GIEU in Danang and Hoa Mai center

Hai Van Pass - on the way to Da Nang

The first day at Hoa Mai center
Hoa Mai center has around 40 orphans age from 3 to 18 years old and they are supported to go to public school. During 4 days working in the center, we focus on planting trees and drawing the mural due to the limit of time and huge amount of work. However, we also had great time to interact with the children: drawing pictures, teaching them some English songs or playing sports. Language barrier or local dialect was not a matter and we have seen big hugs, hands in hands, big smiles of sharing and caring among GIEU members and people in the center.

Drawing time with children

One of the projects that we worked on at the Hoa Mai Center was to plant mango trees, flowers, and hanging garden. The flowers were just for scenery but the mango's will hopefully be able to provide shade and fruit over time and have a lasting impact.

Planting trees

Working at Hoa Mai orphanage center.

Another project that we worked on was creating, designing and painting a large and colorful mural together. The mural was about 12 feet high by 18 feet long - so there was a lot of work involved! It was one of the biggest murals that GIEU Vietnam has ever done so we knew we had to work efficiently in order to get it done. As a group, everyone first drew some ideas down on a piece of paper and collaborated afterward. Every person had a say in what they wanted on the mural, and we ended up with a beautiful piece of work, commemorating both Vietnam's and U of Michigan's culture. We primed the entire wall with white paint on the first day and then proceeded to trace the design on. Then, the colorful (and messy!) painting started and as everyone helped out - we finished the entire mural within just a short period of 3 days! Our theme behind the mural was "Reach for the stars" and we wrote this inspiring quote in both Vietnamese and English on the wall. "Vuon toi uoc mo", a translation for "Reach for the stars" was displayed proudly in Vietnamese over the top of the mural.

The completed mural

Our last project was a performance performed by the Hoa Mai Center kids, and GIEU students. The performance included Vietnamese and American songs, games, and a performance of Snow White organized by Paul, Ngan, Chi, and Linh. The ceremony was a success and after presenting the kids with books, and two bikes, then saying goodbye we left.

Here is the video clip of "Snow White and the Seven dwarfs.

On Friday we spent the day exploring My Son and My Lai. My Son is the site of temple ruins from the ancient Cham kingdom, Hindu people that held power in south Vietnam. The temples were used by the Cham people between the 7th and 15th centuries. However, the area was used by north vietnamese during the war and was therefore heavily bombed by the United States, so today many of the temples have been partially or completely destroyed and parts of the area still haven't been cleared to visit due to UXO (unexploded ordinance) contamination.
After exploring My Son we headed to the site of the My Lai massacre and memorial. The My Lai massacre resulted in 504 civilian deaths, many of which were women, children and elderly. There is a museum on the site which has pictures from the massacre; many of us felt that the the pictures selected and subtitles given were particularly anti-American in nature, not merely highlighting the tragedy of the event itself. In addition to the pictures of the massacre they also have pictures of the recovery that has occurred since the village was destroyed. After burning incense in front of the memorial we walked around what remains of part of the village, mostly just a few cement foundations.