This post features student writing.

Our community service has become a task of both struggle and fun. The labor of building houses in the sweltering heat gives us a sense of accomplishment that we never could have imagined. Not only are we rewarded with warm welcomes and gleaming smiles, but we are also rewarded with pride from the locals. Each day when we arrive at the site, we see such progress being made. We’ve had so much fun getting to know the people whose houses we’re building and the rest of the neighbors! They constantly encourage us by helping out, talking to us, and of course bribing us with delicious food!

One young girl, Ta, is two years old and spends all day on our work site with my group. Watching her play in the piles of bricks and dirt reminds us how to have fun without the technology we’re used to at home. Her, her brother, and their grandmother are so glad to see us every day, and we are always just as happy to see them. Their smiles and attempts to speak English really make us proud to be working for them, and our attempts to speak Vietnamese make them laugh right along with us!

Aside from all of our difficult work laying bricks and mixing cement, we’ve been able to help with agriculture projects as well. The families have let us help them harvest grass, peanuts, and corn, and they repay us by serving fresh picked fruit! We’ve also had a lot of fun off of the work site during our free time. Hours of swimming at the beach, eating delicious local dishes, and talking to the locals really keeps us going every day. Our group is already getting so close and we’re so excited to keep working and experiencing life in this beautiful country!

— Bella M.