3 Things

I have to blog about the following, because I may forget the details in the future.

1. "Khỏi chị. Em tinh là em làm được."

We took our students on a field trip to a temple and a staff's farm. Little did we know, we'd be hiking a mountain too. Our students are city girls. They are used to hard labor, but not physical activities that work the muscles and cardio and lasts for a long time, so the majority of the girls struggled a bit. One particular student had a hard time the whole way. I, along with two others, guided her throughout most of the trail. I'd either pull her up or help walk her down. Near the end of the hike, though, I laid out my hand for her to grab, but felt nothing. I turned around to glance at her, and she said, "It's ok (older sister). I believe I can do it."


2. "Chị ấy là người. Mình cũng là người. Nếu chĩ làm được thì mình cũng làm được."

One of our staff members have been concerned about her ability to contribute to the organization. She tends to admire others before acknowledging her own strengths. After working for our organization for four months, she has finally gained the confidence to publicly speak out about her potential--potential to grow, potential as a woman, and potential to be a leader.


3. One of our students is very quiet. It is quite hard to get her to open up, and you can tell when she contemplates on whether or not she should say more. We wonder a lot about our work here, and hence, question its impact and effectiveness. Our own answers are sometimes "no." We were corrected, though. We were told by our particularly reserved student that what exists isn't always visible.


I guess the stories are really telling of why we are here. I know I definitely need to be reassured from time to time.