How the simple things in life can have the most meaning

Image at the Trung Tam Nhan Dao Tu An Orphanage, chosen by Tabitha Zdanowicz as special to her from the trip.


Tabitha writes: 

For me this image is about what you don’t see.

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, but for this one, I feel that there are thousands more that can be attributed to it.

Moving through the big open play area of the first orphanage we visited, around me sat my fellow group members all playing and connecting with the children and elderly ladies who lived there. No understanding of spoken language was proving to be no barrier as the happy, curious, nervous, excited, smiling or maybe frowning body language was enough for us to connect and understand each other. I was taking in this happy scene, when I happened to look over and see this lady and boy as pictured, quietly observing the surrounding activity. Since our arrival they had been in this position.

I approached the pair and received a warm smile from the lady. The boy was a very shy and wary character and steadily stared at me, not breaking his straight face. As I went for a high five, trying to reassure him, he reluctantly succumbed to the encouraging of his carer, to return one. Something about the two intrigued me and I asked for a photo.

This image really stuck with me and over the next days I continued to ponder it. The reason I find it so striking is because I feel it represents so much that is unseen at a first glance. It represents the wisdom and experiences of an elderly Vietnamese lady and the very young naivety of a small child in modern Vietnam. It represents the adversities of the Vietnamese people, as this lady would have experienced the hardships that war presented in her country. I wonder if the boy’s wary nature was because he never knew his parents or his family? What is his story? He must have experienced some terrible hardships, even in his young life, to be living there, as an orphan.

This lady represents the selfless nature of so many Vietnamese people. In a culture where respect for elders is very important, in this orphanage the most important thing to these ladies seemed to be the young children. They live, to care for and love the children and they are so proud of them. This was apparent in his obvious trust in her. It represents how the lives of Vietnamese people seem to be so much simpler and slower paced than those of people in more developed countries.

This image was one of so many special highlights during our amazingly eye-opening and memorable trip. I left the orphanage with a stronger understanding of just how privileged we are in Australia and I feel there is a lot to be learnt from how the simple things in life can have the most meaning.

Forever grateful for this experience.