Day 1 - Ready, Set, Go!!

Sunday we arrived to our school in Kien Giang after an uneventful bus ride from Saigon (which is a major feat if you know what the traffic is like in Vietnam!) So before we post some pictures, imagine this - 80 volunteers, each checking 100 pounds of luggage, filled to the brim with medicine, construction tools, paint rollers, gently used clothing, toys, games, books, t-shirts, arts and crafts supplies, school supplies, drawings and even a few "flat stanleys" and "flat molly".

The luggage was brought down in 3 trucks and then put into two classrooms, it's about 90'F and 100% humidity but somehow felt "not as hot" because there was cloud cover. Half of us were still trying to adjust to the time difference and a little dazed and then Caroline (founder of Catalyst Foundation) says, "Welcome to Vietnam, I'll be your host! Now...ready, set, go!!!"

Within two hours we knew how much medicine we had, and an entire library full of everything else. The building team had surveyed their massive amount of work they would be doing and created their tool list and a game plan set for the next four days. We knew that Monday morning was going to be a challenge as we got started on our tasks but we were all excited to FINALLY start the 2010 Aid Expedition!