Thanh Xuan Peace Village was established in 1991 and provides a home and education for over 100 children and young people aged between 2-22 who are suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, a chemical used by US Military during Vietnam War that made many children born with different types of deformities. The Village serves as partly hospital, partly orphanage and partly nursery and elementary school. The aim of the village is to care for these children & help them integrate into society. They are arranged into 4 special classes where they receive primary lessons as well as other vocational training classes where they can learn craft, tailoring,...guided by the 38 staff.
The Peace Village is a very loving and happy place where children run freely and speak freely and can find a warm meal each day. The children form friendships with one another as healthy children do, and in most cases can respond to teachers and family members with reciprocity. Hugs don’t seem to be forgotten at the Peace Village, and there is always lots of laughter echoing the hallways.
VOLUNTEER’S TASKS:
Volunteers will help with different work in the Peace Village, mainly as follows:Organising games and other activities with the children. Joining daily activities with the pupils including assisting with exercises. Caring for the children and helping with rehabilitation exercises for them. Helping the staff to improve their English. Helping staff with general housework. Assisting in fundraising activities. Typical working hours will be from 8am–4pm. Lunch along with a short nap will be between 11am–2pm.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with disabled children and show maturity and spirit of initiative.
Preference:
Volunteers with background or experience in medical work or disability. However, volunteers without experience or background in these areas will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited to meet foreigners. Volunteers should be 18 or over.
DURATION:
This project is open throughout the whole year. Volunteers can stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of one year.
PROJECT LOCATION:
Thanh Xuan Peace Village is located in Thanh Xuan District in the western part of Hanoi. Located in the north of Vietnam, the capital city has over 3.5 million people and is the second biggest city in the country.
FOOD/ACCOMMODATION/TRAVEL:
Volunteers will be staying in a dormitory or in a hosted family (at extra cost). Food will be provided in the dormitory or hosted families. Lunch will be arranged at the project site. Volunteers will travel to work every day by public buses.
Vietnam Friendship Village opened its doors in 1998 to treat children and veterans suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. The children, whose fathers or grandfathers were exposed (causing chromosomal damage) or who were contaminated from their mother’s milk, suffer from a range of difficult conditions. While there, children and veterans are nourished and are provided with free medical care; the children - who may be there for a period of years - receive their basic education as well as some vocational training.
The Organic Gardening Project was launched in 2004 with the goal of creating islands of a harmonious approach to agriculture within areas of environmental and human devastation - increasing awareness of the consequences of war and, at the same time, demonstrating positive strategies for healing and living. The farm now is providing about 60% of the vegetable for the Village. It is hoped that it will be able to cover all the local need and to sell out some of the products to get money for the children.
VOLUNTEER’S TASKS:
Volunteers will help with different work in the Village, mainly as follows:Organising games and other activities with the children. Joining daily activities with the children including assisting with exercise. Caring for the children and helping with rehabilitation exercises for them. Helping the staff to improve their English. Helping staff with general housework. Assisting in networking and fundraising activities. Helping out with some garden work. Typical working hours will be from 8am–4pm. Lunch along with a short nap will be between 11am–2pm.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with disabled children, show maturity, have spirit of initiative spirit, and do not mind doing some manual work in the garden.
Preference:
Volunteers with background or experience in medical work or disability. However, volunteers without experience or background in these fields will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited to meet foreigners. Volunteers should be 18 or over.
DURATION:
This project is open throughout the whole year. Volunteers can stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of one year.
PROJECT LOCATION:
Vietnam Friendship Village locates in Van Canh commune, Hoai Duc district, Ha Tay Province. It is about 11kms away from the centre of Hanoi to the west, approximately 35 minutes driving from downtown.
FOOD/ACCOMMODATION/TRAVEL:
Volunteers will be staying in a dormitory or in a hosted family (at extra cost). Food will be provided in the dormitory or by the hosting families. Lunch will be arranged at the project site. Volunteers will travel to work every day by public buses.
