January 24, 2013

Vietnam Pilgrimage (November 2011)












Hi! I’m back from a two week pilgrimage spent in Vietnam which is actually where my dad was born! I know this isn’t fashion related but it certainly is something close to my heart and worth sharing.

I spent the two weeks with 20 or so other students, 14 of which were from my school (I go to an all girl’s school). Having been to Vietnam at least 8 times beforehand I was already aware of the culture, people, lifestyle and the poverty. For many living in a First World Country such as Australia and then seeing Vietnam would have been extremely confronting and a huge culture shock. Especially since we were spending most of the time volunteering in an orphanage with babies and young adults with disabilities. We also experienced working in a food kitchen and serving food to family members of people in hospital, a nursing home, a kindergarten and on a farm where tea and coffee was picked.

There is so much more I could write about my experience in Vietnam but I could write an essay. I just really feel strongly towards helping other people and making a difference in the world. I’m glad I’ve been given the opportunity to do this while I’m young, because there needs to be a strong focus on the young people of the world.

Here are only a couple of photos, I wish I could have shown more to give you an idea of what it was really like but my time was spent creating memories rather than taking photos of everything I was doing. I hope to go back to Vietnam and do more volunteering but I would like to go further than what I know and take more risks.

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