At the end of each day of the One Body Village mission trip, Fr. Martino likes to collect the members for a short moment of reflection.
 |
| Fr. Martino leads a daily reflections meeting |
A lot goes on during the day. We're taken to a number of places, some for a few hours, other for only a few minutes. While at a place or on the road, we're constantly hearing stories and taking in loads of information about Fr. Martino, Sister Ngoc, the girls, and the OBV organization in general.
Fr. Martino leads these daily reflection meetings to give everyone a chance to process and share their thoughts about what they've seen, heard, or otherwise experienced throughout the day.
Below an in the following "Daily Team Reflections" posts, I'll summarize and paraphrase what some of the members have said about the trip and about their experiences.
--------------------
 |
| Taking the bus to the OBV girls house |
Trang - The bus ride to the OBV Vietnam girls house in and of itself was an eye opening experience. Some of the older girls who are old enough to work at the OBV store commute from the store to the OBV VN house and stay there on their days off. It was helpful for her to take the one-hour bus ride from the HCMC city center to where the girls live, as it gave her a better understanding about the daily lives some of these girls lead. She was humbled when she contrasted the girls' commute to the short commute she has from home to work back home in Alberta.
 |
| Making balloon animals |
Andrew - He appreciated just how much the the girls got along as a family and how kind they were to each other. No family is without its quarrels and arguments, especially when they're between young children and young adults. However, they have all been well-behaved when playing with each other. When he and his girlfriend, Trang (above), sat down to make balloon animals with the girls, he saw one girl get upset that another girl took the small balloon air pump. Trang asked for the girl to return it, and the girl did with no fuss.
Mr. Hai - He openly admitted how spoiled his kids are back home in the States, at least compared to the girls he's met on the trip. He realizes that all these girls want is to be loved and cared for. They don't want fancy items, they don't want money. All they want is to have a good education and a loving environment. He sees just how well OBV is able to provide that to them.
 |
| Walking the girls to school |
Jesse (me) - I realized just how important it is for men to be on this mission trip. Most of the time, the girls' only encounter with males are with the male students and teachers in their classroom, and chances are that they don't have too close of a relationship with any of them. However, since we men are part of the OBV mission trip and are staying in the same house as them, they have a chance to socialize and warm up to us. We quickly become examples of men who they can trust, thereby reinforcing the idea that not every man out there is trying to take advantage or exploit them.
No comments:
Post a Comment