The project is aimed at providing volunteers an opportunity to be involved in a social work with a specific targeted group as mentally disabled children, and at enabling Morning Star Centre and its staff and beneficiaries to exchange with people from different cultures who are willing to share with disadvantaged communities.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
Morning Star Centre is a non-profit day care center which provides early diagnosis, care and rehabilitation to mentally disabled children in Hanoi and surrounding areas. It also aims to help parents have better understanding on how to take care and educate their disabled children and raise awareness among society about the issue. Morning Star Centre was founded by the Association of Handicapped Children of Vietnam. The Center has a staff of caretakers, teachers, cooks and doctors. Being a very caring group of people, they work long hours with little pay for the sake of the children. The Center is providing early diagnosis, care and clinical intervention, special education and vocational training for children along with counseling service for parents.
COMMUNITY CONTEXT:
Morning Star Centre is located in the outskirt of Hanoi. Located in the north of Vietnam, this capital city has over 3.5 million people and is the second biggest city in the country.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like to work with handicapped children and maturity and initiative spirit.
Preference:
Volunteers with background or experience in medical work or disability. However, volunteers without experience or background will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited with foreigners.
VOLUNTEER TASKS:
Volunteers will help with different work in the centre, mainly as follow... - Assisting local staff in providing rehabilitation exercises and therapist treatments for children. - Playing with children and entertaining/educating them with games, music, arts and other exercises. - Helping on fund raising to support the children. - Collecting useful information and documents from different sources. - Teaching English for local staff. - Typical working hours will be from 8am–4pm. Lunch along with a short nap will be between 11am–2pm.
VOLUNTEERING PERIOD:
Ongoing project. Minimum period of stay - 2 weeks.
HOSTING SITUATION:
Volunteers will stay in a dormitory with rooms shared with other volunteers. Living conditions will be Vietnamese standard with separate bathroom, single bed with mattress. Food will be provided at the 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 themselves.
The project is aimed at providing volunteers an opportunity to be involved in a social work. Their stay in the project will help the children developing their English skills and getting in contact with other cultures.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
Founded in 1997 and located in Ha Dong City just less than 5 kilometres from VPV headquarters, The Ha Cau Centre For Homeless Children is home to approximately fifty children and four careers. The Centre survives on private local donors to support the children up to and through university. Those who do not make it to a university receive vocational training or are entered into a business program, to try to ensure each child can grow up with the potential for a bright and happy future.
COMMUNITY CONTEXT:
Ha Cau Centre is located in the outskirts of Hanoi. Sited in the north of Vietnam, the capital city has over 3.5 million people and is the second biggest city in the country.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers should like working with children, be active, be motivated and have patience.
VOLUNTEER TASKS:
Although the children receive an education from the local school, the volunteer's main task is often to help the children develop their English skills. More often than not however, during an average 9-4 day volunteers will spend a good deal of their time involved in extra- curricular activities; helping with handicrafts, chores or in the kitchen (an excellent opportunity to learn a few skills of the Vietnamese cookbook!).
VOLUNTEERING PERIOD:
Ongoing project. Minimum period of stay - 2 weeks.
HOSTING SITUATION:
Volunteers will stay in a dormitory with rooms shared with other volunteers. Living conditions will be Vietnamese standard with separate bathroom, single bed with mattress. Food will be provided at the accommodation. Meals will be mostly local food, which vary from the daily cooking schedule.
- Help street children to have the opportunity to improve their ability in integrating with society. - Help children who earn their living on the streets to know how to communicate with basic English and to use a computer. - Give cultural and social knowledge in order to gain self-confidence.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
Tu Xuong Center is a centre for street children that offers English and computing classes, which has developed and grown due to the help and support of the Catholic Solidarity Committee. It is also part of the Friends For Street Children (FFSC) organization. It has helped over 40 pupils in improving listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in basic English. The pupils learn English and computing and some of them can achieve English examining certificates, as well as having English conversational skills. In addition, if the pupils know basic computing-English they can receive sponsor-parents and receive scholarship from people who are introduced by the ‘Smile For Life’ organisation. This scholarship will help them continue their studies in the centre or they can learn a trade which is suitable for their needs and their abilities. Afterwards, when they grow up, they can earn and live by independent means. After a year of studying almost all pupils can communicate in English with foreigners when they are working on the streets and are competent at using a computer. They also join in festivals, cultural exchange events and picnics, which help them in developing as people and give greater self confidence in their life. For that reason, Tu Xuong Centre continues to be a place for all children who have desire to learn as well as have a healthy life in order to help them develop more and help provide them a better life.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
Volunteers do not need experience in teaching and with the children being a little older, having a greater knowledge in English, and with the help from the centre's director, the classes are a good way to introduce teaching to an inexperienced volunteer. Volunteers should be prepared to share stories, sing and probably dance.
