Blogging- Kevin, Ryan, Ian, Mike and Alanna

Student- Kevin

Today was our first full day of working and we got a lot done. When we arrived at the build site there were only two layers of bricks and the bottom layer of sand. At the end of day two of the walls were almost built and the floor was almost ready for cement. The whole day I felt great and was happy to be there . . . the mid-day nap made it that much better. Can't wait to keep building. "Hey" to everyone at home, hope everything is alright. Miss you all!
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Student- Ryan

Everything is going good here! The food is good, the rice is getting old, but you get used to it. I had the best time of my life at the culture exchange, talking with the locals and playing games. It's been a blast here. See ya soon.
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Student- Ian

Things are going great, enjoying everything. The build is going well, getting lots done. Learning and doing lots. See everyone soon.
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Student- Mike

Today I realized that we aren't just changing the life of a family, that they are changing our lives and giving us so much to take back with us. We are good, and the food is great! Weather is nice and hot! Work is hard, but fun! Today the local kids were jumping in our wheel barrels and having a great time. Everyone smiles and waves. The kids think I'm Buddah or something cause they were rubbing my belly today, it was so funny! Can't wait to work tomorrow! Loved ones, family, friends, doanators, thanks for all the support. It's been a great experince so far, hope to tell you all about it when I return.
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Student- Alanna

Yesterday we started our build, we split up into two smaller groups and headed out to our build sites. Arriving at the build site, I experienced a feeling of true happiness, seeing the smiling faces of the home owners and the surrounding people. They were living in very simple conditions, yet they were happy. Seeing us arrive gave them a sense of hope, that they would soon have a house to call a home.

The reason we are all here is to give these deserving people a home, and it feels amazing to be able to help them. We aren't doing an extreme home makeover and giving these people huge mansions with huge plasma tvs and expensive cars in their new drive ways, but no one needs that. I think that people often over look the importance of simply having a dry roof over your head, and the sad truth is that many people can not afford the simplest form of a house. Coming to Vietnam made me truly realize how fortunate we are at home, and seeing first hand how some people live, opened up my eyes a great deal. I will definitely never look at the roof above my head the same way. Building the two houses is going great and I can't wait to see the finished products. This team is amazing and everyone works so hard, I couldn't ask for a better group.

After a full morning of working on the houses, we headed to a school for the poor. With 215 kindergarteners, the school provides food and a safe nurturing enviroment for the kids to grow up in. We were able to pass along a donation from DSBN students. We toured to several classrooms with every group of children as excited the next as they played games and sang songs with us. Every child was very appreciative for the small gifts we left behind. As we gave the children Canadian stickers, we said our sad goodbyes.  Many people found visiting the school and seeing the children very emotional, and wishing we could do more. The school for the poor was a big eye opener for me, and many other students.

Later that night we attended a cultural exchange between students of My Tho and the students of DSBNi. It was a fun night of games, dancing and interacting between the different cultures. Today was the first day of full building for the teams and they both did a great deal of hard work, but even after a long and hard day, everyone misses home. Thanks to everyone at home for all the support, I love and miss you all tons!