Experiencing Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: Halloween at the Disabled Daycare :)

Enjoying Halloween, Vietnamese Style:

Although Halloween is typically an American tradition, many Vietnamese also celebrate and enjoy Halloween. In the states, we typically dress up in costumes and the children go door-to-door trick-or-treating. However, in Vietnam, most people who choose to celebrate in the tradition go to the "backpackers" district to join the forgeiners who dress up.

The district where I am staying didn't participate but our group decided to bring a Halloween party into the Daycare for the children. So being a student on a budget, I took an old white bedsheet a former volunteer left behind and transformed myself into a mummy. Then, I joined the other volunteers dressed up in witch hats and pumpkin hats, and we took our daily 15-minute walk through the city to the daycare. We recieved so many stares that which I had it captured on tape.

However, the awkward walk was completely worth it when we showed up to the daycare and the kids went wild! They loved the costumes! We bought white paper plates and used crayons, markers, and glitter ( thank you Mrs. Tooley and Aunt Dianne for the donations :)) to transform the plates into masks. Then, we distributed trick-or-treats to the kids. We passed out small chocolate cakes and plastic animals ( thank you mom & dad) as treats. However, the children soon realized that the animals had small holes in the bottom that could be filled with water and used as squirt guns to play "tricks" on the volunteers. We had such a good time playing and just being silly with the kids. It also gave them a a day-off from their bookwork to work on fine-motor and creativity skills.

Here are some pictures from the event. I hope they bring a smile to your face :)