Nhật Hồng Centre for Blind Children

Rachael, Raul and I met up with some of the people from the 'Talking with the Tourist' group, including Bao, at the park at 1pm. There were six of us on three bikes and I had Raul on the back of mine. The school is about half an hour's drive out of the city but it took us 45 minutes as I think they wanted to go slowly for extra safety.

We arrived and joined a classroom with seven children ranging from 11 to 14 years old. We introduced ourselves one by one, then they did the same, some more nervously than others. We were there to help them learn English. I sat next to Linh, the boy with the massive grin in the photo. He was so cheerful and excitable.

Their level of English is pretty basic right now but they're able to ask and answer simple questions. We spent a while teaching them an educational song about asking where someone lives. For some reason the American town of 'Hillsdale' was chosen as the example in the song which really isn't easy for them to pronounce repeatedly. After we had the song forever ingrained in our memory, we went back to asking and answering questions. Linh asked me to sing for him and the teacher suggested I sing Adele. I checked for hidden cameras and then sang Someone Like You to him. I forgot half the words but managed to not laugh or cry.

The kids were all over comfortable with each other, hugging and having a lot of contact, which I guess is another way for them to communicate. I loved how happy they all seemed. It was a really rewarding day.