We have dreams!

The voices and art of the kids...

• I want to be a mechanic and I think it is realistic for me
• If I want to be a singer I would have to train a lot
• I want to be an artist, so I sometimes practice at home

• I definitely want to be a singer, so I have to practice all the time, always be happy in front of people and also confident on stage
• Being a doctor is my dream, I think it is possible for me, I am always trying my best in my studies for my future
• I want to be a teacher, and I know I need to try my best in my studies now

• I want to be a motorbike mechanic. I am already practicing to fix motorbikes and bicycles, an older friend is helping/ teaching me.
• In order to work in construction I need to observe people working in this field now, to learn the skills

• I really want to be a professional football player. I am not sure if it is possible, because to achieve it I need to sign up for special football camps and I don’t have the money to pay the registration or travel expenses.
• I want to be a Chef, I believe it is possible for me to achieve. In my home I cook frequently to learn and practice.

It has been another incredible week, I have observed such sensitivity and care towards each other in sculpting activities, creativity and imagination in improvisation games, and profound awareness of the factors which affect their lives.

The kids are now really thinking about their lives and their dreams for their futures, how attainable they are and what steps they would need to take to achieve them.We combined Art with drama this week in mapping their lives of where they are now and what they want their life to look like in 10 years time. The children created wonderful theatrical paths to travel from the present to the future, acting out real obstacles and challenges but still reaching their goal through strength of the human spirit and never giving up.

Looking at their futures

In our reflection together, some kids didn't think their dreams were possible due to their economic situation. One little angel, has always wanted to be an air hostess, but recently she realised that it will never be possible due to her family's situation, she held back her tears as she told us this. She would be an incredible air hostess, she has a smile as big as the sun! In reality, it may not be possible, but who knows what opportunities will arise in pursuing it. We continue to encourage the kids to dream, believe in themselves, make the most of the opportunities they have now, and continue studying to give themselves more options in the future and break the cycle of poverty. There will always be people who are worse off or better off than us, but we are all human and we all deserve to have our basic needs met and the opportunity to pursue our dreams.

Discussion about Needs and Wants

When we moved onto identifying our basic needs in comparison to our wants, I witnessed the most incredible display of compassion in Phuong Dien village. Each group of kids were given a basic need, and explored the long term effects on their life if that need was never met. Some of the performances brought tears to all of our eyes. The children really accessed their experiences and took them to another level. Their compassion and understanding of these issues was beyond their years. The performances they created were so impressive!!! We were all so proud of them. They connected with their own raw emotion and brought it to their performances, WOW!!! In our discussions after the performances, they all commented that even though they themselves were very poor, there are still some people who are in worse situations than they are, and they consider themselves lucky. These children are amazing!

• I used my real emotion when performing. I think I am luckier than other people, because other people are still in worse situations than my family. Even though, I feel like my family's conditions are very poor.
  
• I was happy to perform. These topics feel very familiar to our lives so it is not difficult to perform. Now our lives are a little bit better than the lives in our performance, but still there are some very poor families facing these difficulties in their life.
• It was difficult to perform because our situation was very dramatic and I had to prepare my tears. For me I acted with my real heart.
• If you are not healthy, you will die.
• I am pleased with our performance. I acted with real emotion. I can see that our lives are still better than the circumstances they performed
• I was pleased with our performance. I played two roles, The mother who loved her children, and the shop owner who despised the family. I felt sympathy for the neighbor who helped my family in the performance even though they were also poor and didn’t have much they could share but still they helped within their means. Even though I played the mean shop owner, I didn’t agree with the way we were treated, and as the mother I felt real love for my children.
• Our performance was about the worst situation a family could be in without any accommodation. I see our lives are better. I played the role of the daughter who was a very poor child with no education or hope
• I became very emotional about the mother’s love in our performance. Because in difficulties the mother always sacrifices herself for her children.