Remember the group from Naples that built a parking area in Phuong Vy commune? They did a fantastic job and made a HUGE impact at the school, but unfortunately there was not enough time to finish the parking area. The commune promised to finish the task, and indeed they did!
Recently we travelled to Phuong Vy and checked up on the parking area. The school reports that it gets used constantly, but unfortunately we came outside of school hours and so there were no bikes parked then. It was still fun to see how they had finished the walkway leading to the parking area (we had only cleared brush). We also got to see the finished concrete floor. Truthfully when the Naples group was building we doubted the strength of the concrete when we saw them mixing it with generous amounts of sand, but it seems to be holding up well.
Even more fun was to see some of the improvements they have made to their recreation area now that it is not used for parking! They had cleaned it up and added benches and a few toys, making the whole place seem a lot more inviting for 300 primary school kids to play!
Being there brought back many fond memories with the Naples group. As we were hearing about the use of the parking area from the school and commune leaders, they too reminisced about the wonderful and meaningful time they had with our friends from Naples. It is amazing what a difference their three short days in the villages made!
