relAtionshipppppppppps

i think one of the hardest things when an outsider comes into an organization is developing a solid relationship. and i think that it was more difficult just because we are foreigners so at times it is harder to build trust between the two sides.

luckily, students who volunteer at Sao Mai next year with have a pre-developed relationship with the organization. starting out, i was pretty nervous and anxious every day that i went volunteering. in the beginning, the teachers did not really give me any task. and i was kind of glad of that fact because i didnt really know how to handle the kids, but as time went on, i was better able to understand how the classroom is ran.

I didn’t really develop or try even to develop a relationship with the teachers until the next few days I was at Sao Mai. But the teachers quickly became open and they started asking questions and wanting to know more about me (its not that I like to brag about myself) but the classroom felt more open. They asked me if I had a boyfriend and my family and the typical questions like why I was in Vietnam.

Later, as the months went by, they always shared food that they brought with me and they were just really happy to see me (WHICH IS AWESOME!) and the sad thing is that once I started painting the playground, they didn’t have the extra help that they had with me around. So like all relationships, things take time to build. And the one thing that I regret the most is the fact that I didn’t get to know the teachers as well as they got to know me. Besides the fact that I met co vinhs daughter and found out that chi thuy has two sons I do not know much about their lives because I was too afraid to ask. So in the next weeks I hope to get to the point where im close enough that the would invite me to their family’s wedding like nancy did. Heheh ;)