26-year-old French volunteer Pierre enriched the specialized class at our center in HCM City with his knowledge and skills. Pierre is a specialized educator and helped Village Chance teacher Hoa for three weeks to take care of children with motor and/or mental disabilities from Maison Chance.
In fact, Hoa normally has to look after one child at a time, but the number of children keeps increasing, she must finally take care of four or sometimes five children simultaneously. It is therefore more difficult to be attentive to the needs of each child and to follow them in their development. The children were divided between Hoa and Pierre. They supported each child in their daily tasks, for instances, by working with them on their autonomy, socialization and knowledge of the environment.
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Sometimes the language barrier prevented Pierre and Hoa in their exchanges regarding the children’s education in Vietnam, cultural differences in France, and their respective points of views. However, it did not stop them from working together and discussing more “practical” subjects.
Pierre achieved a mission that is out of the ordinary. He concludes: “It was an excellent experience where I could interact with children and establish a relationship with them despite very limited verbal exchanges. The fact of staying for a while helped to create stronger links but also to refine my observations and analyzes, and thus to better understand how Maison Chance works. But it is above all the human aspect that has marked me.”
Many thanks to Pierre for his time caring for the children of the specialized class of Village Chance. His help was precious!
Translation: Nelli