Learn from anyone, anything, anywhere, and at any time.

26.11.2019

“When I started working on Reading Vietnam, most people said that I were mad. I did not care, I just know it was what I wanted to do, for the rest of my life. It was not something within 3 or 5 years, but my lifelong goal.” Said passionately, Ms River.

Giang Ha (River) is a wildest lady from Vietnam that I know. She has a young soul and an intrepid mind for adventure. She conquered Fanxipan Mount in Vietnam, and many other cool places outside the country. She hardly makes schedule when travelling, like me. She said she is not a person who is super careful but she spends enough time to make wise decisions to buy a small product, or choose a job. She has the habit to check details of every item at store before bringing them home. She is used to reading through all description of medicines to make sure about their origin and their components. She considers healthcare, child education and empathy for humans very important.

Ms Shiny River made me shiny.

One recent interesting experience she got in Thailand was her recognition of how humanity is shown in different cultures, and she was not wrong to have empathy towards the thieves. The event was that she witnessed a group of people hunting for a thief in Bangkok. She was shocked at first, but then the feeling became less serious when people treated the thief kindly. They kept the thief politely and waited for the police to come. In Vietnam, the first reaction of the crowd to these "bad" people is to beat them black and blue. It is as if people find violence the immediate way to release their anger, and to revenge. When she saw such scenes back then, she questioned herself how come they could behave so aggressively like that. The thieves are humans too. They have humans rights and deserve respect from society. Meanwhile in here, it is the humanity that comes so beautifully even in an illegal situation.

This morning, I was quite sick, first time since coming to Thailand. I woke up at 8, working for 2 hours and continued sleeping for another 2 hours. It was so tiring. I had no energy to do anything though I already had the plan for the morning. This time I could not force myself anymore. It is about listening my physical response. It is good. But the rest of the day was shiny as long as I did not stay in bed.

In the Social Innovation class, I was entertained by many cool ideas and prototypes. We always have so much fun in this course. Just yesterday, we were stuck thinking of choosing future classroom or inspired nature. Then finally my team came up with "Edlogram" which facilitates the learning process of students in secondary and high schools through the technology of hologram, particularly in Mathematics. The problem we want to solve is that the abstract knowledge stressing students to digest, and to relate to reality, while the current educational system lack facilities and capable teachers to ensure the qualified teaching. We got an interesting insight from our guest lecturer who always brought us back to the real life. We are all good at divergence in which we fly around with innovation, the point is whether our solutions are effective and viable - it is the clarity about convergence. Ajarn asked if our Edlogram could be applied for young kids? "Luckily, your team still value the role of the teachers". The reason he asked is because exposing children to technology since young is directly killing their creativity and further development.

To add on, I asked him a question that is a bit out of topic which is how to improve the scary scenario where many parents nowadays allow their children to use phones. He did not really answer my question but his reason made true sense! "What is the reason that parents give toys to children?" It is to test children their investigation skill. However, even when parents give their kids a toy or a good book, the children might get bored quickly if parents don't accompany with them. The company of parents at the first stage is really important in shaping the kids' further growth from self- discipline to determination to figure out things by themselves. Till this point, I realize the huge impact of my mom being patient sitting next to me and studied with me over my grade 1 period when I was a stubborn kid. Her effort contributed to build my self-studying skill and a sense of resilience over time.

Go back to River, she is also a studious mom, by the time she gave birth, River already got herself prepared with all essential knowledge of child diseases, parenting method and healthcare. She dived in many books to keep herself aware of an important role to take. She said “Doctors love working with her because she always provided detailed symtoms of her child while many moms tend not to pay attention to the changes in babies. She acts as a friend to grow together with her daughter. I believe her daughter must be very happy to be her child. And I am happy to have her listen to me, as always.

Endnote. Tireness is ok. My brain today has been recharged. Tomorrow, continue moving, and always keep moving (Karen Nguyen). Work on Critical Thinking with Nath. Must move on. And go home soon. ...

"Write about empathy, compassion, and simple things around our life. Understand ourselves, understand people, and understand the world." - Ms River.

#Energized

#Empathy

#Maternallove