Socialist Republic of Vietnam

TAY NINH — Foreign volunteers from Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain have joined Vietnamese students on the former battleground of Tay Ninh Province to share a "green summer" doing voluntary work and learning about Viet Nam.

On the fourth day of their visit, a bus took them and their Vietnamese friends to the remote commune of Thach Duc in Tay Ninh Province.

After passing through a rubber plantation, the bus reached a concrete bridge.

"This bridge is newly built, replacing an old bamboo one – part of a tree-trunk bridge eradication project launched by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union," a Vietnamese volunteer told one of his foreign friends.

Soon the volunteers were hard at work on another bridge, building the concrete pillar that would support the bridge.

Despite the hot sun, the foreign visitors worked hard.

"Today is a special working day for us," Nguyen Lan Giang, an eleventh grade student from the township’s Ngo Gia Tu Senior Secondary School, said.

"There are ten ‘strange’ people working together with us, but it is good. The language barrier doesn’t affect our work ability."

Samuel Ruiz, a 24-year-old Spanish student with long blond hair under his palm-leaf conical hat, won the respect of the Vietnamese volunteers with his efforts, and was one of two foreign volunteers selected as "model labourers" by the group.

"He works very hard," local volunteer Thach Duc said. "He always gives the signal to his Vietnamese friends that he’s ready to carry on loading the soil."

Nele Roeck, a 21-year-old Belgian student, joined the Workers Party of Belgium last April, though she had been an active participant in the party since the age of 14 because her parents were members.

She said she visited Viet Nam in 2002 to help construct a section of the Truong Son Trail, and continually thought about this beautiful and friendly country.

"I like working with Vietnamese young people because they are very friendly," Roeck said. "They are always merry during work time."

Some of the foreigners were students, others were workers. All shared the dream of coming to Viet Nam to learn about the country and its people.

For most of them, it was their first visit, and everything they saw – the rambutan fruit, a water well, the Vietnamese people – was strange and different from what they were used to at home.

Ruiz had saved money for two years to make the journey.

"I have now lived, worked and played with my Vietnamese friends," he said. "It is wonderful to learn the customs and habits of the Vietnamese."

Smallest of the foreign visitors was Marie Vandecasteele, a 15-year-old student from Belgium who said she was following in the footsteps of her sister who had worked as a volunteer in Viet Nam in 2002.

"It is my first trip without my parents," she said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I have worked hard but feel very happy."

The oldest of the foreign volunteers, 41-year-old Wilco Mulhuyzen had similar thoughts.

"This year, summer is significant in my life,’ he said.

By the end of their busy two-week stay, the 10 young foreigners will have helped build a bridge and a rural road, visited a local orphanage, and presented gifts to children affected by Agent Orange.

They will also have met up with soldiers of the Tay Ninh Green Summer programme and visited the provincial veterans’ centre and general hospital. —VNS