arts throughout the program in the weeks to come.
Despite the heat and random rainstorms that last no longer than 15 minutes, all of the Hue volunteers have been adapting to the weather conditions in Vietnam. The volunteers have also been dealing with the energy shortage very well (the electricity in all of central Vietnam is shut off for 8 hours each day, alternating in different timeframes of the day, which means no Air Conditioning in those 8 hours each day). Of course, our hotel has been very accommodating providing a back-up energy plan, and provided us with fans to keep us cool!
This weekend, we will be visiting a few orphanages, and possibly visiting indigenous people of Hue to contribute in any way we can. Stay posted for pictures and stories to come!
Anna
ETA4 - HUE
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Day 1 complete! (Dong Nai)
The ETA4 program in Dong Nai Province has completed our first day! We spent all day at our first location, an orphanage about 10 km outside of the city. There, we met the 20 children we will be teaching and interacting with for the next 4 weeks. The children range in age from 3 to 17 and are all eager to learn from our teachers. Some of them even took some of the photos you will see when the internet is faster and allows me to upload. We learned new vocabulary words, sang songs, watched a movie, and learned introductions and goodbyes. All in all, a very productive day!!
Our volunteers are adjusting well to the lifestyle change. It is the rainy season here in Dong Nai, and almost every afternoon we get a little bit of mua (rain). Our hotel has everything we need, and of course the food is delicious!
Tomorrow we will work at a second orphanage as well as a youth center, teaching a total of 250 children at the 2 locations, a number which will surely go up as more students hear about our programs.
We are all safe and having a good time knowing that we are making a difference here. Check back in the next few days for another update!!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A new beginning for the ETA4 blog
Welcome to the newly redesigned ETA4 blog page. In the coming weeks, this blog will be filled with stories, photos, videos and more as we begin our summer trips. Please check back often, as new stuff will undoubtedly appear daily. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to say Hello to the World.