Ha Cau Orphanage is a centre for homeless children run by a non-governmental organisation. It was founded in 1997 and is the home of approximately sixty orphans and five teachers/caretakers. With an age range from five to twenty year olds, it houses three types of orphans; those who lost both their parents, those who lost one parent and cannot be supported by the other and those who’s parents are alive but stricken by disease and incapable of taking care of the child. The children live in all-boy or all-girl dorms on the campus and are taught everything from Arts to History, from Mathematics to English. The centre supports them up to, and through University. If they cannot enter into a University, they receive vocational training or follow a business programme with a company to be able to get a job afterwards.
Having had few volunteers to date as it is a relatively new programme; the orphanage is very keen to receive more. The children were extremely fond of past volunteers and have been known to follow them to their bus stop to assure they get on the bus safely and don’t get ripped off by the driver. This in turn has motivated the volunteers to help the children in whichever way possible as they are often overwhelmed by the warmth and happiness the children portray by the simple presence of a foreigner.
VOLUNTEER’S TASKS:
Volunteer's tasks consist mainly of teaching English to the children, but more often than not, lots of time is spent playing with the children and helping with extra-curricular activities (and the organisation there-of). In the future VPV will also give informative courses to the older students regarding HIV and AIDS, a virus that continues to be a serious threat to human life amongst a large part of the Vietnamese population. Further activities that the more interactive volunteer can do, is to assist in the kitchen. Past volunteers have enjoyed doing this, as they have learnt traditional Vietnamese cooking skills. Typical working hours will be from 8am–4pm. Lunch along with a short nap will be between 11am–2pm.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with children and show maturity and have spirit of initiative.
Preference:
Volunteers with background or experience in medical work or social work. However, volunteers without experience or background in these fields will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited to meet foreigners. Volunteers should be 18 or over.
DURATION:
This project is open throughout the whole year. Volunteers can stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of one year.
PROJECT LOCATION:
Ha Cau Orphanage is located in Ha Dong Town, which finds itself at approximately five kilometres from the VPV headquarters or a half hour bus ride and ten minute walk from VPV.
FOOD/ACCOMMODATION/TRAVEL:
Volunteers will be staying in a dormitory or in a hosted family (at extra cost). Food will be provided in the dormitory or hosted families. Lunch will be arranged at the project site. Volunteers will travel to work every day by public buses.
Founded in 1976, Thuy An Centre for Disabled Children primarily opened its doors to disabled children of Vietnamese veterans, whose disabilities often being the results of the side effects caused by the US military’s spraying of ‘Agent Orange’ during the US-Vietnam war. Over time, however, the Centre has started to render its services to all disabled children. Thuy An Centre is a ‘campus’ housing up to 150 children and 50 staff members. The children, aged 0 to 18, and suffering from mental and/or physical disabilities, are helped in any of three ways, depending on the extent of their disability. They receive either - (1) Rehabilitation - This consists of physical therapy, orthopaedic surgery (Galvanic electrolysis, ultrasound, laser acupuncture...), and backbone relaxation treatment and in providing for and assisting the children with the use of aid equipment; (2) Education/Vocational training - This consists of special education, integration education, vocational training, sewing, wool knitting, embroidering and computer teaching; (3) Upbringing/Looking after - The children are looked after well by staff members. They are disciplined and efficient. Their job requires much responsibility and self discipline.
VOLUNTEER’S TASKS:
Volunteers will help with different work in the centre, mainly as follow:Organising games and other activities with the children. Joining daily activities with the pupils including assisting with exercise. Caring for the children and helping with rehabilitation exercises for them. Helping the staff to improve their English. Helping staff with general housework. Assisting in fundraising activities. Typical working hours will be from 8am–4pm. Lunch along with a short nap will be between 11am–2pm.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with disabled children, show maturity and have spirit of initiative.
Preference:
Volunteers with background or experience in medical work or disability. However, volunteers without experience or background in these fields will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited to meet foreigners. Volunteers should be 18 or over.
DURATION:
This project is open throughout the whole year. Volunteers can stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of one year.
LOCATION:
Thuy An Centre finds itself at approximately 13 km from Son Tay, a town with a population of 41,000, situated in the Ha Tay province. It is about 1 hour travel by bus from Hanoi.
FOOD/ACCOMMODATION/TRAVEL:
Volunteers will be staying in the project campus’s guest house which is a few minutes away from the children’s dormitory. Food will be provided in the project.
