Community Music Program for Vietnamese Youth

Dear Friends and Supporters,

 I hope this update finds in you in good health and high spirits.  It seems that the cold days of winter are right around the corner for us here, but pictures of our time in Vietnam this summer and the updates we receive weekly from our staff in Cam Duc, remains to keep me warm as I am writing this. 

 As you know this past summer we were able to bring a group of volunteers with us.  A welcomed addition to our Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund family, but being a first for us, we were unsure of what the impacts and outcome would be, for our organization, for our volunteers, and most importantly the children we reach in our programs.  

Cathy Jorin contacted our founder last year hoping that an upcoming trip she was making to Vietnam with her 14-year-old son Zachary could include the opportunity to volunteer with us in Cam Duc.  Zachary is an accomplished violinist with the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra in California, and his presence for the week was an unbelievable catalyst for growth and bonding between the Rock-Paper-Scissors team and our students. 

It was amazing to watch what was created between the kids in the music program and the young volunteers who were teaching.  In just one short week, language barriers were overcome by the love for music, community, and fun, and lifelong friendships were created.   At the end of their week of volunteering, Cathy and Zachary joined the rest of the team to watch the culmination of their efforts as the students performed at the local government building in front of officials and their families for the first time.  

 Recently Cathy sent us her reflections on their time spent with the children in our programs:

 When I first contacted Sara Nerone about the possibility of Zachary and I helping out at the Rock-Paper-Scissors violin school in Cam Duc, Vietnam, I had a feeling that the opportunity would be a very special experience. Little did I know how special it would turn out to be for both of us, especially for Zachary.

 We were fortunate to be able to work out the details so that we joined Sara and 8 other volunteers from Rhode Island in Cam Duc on the first week of a several week stay.

 Sara’s two daughters, Sophie and Phoebe, were adopted from Vietnam, as was Zachary. Sophie and Phoebe are musicians in the Rhode Island Youth Orchestra and Zachary is a violinist in the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra – so we had some special commonalities.

 Late on the night of Sunday, July 20^th, we all met at our small motel in the little town of Cam Duc, situated along Hwy. 1, near the beach resort area of Nha Trang, and started to get to know each other. Five nights later, as we enjoyed our final dinner together on Friday, July 25^th, we celebrated the completion of a truly special week with each other, and more importantly, with the incredible group of Vietnamese children, teachers, director and family members of the wonderful program that Sara has put together in a very short time. 

 From the moment we arrived at the school to meet the violin students until our tearful goodbye at the airport, the time was filled with warm spirits and joyful sounds. The school is held in a lovely house with big open spaces and cheerful pale blue and green colors accented by the natural light pouring in from the open porch. The Vietnamese children were divided into small groups to practice different pieces of music for a concert they would play for the local government officials at the end of the week. Zachary and the musicians from Rhode Island each coached a group throughout the week. When they weren’t practicing their instruments, all the kids were singing and chatting – teaching each other songs and phrases in Vietnamese and English, playing games, and doing art projects.

 We spent one morning at an ethnic minority village school, with about 60 local children. Our kids played music for them as a group and Zachary played a solo, after which the representative of the Vietnamese Red Cross gave him flowers as a thank you.  The kids then all completed an art project, played songs, and games with giant parachutes and beach balls. The closing ceremony included a solo vocal by one of the minority girls. A very special day for all.

 The end of the week brought a wonderful culmination of the efforts of everyone – a musical performance by the children for the local government officials followed by the giving of bicycles to twenty very shyly grateful girls. 

 Our last evening was celebrated with all the volunteers in addition to the music students, about 35 of us in all. This was a good-bye dinner for Zachary and I and it was overwhelmingly touching. The Rock-Paper-Scissors’  students all sang a song to Zachary after which one of the girls made a little speech in English and Zachary made a speech to them in Vietnamese.  We finished the evening with a delicious and beautiful cake written with “Thank you Cathy & Zachary, See you Again!” Candles were lit and they all sang an early Happy Birthday to Zachary and gave him some truly wonderful hand made gifts.

Our time in Cam Duc was one of those extraordinary life experiences that are uniquely valuable in a myriad of ways – a genuine gift. We went to volunteer time working with the kids, thinking it would be special, but never imagining the depth of what we would receive in return – such honest warmth, joy, trust and love from these lovely young people.

We can’t wait to go back!

 Please know that you are having an incredible impact on the lives of our students.  More and more kids are coming into the program to learn to play an instrument that once seemed out of their reach. With your continued generosity, we will be able to welcome them, knowing that our program is supported, and so are they.   We are forever grateful for your support, without it, none of this would be possible. 

Thank you, 

The Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund Team

Links:

• Organization's Website
• Join us on Facebook
• Rock-Paper-Scissors on Pinterest

Dear Friends,

I hope you are finding as much enjoyment out of your summer as we are here in Vietnam.  We have been lucky this year to have had a group of volunteers come with us to Cam Duc to help with our music program. The best part actually has been that most of the volunteers are young people themselves.  To sit back and watch teenagers from the U.S. connecting with teenagers from Vietnam and be able to wipe away the language barrier simply with the love of music has been something to behold.

Along with Sophie,16, and Phoebe,13, daughters of our founder Sara, we had 14-year-old Zachary and his mother Cathy spend a week with us.  Kaitlin, 16, and her mother Robyn made the trip and are spending the entire month with us, as is 24-year old Hannah, a violin teacher, as well. All, talented young musicians.

I could try to explain how Kaitlin, Sophie, Phoebe, Hannah and Zachary worked closely with small groups of students everyday for the first week, working on group play and bow positioning, or how by the end of the week they had the kids ready for their first live performance in front of government officials and their parents, and did flawlessly.  But what happened that first week was so much more than just lessons and performances.

The strength of community that is our music program with the local kids here in Cam Duc, most speaking very little English and all the volunteers, most speaking no Vietnamese, integrating together all through the commonality of music, was and is an amazing moment in our program and something we are very proud of. One of our teenage volunteers has actually said that she feels a stronger connection to some of the kids in the program than she does to kids in her own school.

To have teenagers and young people come with us to volunteer in Vietnam had been one of the many great ideas our founder has had in our short time as an organization, and this summer’s trip has proved the idea’s importance.  What has been produced in the last month is a bond between musicians from two entirely different life situations that will hopefully continue to grow with time. What it has been like to watch as this program has grown is indescribable and as Zach’s mom Cathy said on their last night with us, working with the kids ended up being much more of a gift to them than anything they could ever give to the kids. 

We want to thank you all for supporting our program.  What your generosity has provided for these, young, Vietnamese kids is exactly what we envisioned our program to become: a fun community for poor, young students to become musicians and who have a safe place to be together, make music, and laugh, play, smile and find joy. The choice you have made to support our program will never be taken for granted. All the choices we make are with our supporters in mind, we understand without you, none of this would be possible and we could never thank you enough. 

 We hope for your continued health and good fortune in the months and years to come. Thank you again,

 Patrick O'Brien and the Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s volunteer team

Links:

• Please follow us on Facebook
• Rock-Paper-Scissor's website