Day 1 of PureView®Angel Orphanage, Vietnam.

Volunteers travelled to Angel Orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City from Germany, the United States, Singapore, China and Vietnam. They fought jet lag, sorted supplies, and communicated with each other using translation devices…

👇 Below are field notes compiled by the young volunteers after visiting the children at the orphanage:

What happened today that was different to what you expected?

Luna: how talented they are in painting
Anya: how old they were
Chloe: some of them didn’t know how to write Vietnamese
Kady: the height of them
Luan: they were very good at drawing. they where kinda short. they were all so focused. they were very shy. the school had a lot of kids. someone got bit by a dog. they were older than we expected.
Letian: What surprised me the most was how focused the kids were during painting and how many children the orphanage had

What qualities or characteristics stood out to you?

Luna: shy and connected with her peers
Anya: shy and lively
Chloe: shy and energetic
Kady: patient and shy

First meeting, getting to know each other

Why did this child catch your attention?

Luna: how she wanted to learn chinese and travel to China but she was from Vietnam
Anya: her favourite sport was football even though that takes a lot of effort to learn
Chloe: she was super energetic and was running around a lot never losing energy
Kady:how much she loved drawing because she wanted to be an artist
Luan: I felt that my partner was shy but at the same time wanted to talk to me. I really admired how he went out of his comfort zone to connect with me. I also saw that some of the other kids seemed really interested in learning how to draw. I will never forget the determination that these kids had when trying to draw portraits of us.

Describe a touching moment and why it mattered to you

Luna: she was really passionate about her drawing and never stopped painting, this was touching because it showed how much she cared about her painting and it showed how patient she was
Anya: she felt comfortable talking with her friends around her, this was touching because she seemed shy but with her friends she connected well
Chloe:
Kady: even though my partner was really shy she still tried to connect with me and understand what I was saying, this was touching because it showed that she cared about talking with me and that she wanted to connect with me even if it was challenging
Luan：I found it really nice and kind when some of the kids went to the translators because they wanted to talk to us. It was so memorable because when I first walked into the orphanage I expected everyone to be shy and cold and that they wouldn’t want to bond with us. But that action really changed my mind.

Letian: The qualities that stood out to me today were the kids who were very excited and eager to paint and meet us. My partner was very shy in the beginning but slowly opened up to me. However, it was very difficult to communicate with him because of the language barrier, but we tried our best using Google Translate to have conversations.

What strengths or characteristics did you observe today?

Luna: observant, determined
Anya: helpful, quiet
Chloe: caring, creative
Kady: showed leadership, kind

Luan：I saw that the kids were Quiet, yet brave. They really tried talking and connecting with us. They had a lot of patience, which is a really important skill when painting. I, for one, don’t have the most patience while painting, and I was astounded when I saw how much they cared about what they were drawing.

What made you genuinely feel connected with the kid today? What made this connection possible?

Luna: painting each other because we
Anya: taking the picture together because I could see that she was not only proud of herself but also me and that made me feel connected
Chloe: giving the gifts to the kids because she appreciated it, she was really thankful and that they touched me and made me feel connected to her
Kady: how she choose me to be her partner because it showed that she trusted me and wanted to connect with me

Luan：I felt a connection with my partner Trung today the moment he chose me as his partner. I felt so honoured that someone chose me. Our connection only grew bigger the longer we sat together and talked. It was hard to communicate, but you can overcome any challenge if you really want to. The moment we sat down and started drawing, I had good feeling about this.
Letian：Although the relationship between me and my partner started out very distant, we slowly bonded by painting eachother and trying our best to have conversations. I felt a connection when he smiled at me.

What cultural differences did you notice between Vietnam and your own culture?

