We continue our student posts from Tabor's service learning trip.
Day 3 – Cai Be Service Time
Authors – Julia Jeffries, L. Moon
We started off early in the morning with breakfast at 7:00 at our homestay. Then we went to the two building sites in two teams of boys and girls to observe and learn how to mix cement and lay bricks to build walls. For three hours students carried bricks in piles to the building area, mixed cement or laid brick walls. We built the walls by laying down cement, putting down a brick and laying cement on the sides. The task we did was pretty simple; we put bricks down, slopped some cement on the side, and did that 
over and over again. In theory, building the house should be really simple, but actually doing it was very difficult. Every time I slopped the cement, it would not turn out as I wanted, which made me do it over and over again. The blocks were never straight when I did it, so the builder had to come and help me fix it. While doing the task, I really started to respect what the builders were doing, who were making real, solid structure.
After lunch we stayed in our teams and returned to our building sites. Now that we had gotten the hang of things, the afternoon went by a lot quicker and progress on the construction was a lot faster. After a full day of work, we retu
rned to the homestay and a few of us went with chaperones to swim in the Mekong River. Then at 6 the entire group sat down for dinner and then journaled with a prompt from Mr. Chaput.
Working with families who lived in a shack and had no indoor plumbing made me reflect on how grateful I should be to have the life I have been given. I live in a nice house with an indoor plumbing and I never go hungry.
Day 4 – Service work, bike ride, school visit
Authors – C. Cooper, M. Page
We started at the usual time, 7:30. We started where we left off yesterday on the construction site. More bricklaying, cement mixing and brick gathering were part of the process today. We stopped for lunch and for the day as we went to a local school and taught English and played with the children. 
When we first got to the school, the children’s faces lit up with excitement. We got right to it and gave them gifts of school supplies when they were able to tell us a word in English. We all sang some songs and exchanged some words. Then, we went outside a played a good game of Swim, Fishy, Swim. At the end of the day, we were all sweaty, tired but still having fun. It was a little hard to say goodbye to some of the kids and we got a couple of great pictures with them. Later on, a few of us went swimming while some others stayed around and played card games. It was truly an exciting day.
So far I have really enjoyed building. 
It's new to me but working with the local builders and laughing with them and at yourself has been very valuable. The school time was incredibly enjoyable. Playing with the children and seeing them smile is a brilliant feeling to have.
M Page: So far this trip has been so interesting. I never tried Vietnamese food, but I can genuinely tell you that it’s delicious; I never built a house before, but now I am. A few things have been harsh or different. However, when I jumped into the Mekong or took the bike ride around the village or laid in a hammock, as the crickets chirped, I am able to realize how grateful I am, and how cool this trip is. I’m glad I can help someone out while enjoying it.
