Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Beauty and Sadness
My first day at Peace Village began as I took the bus. Ms. Nuyen, one of the coordinators, escorted me to learn the route. Riding the bus is still a surreal experience for me, the buses are quite comfortable, air conditioned with Vietnamese music playing in the background. Outside is the tangle of morning traffic, a monsoon of motorbikes, women wearing the big conical hats, balancing loads of fruit and vegetables on their shoulders. I feel innudated by this culture and yet I can't quite believe I'm here.
We arrived in class. There are 8-10 children who come to learn throughout the morning, with a variety of disabilities. Several are very young, one little girl has me sit by her for part of the morning.
The children are able to speak basic English, repeating things like "body parts"--eyes, ears, nose, etc. They also are able to identify, with a little coaching, colors and numbers.
Another little girl cried all the time during the morning. She had a hard time walking and had vision problems. Ms. Canh, the teacher, would walk her or give her water. I tried comforting her but nothing worked.
In the afternoon I went back to my lodgings, exhausted from just a few hours. That evening, I watched sunset with my young friend Chantelle, a volunteer from Australia. Red and pink tinged clouds filled the sky, and the sunset dazzled the lake. spreading bright rays on the darkening water. Stunningly beautiful.
How do I reconcile this to the suffering of the little girl? If only she could see the sunset....
We arrived in class. There are 8-10 children who come to learn throughout the morning, with a variety of disabilities. Several are very young, one little girl has me sit by her for part of the morning.
The children are able to speak basic English, repeating things like "body parts"--eyes, ears, nose, etc. They also are able to identify, with a little coaching, colors and numbers.
Another little girl cried all the time during the morning. She had a hard time walking and had vision problems. Ms. Canh, the teacher, would walk her or give her water. I tried comforting her but nothing worked.
In the afternoon I went back to my lodgings, exhausted from just a few hours. That evening, I watched sunset with my young friend Chantelle, a volunteer from Australia. Red and pink tinged clouds filled the sky, and the sunset dazzled the lake. spreading bright rays on the darkening water. Stunningly beautiful.
How do I reconcile this to the suffering of the little girl? If only she could see the sunset....
