Today's journal is written by team leader Nam. Nam recently returned from maternity leave and has jumped back into the leadership with frenzy! So good to have her back! She writes about the Lighthouse, our college home for girls.
"Lighthouse is the college girls' home where their dreams are supported to become achievable goals. Supporting these girls, I am most impressed by their love and care for each other, especially when someone is in need of help.
I once saw the girls take turns to stay in the hospital and look after a member who was sick, which is like siblings taking care of each other. They are also very healthy in dealing with misunderstandings occurring by talking openly and directly to right people or in the home sharing. This habit is not easy to start and maintain when only girls are living together, but because of love and the relationships, they will do whatever is needed. Talking with Ngoc, one of the team leaders a couple days ago, she shared in pride that her life finally meets good luck after living in Lighthouse. This truly encourages me and puts more energy to support them all my best.
Working with this home, I can see a lot of lives transformed by education, medical care, nutrition and LOVE. Every year sees the girls grow up, be more mature, graduate fulfilling their dream majors, find a suitable job and move on with their independent lives. This year, there are two girls leaving the home with the confidence in their choices and new lives. Thao lived in our homes for over ten years. She grew up in Hai Chau Home and moved to Lighthouse when she decided to learn Pharmacy in college. Her dream is to open her own drugstore after graduation. She worked hard in her college time as a first step to make this dream come true. During the studying time, she also did an internship in a clinic's pharmacy to gain experience.
After the first step was completed, she starts working to save money for her dream. She is now working as a waitress in a five - star resort with this purpose. When I asked her if she still wanted to keep achieving her dream, not only her word of yes but also her consistent eyes and facial expression showed her answer to me. She understands that it takes a lot of time and efforts to achieve a dreaming life goal, so she will not be upset and frustrated when not gaining it this year.
The girls have just had a farewell party to say a proud good-bye to Minh as she is moving on to live her own life. Minh's way to her dream is different from Thao. In Vietnam, where the belief that only a college degree means success is hard to change, she was very courageous to decide to study tailoring instead of earning a college degree when she first lived in Lighthouse. Minh is talented at tailoring and she wants to work as a tailor in the future. Therefore, we sent her to a dressmaker's to learn this job. She worked hard in her apprentice time and masters many tailoring skills. After finishing her apprentice, she is skillful enough to become a tailor in a famous local fashion company with a well-paid salary and benefits. However, her goal doesn't stop at this stage. Her bigger goal is to open her own tailor shop where she can fulfill her dream to make beautiful dresses and clothes for people to wear.
At the moment, there are sixteen girls living together in Lighthouse. This means there will be sixteen more lives being transformed in the next few years. But, it is not enough to us, Lighthouse is always open for every unfortunate girl who desires to continue their education and achieve their life goals."
Sincerely; Nam
