We may be faceless and unrecognisable to you but we are warriors. You may pass us on the street but we take no heed. We face the world proudly each day and battle our way for greater things. To be seen as equal to you is all we ask.
We may look different but we are warriors!
These are my last few nights in Vietnam and even though I look forward to home, it is bittersweet. I have met and written about some amazing people here and I am not done just yet!
The people I have been lucky enough to meet on my journey are now my friends. I feel beyond privileged to be able to say that. These women are warriors who battle each day as they work and volunteer tirelessly, not for themselves, but for society and their family. The people here are good to the bone, at least all who I have met. They are kind, loving and friendly.
These women have gone out of their way each day of my journey for me. Not for thanks, praise or recognition but because doing a good turn for somebody is the right thing to do here. My faceless friends are the most unselfish people I have met. This has caused me to ask questions about the western world, the media I am exposed to and the weight placed on material things. I come from a place where we are often to busy to make time. Yet I am in the busiest city I have ever seen and the people I have met here truly grasp the importance of time. No matter how busy they are, they will always make time for me.
One example of this is something that happened quite recently. I teach at a summer school and one morning while running back from the shop in the rain (never a good idea in Hanoi as the paths are slippery) I fell! Now as fast as I went down I got up, worried someone might see me and laugh!! I forgot where I was. As I limped back to class, a parent ready to collect his child saw my struggle. He muttered something to me which I did not understand and he disappeared. What I did not know at the time was this. The man went straight home to collect an ointment for my bruised leg and then returned again. I was blown away by this random act of kindness.
I am profoundly in awe of the people I have met. The friendships I have made here will last a lifetime. These women, my friends, are warriors!