Vietnam House Building Service Trip (Jan 2016)

“Vietnam House Building Service Trip” was the 5th Global Village House Building Service Project in HKUST since 2010. This project aimed to provide safe and affordable housing to low income families in Vietnam. In January 2016, a team of 17 HKUST students and staff went to Quang Nam, Vietnam to build houses for two local families. Students were divided into two teams to build houses at different sites. With the support of Habitat for Humanity Vietnam, the project was carried out successfully.

During the 5-day house building project, the students completed various tasks including screening sand, mixing cement, fixing wires, digging foundation and laying bricks to build the walls. On the last day, a house dedication ceremony was held on both sites to welcome the homeowners into their soon-to-be finished new homes. After the building project, the team had 1.5 days of cultural exploration activities in Quang Nam and Da Nang. They all enjoyed the time visiting famous spots in My Son Sanctuary and Hoi An Ancient Town.

All of the volunteers felt satisfied with their accomplishment of building a house with their own hands, especially when one homeowner burst into tears while expressing her heartfelt gratitude. This experience also challenged them to step out of their comfort zone to gain exposure to the wider world and to know more about themselves and the way of communication with others. Some of them have already decided to join more service programs to continue serving their community.