Scholarship/Orphanage Day 4 (7/22) || Tin Nguyen

Today was a Scholarship day at a distant middle school called Binh Hoa Nam. Like always, I woke up 15 minutes before the 7:45 AM call time. Luckily, I was able to get a few bananas from the hotel before we embarked on a 1-hour 30-minute bus ride to the school. We ran into issues getting to the school, as many of the roads we tried to take were not wide enough to accommodate the bus. Unfortunately, we had to park the bus at a rest stop and order separate taxis to reach the school. I was one of the lucky ones who was able to take a motorbike to school. It was a fun and exhilarating experience, but also scary as there were no provide helmets. Come to find out, many of our drivers were parents of the children at the school. This gave me a perspective into the community's way of life, where families often take on additional roles and responsibilities to do what they can to support their children’s education and livelihood. This even meant using their motorbikes to transport visitors. At the school, we gave the chalkboard a MEMO makeover by drawing our logo and some designs, while some of us arranged our scholarship backpacks to hand out. After setting up, we had a scholarship presentation and then started handing out the backpacks. Each volunteer had the opportunity to hand a backpack to a child, and I was able to explain to my child what was in the backpack in Vietnamese. I really hope my child could understand me because my Vietnamese is not that good… Anyways, we were able to have short conversations and interact with the children before they had to go home. Many of them were very shy, but you could tell that they were trying their best to respond to our questions. Like usual, many of the children enjoyed passing the ball around in a circle, so we did that until we had to leave.

MEMObers giving a warm welcome by drawing the MEMO logo on a chalk board at Binh Hoa Nam Middle School.

Volunteers arranging Scholarship backpacks to hand out.

Later in the day, we had a Welcome Celebration at dinner where there was a presentation and some karaoke. This acted as a meet and greet, where all the students and providers were able to get acquainted before we left for clinic in Tra Vinh the morning after. As part of the UCI Dance team, I performed on stage, and at Dr. Bui’s special request, I had to participate in karaoke. It was a warming event, allowing us to recognize those involved in helping us in our mission and allowing the team to bond even further.

New MEMO Co-Executive Directors giving a small speech at the Welcome Dinner.

Overall, today was long but incredibly rewarding. Despite the early morning and the unexpected transportation challenges, everything came together in a way that made the day feel meaningful. From when we arrived at Binh Hoa Nam to dancing at the Welcome celebration, I was reminded of the power of community, within the ones we visited and our own. As we end the night, I’m very exhausted, but I wouldn’t want to change anything about today.