Luna: here there is a lot more nature, agriculture and animals while in Singapore there is mostly buildings and only very little forest parts and stray animals
Anya: the food was really different from England because here there was a lot of stir fry food but in England there is more fried and cooked food
Chloe: I noticed that there is a lot more buildings in China and it’s a lot more developed with technology and agriculture while Vietnam has a lot of trees and the building are mostly made of wood
Kady: I noticed that in Vietnam it’s a lot more dirty than California, there is a lot more trash, mud, and rocks everywhere

Luan：Vietnamese cultural is quite interesting. I never really knew much about it, but it is such a unique cultural. In Vietnam, you basically only speak one language, which is Vietnamese. While in singapore there are many, many, many different languages that people speak.

What about similarities?

Luna: I noticed that there is a lot of little shops on the streets here which is similar to the little shops I see in China.
Anya: the architecture of the building are really similar to the ones in Malaysia, they are both made of wooden materials and look a bit like a hut
Chloe: both in China and Vietnam I noticed they have spicy food
Kady: I noticed that there is a lot of motorcycles here which is similar to China because there is a lot on the streets and I often see motorcycles parked on the streets. I also noticed the people here in Vietnam look similar to the locals back in China.
Luan：But even though they may be completely different countries, they still have a few similarities. Such as, both countries have very welcoming and heartwarming people. Almost everyone there is so nice and inviting, it’s almost as if you guys have known each other for a very long time.

How did art help people today?

Luna: it helped me and my partner express our emotions and show what we are thinking of one another
Anya: it helped me remember her face and made us build a stronger friendship
Chloe: it helped me and my partner build confidence because we got to know each other more and I noticed that the more she drew the more confident she was
Kady: it helped my partner have the opportunity yo fulfill her dreams because she wanted to be an artist

Luan：Everyone seemed kinda awkward at first, but after we started painting, we all seemed to open up a bit more. I’m not saying that we became the best of friends, but we did feel more comfortable. For example, I saw that some of the groups didn’t seem to be able to hold eye contact, but after we had to actually start observing each other, I realised that a lot of the kids seemed more relaxed.

Teacher Cao Man, the volunteer, gave each child in the orphanage a gift.

What emotion did you feel most strongly today? why?

Luna:I felt curious because I wanted to find out more about my partner and how she lived and how she was like.
Anya: I felt really worried because I messed up my hair of my painting and I thought that it would look bad so she would judge me.
Chloe: I felt worried because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to communicate with her and it would be awkward because we wouldn’t understand each other.
Kady: I felt really excited because I was happy that my partner and I were connecting and she was feeling confident drawing and we could be together every day and draw.

What did the children teach you today?

Luna: I learned more about how they live and what it’s like to live there, I realised that if I lived there I would struggle and face many challenges
Anya: I learned more about my partner and her emotions
Chloe: I learned more about the personality of my partner and how energetic and lively she was
Kady: I learned that I was a lot of responsibility to be the oldest and I saw that she had a lot of leadership probably because she was the oldest

What did you discover about yourself today?

Luna: I discovered that everyone’s personality is different and that the surrounding matter a lot and I discovered that my personality is heavily impacted be my family
Anya:I discovered that I should appreciate my loving family because the a lot of the kids there don’t even have any family and they probably feel lonely
Chloe: I discovered that I feel bad for the kids
Kady: I discovered how lucky I am and how grateful I am for the treasures I have around me

Carefully draw the appearance of the other person

If you could only keep one photo which photo would you keep and why?

Luna: the photo of us in the car because it showed our trip and our journey
Anya:the photo of me and my partner because then I can remember this trip and our paintings
Chloe: the photo of the kids all painting because it showed our teamwork and determination
Kady: the photo of me and my partner because it showed our strong friendship and I can keep our memories with me forever

Today I discovered that…

Luna: today I discovered that everyone lives a different life and you should be grateful for what you have.
Anya: today I discovered that everyone had different skills and talents.
Chloe: today I discovered that many people have a lot of different tastes.
Kady: today I discovered that everyone has a different personality
Luan：Today was really eye opening. I experienced what only a few lucky people could, and I am so happy that I did. Not only did I learn a lot of things about Vietnamese culture, but also learned how children in Vietnam live, especially in the orphanages. I am so glad That I was able to witness such a wonderful scene, and I will do it again if I can.