At 7:45am, many of our summer work camp participants arrived at the gate of The Dao-Le residence. Some of them drove straight from out of town at 4am and some of them flew in from other states. They were so punctual it was refreshing and it demonstrates their enthusiasm. One shared with me that he arrived at 7am but did not ring the gate because too early.
Our Work camp orientation co-leader, Ms Florence Tang, one of the two young directors we have on our BOARD, arrived a few minutes later with a truck load of food and orientation material. Looking at the amount of food she brought to feed the participants for BREAKFAST ONLY, I thought to myself: 'Are we trying to feed an army here?’ I learned subsequently that the truck load of food was not enough in her mind as she sent her co-leader, Dr. Quynh, to get even MORE food! He came with arm full! I shook my head... but of course I did not make any comment as I realized one thing: The amount of food is just one way to show the boundless nurturing ability of a woman ... especially when she is nurturing one little human-being inside of her!
I had the opportunity to sit in the orientation to listen and observe for about an hour. I have to say that I was truly impressed with the preparation that Ms Florence did (from the big item such as work camp booklets with all relevant details and bios of campers to the small item such as index cards for ice-breaker games). Both Ms Florence and Dr. Quynh were thoughtful in their discussion and detailed in their attention. The campers and their leaders played games, laughed through stories and shared openly what they need to do to prepare for the two week work camp in Vietnam at the end of May. Watching that interaction was heart warming to me. We also shared the fact that 40% of our Annual Report space is dedicated to the annual work camp. We want the campers to leverage the opportunity to share their experience with stories they write from the heart and with photos they captured for the moments.
During the 10min break allowed by Florence/Quynh, we walked around in fresh air. I showed them the chickens, fish, rabbits raised on the land etc... while I shared with them why SM was formed and what our vision is. I emphasized that SM is just as much about the children here as it is the children there... and our effort, whether at 3am or at 2pm, whether we are sick or healthy, whether we are 6 or 70 years of age .... are always 'FOR THE CHILDREN OF VIET NAM."
During the 10min break allowed by Florence/Quynh, we walked around in fresh air. I showed them the chickens, fish, rabbits raised on the land etc... while I shared with them why SM was formed and what our vision is. I emphasized that SM is just as much about the children here as it is the children there... and our effort, whether at 3am or at 2pm, whether we are sick or healthy, whether we are 6 or 70 years of age .... are always 'FOR THE CHILDREN OF VIET NAM."
The team adjourned at 12:30pm to join Sunflower Mission's social crawfish event at Kitty Hollow Park. THANK YOU Florence and Dr. Quynh for the work you have done. You set the model for how this orientation should be organized moving forward Thank you Quynh for flying in from Kansas City for this event.
