VietNamNet Bridge – It is never easy to fully understand the merits of advancement when one lives in comfort with all state-of-the-art technologies of the modern world.

Says Danz, one of the teachers from Northview school, Singapore is a highly developed country and the young generation has everything for a modern life. They have cell phones at hand and cyber games to play, but they only see skyscrapers blocking the blue sky; they enjoy comforts but know hardly anything about the losses and sufferings of their parents and previous generations for their happiness today.

The schools in Singapore are concerned about this, which led them to contacting and ultimately visiting Vietnam. They selected HCMC and Mekong Delta since this region has lots of things to see and learn in service of the targets aimed for, Danz explains.

And therefore, the Singapore school delegation has had many things to learn, when they arrived in Vietnam early this month for a far-reaching study tour lasting one week. The trip was conducted by Sapio & Vietcircle in Hanoi and HCMC.

In HCMC the group took a city tour and an excursion to Cu Chi and then a day tour to My Tho, Mekong Delta. The significance of this group was that the staff of Northview school is encouraging their students to learn the history of Vietnam and the hardships the Vietnamese have had to endure the past to regain their independence. That is why a Vietnamese lecturer was scheduled in HCMC and another one in My Tho, to provide them with necessary information.

At the History Museum of HCMC the group was briefed by Phan Xuan Anh, a well-known travel service advisor in HCMC and lecturer at the International school for Tourism and Marketing, HCMC. The 4,000-year long path of national defense and reconstruction was recalled. The resettlement of the people in all places by no means lessened their unity and support for each other, especially when at risk or in danger of being invaded. The nation’s thread binds everyone and all siblings will stand together arm in arm for salvation.

At the Cu Chi tunnels located some 45km northwest from downtown Saigon, the group first met with a tour guide who gave them a 45 minute presentation on the history of the American War in Vietnam, threading from the first steps of the French in Indochina to the American involvement in Vietnam.

And, in the background, Cu Chi came up with a flame honoring the sacrifices and perseverance despite the land-shaking bombings and ferocious attacks by the tunnel rats.

The hardship experienced by the local people was once again highlighted the day after in My Tho, Mekong Delta by Dang Van Thanh, deputy rector of the International School for Tourism and Marketing, HCMC. The mud coloring the earliest settlers in the rice granary of Vietnam was the mud in which the students stood, catching fish and learning how to grow rice.

In addition to typical tourist information, the students learnt about humanity and the teachers were very pleased. History and Hardship tours are not new overseas but they are new to the Vietnamese market. Vietnam is preferred by foreign travel companies due to its long history of fighting the invaders and the hard working people along with their efforts in struggles across the country. Through those above-mentioned activities and even military training lessons or field attack rehearsals on request, the students learn about team building and sharing and the hardships of previous generations, and eventually they will learn to love their family, society and nation more.

Vietcircle is known for its success in mapping and operating this kind of tour. This group was another fulfillment of commitment for this pioneer company.

Vietcircle is located at 53C Ho Hao Hon, Dist.1, HCMC; Sapio is located at 23B Chua Lien Hoa, Phu Kham Lien, Dong Da District, Hanoi.

Call (08) 38389069 or visit www.viet-circle.com for further information.

(Source: SGT)