Viet Tri Welfare Centre is a government organisation for abandoned, homeless & disabled children. It opened its doors in 1993 and currently houses up to 100 children. The Centre gives three types of teaching and those are - standard education, vocational training (tailoring, hairdressing, learning musical instruments) and finally rehabilitation training. Some of the children are deaf and dumb, others are mentally disabled and a third group is blind. Some 10% of the disabilities are caused from the consequences of Agent Orange, but the vast majority are due to other factors. The children follow classes and also board at the centre.
VOLUNTEER’S TASKS:
The tasks of volunteers of this programme would be to teach some English but mainly to have a cultural exchange with children on numerous levels:
playing with them, singing with them, teaching them traditions and cultural aspects of the foreigner’s country. The most important factor here is to assist the children’s integration into society and to help them feel less like a stigma to their surroundings. The local staff cannot organise many activities for the children due to the age and time reasons and here again, volunteers could play an important role.
Other tasks would be:
Joining daily activities with the pupils including assisting with exercise. Caring for the children and helping with rehabilitation exercises for them. Helping the staff to improve their English. Helping staff with general housework. Assisting in fundraising activities. Sometimes, the work can be combined with another placement, SOS Children’s Village, or a local school in the same region. Typical working hours will be from 8am–4pm. Lunch along with a short nap will be between 11am–2pm.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with handicapped children, show maturity and spirit of initiative.
Preference:
Volunteers with background or experience in medical work or disability. However, volunteers without experience or background in these fields will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited to meet foreigners. Volunteers should be 18 or over.
DURATION:
This project is open throughout the year. Volunteers can stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and for a maximum of one year.
PROJECT LOCATION:
Viet Tri Welfare Centre finds itself in the middle of Viet Tri City, a community with a population of 200,000, situated in the Phu Tho province. It is about 2 hours travel by bus from Hanoi.
FOOD/ACCOMMODATION/TRAVEL:
Volunteers will be staying in the dormitory which is about 15 minutes walk away from the children’s dormitory. Food will be provided at the dormitory.
SOS Children is the world's largest orphan and abandoned children charity. Supported by sponsors and donors worldwide, the children's charity provides a new family (in amazing Children's Villages) for over 60,000 children in 123 countries and helps almost a million more people through its projects around the world. FSOS provides about 50,000 such children and 15,000 young adults with a permanent new family, with a '24 hours a day' new SOS mother to provide family-based care. Typically (in the developing world) about ten children are grouped into a house with an SOS mother and between ten and forty of such houses are grouped together as a "Village" with shared facilities. Family groups once formed are kept together as a priority.
Viet Tri SOS Children Village has fifteen such family houses and is home to approximately 170 children. The mothers themselves do not have any family but see the orphaned children in their house as their family. Children sharing a house refer to each other as brother or sister. By this way a real family – like bond is created. At the age of fourteen the children move to the ‘youth house’ where they become semi independent. The village also has a kindergarten on the premise while primary and secondary education is provided in local schools outside the village.
VOLUNTEER’S TASKS:
There are a fair amount of volunteers at the SOS Children’s Village that generally either teach English or organize social activities for the children. The children, being of all ages, are extremely fond of the volunteers and enjoy playing with them and learning from them. Volunteers will help with different work in the centre, mainly as follow:Organising games and other activities with the children. Joining daily activities with the pupils including assisting with exercises. Helping the staff to improve their English. Helping staff with general housework. Sometimes, the work can be combined with another placement, Viet Tri Social Welfare Center, or a local school in the same region. Typical working hours will be from 8am–4pm. Lunch along with a short nap will be between 11am–2pm.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with handicapped children, show maturity and spirit of initiative.
Preference:
Volunteers with background or experience in medical work or disability. However, volunteers without experience or background in these fields will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited to meet foreigners. Volunteers should be 18 or over.
DURATION:
This project is open throughout the year. Volunteers can stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of one year.
PROJECT LOCATION:
SOS Children’s Village finds itself in the middle of Viet Tri City, a community with a population of 200,000, situated in the Phu Tho province. It is about 2 hour travel by bus from Hanoi.
FOOD/ACCOMMODATION/TRAVEL:
Volunteers will be staying in the dormitory which is about 15 minutes walk away from the children’s dormitory. Food will be provided at the dormitory.
