Keep Well The Road
The Vietnam BHX crew had an absolutely remarkable day of adventure from sunrise to sunset today. Our morning began at the Cat Ba Ecolodge with a calming hour of yoga guided by one of our ALIVE educators, Adrienne Sultana. After a delicious breakfast, we packed up our gear and headed off to catch a speed boat to Viet Hai – a remote fishing village accessible only by water.
The students could hardly contain their excitement as we took in the incredible views of the turquoise waters and soaring limestone cliffs of Lan Hai Bay.
Perhaps our biggest challenge and most impressive achievement of the day was our late morning hike through winding jungle paths to one of the island’s highest points, Navy Peak— 265 meters above the village— where we were treated to an unbelievable scenic vista of Cat Ba Island.
Despite some very challenging climbing sections and difficult terrain, the students’ perseverance, positivity, and collaboration made this a truly memorable experience for all of us.
After lunch, another of our ALIVE educators, Seth Maclean, guided our group through an engaging and interactive activity in which the students reflected on the nature of leadership and the ways in which they can draw upon their own personalities and strengths to tap into their own leadership potential.
Personally, the highlight of my day, however, was our late afternoon farming activity. Although it was arguably the dirtiest and sweatiest thing we’ve done so far, the students— all with ear-to-ear smiles— rolled up their sleeves, pulled on a pair of work gloves and picked up some work tools.
It has been truly incredible to see the enthusiasm, connectedness, and joy in the eyes of our students this week, and I can’t wait to find out how else they’ll impress us in the days to come!
STUDENT VOICES
Today was full of adventure, some challenges, and lots of fun. From start to finish, we experienced moments that showed us how nature interacts with humans and how incredible this place is. On the boat ride to Viet Hai, we saw people selling and communicating on their own boats and how people in the fishing village rely on their environment as well. During our hike up Navy Peak, lots of us faced and overcame challenges. Even though the hike was difficult, we are grateful for the experience because it taught us that we are strong, brave, and amazing. The hike showed us that we can lean on our friends and classmates for support and encouragement. At the end of the hike, we all agreed that we are grateful to have healthy bodies that can carry us through experiences like that and eyes that allow us to take in the incredible scenery!
Even though we have only been in Vietnam for a few days, this experience has shown us the importance of going outside our comfort zones. Every day we have similar lives- we go to school, we do homework, we see friends. But most of our daily routines happen inside our comfort zones. Where you live and everything is familiar and comfortable, but this trip has challenged us to go outside of our comfort zones by leaving home behind and doing new activities that we may have never done. This has given us opportunities to explore new communities, engage with new people on the trip, and even parts of Vietnam. Through experiences on this trip we have seen our relationships grow and our words change from, “no I can’t” to “how can I do this?” We are so proud of all that the Vietnam BHX crew has accomplished and experienced, and can’t wait for the days to come.