This orphanage is located in District 2 of Ho Chi Minh City, where it shelters and cares for over 200 abandoned, orphaned or street children. They range from several months to 18 years of age and are of different ethnic groups and religious backgrounds. There are about 30 children under 6 years old. The children of the orphanage are taken care of by a group of Buddhist nuns and volunteers. All the children who reach school age are sent to a local school like normal children. After school hours, the children learn handcrafting such as knitting, embroidering and making wooden toys. Currently, there is an extra education programme run by local volunteers supported by VPV during evening time and weekends.
Volunteers’ Tasks:
- During day time, while older children are going to school, volunteers will help taking care of babies and small kids (feeding, care, bath, playing with them, changing clothes, or even teach them to speak simple English). - During evening time or weekends, volunteers can join English classes for the children, with focus on improving their communicational skills. Teaching English to these children not only offers the priviledge of serving humanity, but also provides a significant opportunity to learn about teaching, cross-cultural adjustment, and team relationships. Volunteers can also support the shelter’s administrative staff in its daily tasks or organise extracurricular and creative activities such as games, drawing, and singing for the children.
Accommodation:
Volunters will stay at VPV's Peace House. The Peace House is located within easy reach of the project. Most services are located within walking distance. In the dorm there is TV/DVD, internet, fridge, washing machine, provided meals as well as cooking equipment, common area, rooftop. Rooms are male and female with maximum 4 people sharing (in 2 bunk-beds). Fans, sheets, pillows & blankets are provided. Bathrooms are shared per room with shower (cold water) and toilet. The Peace House is located in a local Vietnamese community at 3.5km from downtown and 1.5km from Tan Son Nhat airport. City buses are available from around 5am to 8pm and are mostly close to Peace House which run frequently but can be busy during rush hour. Within walking distance of the dorm there are a few parks, supermarkets, restaurants, gym, and shops for almost everything you need and don't need. Taxis are abundant and relatively cheap if sharing. Motorbike taxis are available but generally not used. Food will be provided at the dorm and sometimes at work, 3 meals a day with Vietnamese food. Bread available for breakfast.
Duration:
This project is open throughout the year, Volunteers can stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of one year. They can join the project on the 1st and 15th of each month.
The aim of the program is to provide English language speaking environment for children to practice and improve their confidence in using a foreign language in communication.
PROJECT’S ACTIVITIES:
Nghia Tan Primary School teaches about 1,800 children aging from 6-11 years old who start learning English at grade 3 (9 years old) and some start learning French at grade 1 (6 years old). English and French in these schools is an optional subject as the government does not have financial support though all recognize the importance of language skills.
COMMUNITY CONTEXT:
Nghia Tan Primary School is located in Cau Giay district, Hanoi, which is about 8km from the Old Quarters. There is very little chance for the children and teachers to meet foreigners to practice English and exchange communication skills.
VOLUNTEER’S REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with children, maturity and initiative spirit.
Minimum stay preferred 3 weeks.
VOLUNTEER’S TASKS:
Volunteers will be expected to help with the following tasks...
- Improving listening/speaking skills for children - Improving pronunciation for children - Organizing games and other activities in classrooms - Assisting local teachers in managing the classes. Normally volunteers will teach about 20 hours a week. No placements in Summer (June – July - August). Volunteers will always work with a local teacher. - Volunteers can attend as well a Community English Class in VPV office; it takes place in the afternoon, for children living in the neighbourhood. Volunteers can join this class one or two days per week, depending on their schedule.
HOSTING SITUATION:
Volunteers will stay in a dormitory with rooms shared with other volunteers. Sometimes project stay may be arranged. Living conditions will be Vietnamese standard with separate bathroom, single bed with mattress. Food will be provided at accommodation. Meals will be mostly local food, which vary from the daily cooking schedule. Volunteers, especially those who are vegetarian may be required to do some cooking by them. During working-days food is provided by the host placement.
« I appreciate that constructive criticism may be more useful to you than praise but I honestly have no gripes that I could possibly mention. I can only thank you for the experience that I really enjoyed and will undoubtedly follow-up in the coming year. »
yap-uk
0844 20 90 927