VOLUNTEER TASKS:
Volunteers from VPV are sent here to teach English for the children. Content is followed from a book and guided by the director of the centre. The children's age range from about 13-18 so the English level of some children can be quite good. Volunteers can also arrange extra activities such as days-out or a special day as well as join in other events offered by the centre on occasion. There are 3 different classes that are available to our volunteers. There is a classes in the morning, afternoon and evening which are 3 times a week. Volunteers are usually given either the morning or afternoon class with the evening class being optional. Classes are 1,5 hours. The classes run from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday free.
VOLUNTEERING PERIOD:
Ongoing project. Minimum stay preferred is one month.
HOSTING SITUATION:
Volunteers will stay in a dormitory with rooms shared with other volunteers. Living conditions will be Vietnamese standard with separate bathroom, single bed with mattress. Food will be provided at the 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. During working-days food is provided by the host placement.
The aim of the oprhanage is to provide care for the children who have mental and physical disabilities. They provide physical and mental therapy to try and give them some skills to move them as close as possible to independent living.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
Ky Quang Pagoda was built in the early part of the 20th Century in 1924 and is quite famous in Ho Chi Minh City. The pagoda is now a place of charity for unlucky children and also helps treat diseases. Now, the pagoda is taking care and bringing up more than 200 children in the South of Vietnam. The children here have unfortunate backgrounds as many have been abandoned by their parents and relatives. It is not uncommon for children to be found left outside the pagoda, or for them to receive a call from the hospital with the request to accept abandoned babies. At the moment, about 200 people are living in the Pagoda, their ages ranging from 5 days old to 40 years old. 90 of these are orphans that are suffering from a wide range of disabilities including cerebral-palsy, blindness or Down's syndrome. At present, about 30-40 local children have a chance to study at Ky Quang as some local teachers teach Vietnamese for them in the morning. The Pagoda Orphanage is founded and run by the Bonze Thich Thien Nhan. It has 25 staff members who stay at the Pagoda to take care and bring up these orphans. A French organisation has recently been given permission to work alongside the monks here.
COMMUNITY CONTEXT:
Ky Quang Orphanage is located in Go Vap District.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
No experience is necessary but any time spent working with children or disabled children does have a big advantage. Volunteers should be patient, adaptable and have the ability to accept that conditions and practices may be different in Vietnam. Lots of energy is also needed. For teaching volunteers should be confident, resourceful and adaptable to student behaviour and classroom atmosphere. No prior teaching experience is needed, but is very useful.
VOLUNTEER TASKS:
Volunteers can be placed here for either teaching English or orphanage work.
For teaching English we have arranged classes with local children from the area who do not have such good opportunities to study at school. They come to the pagoda to join our English classes, which have proved very popular. The classes are open to all so attracts many different ages and English levels vary from child to child. The content of the class follows a book, and lessons are to be prepared before hand by volunteers. Local Vietnamese volunteers from VPV also join the volunteer in every class to provide translation, support and control where necessary, and to also to make our volunteers more comfortable especially when first starting.
For orphanage work the volunteers will work mainly in a day-care room inside the pagoda that rehabilitates, takes care, entertains and feeds disabled children. The children all live at the pagoda but are brought to this room in the morning, and returned in the evening, and it is this room that volunteers will spend most of their time. The main focus of the work is to help the children to develop with constructive activities, helping them to walk/stand/catch as well as playing. A large majority of time is spent feeding the children, as some children take a lot longer than others.
VOLUNTEERING PERIOD:
Ongoing project. Minimum period of stay - 2 weeks.
HOSTING SITUATION:
Volunteers will stay in a dormitory with rooms shared with other volunteers. Living conditions will be Vietnamese standard with separate bathroom, single bed with mattress. Food will be provided at the 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. During working-days food is provided by the host placement.
Phu Loc Kindergarten is located in the rural area which is 100kms far from Hanoi Capital in the middle of the rice paddies. It is a school, which is in a great need of manual labour, and resources to finish constructing a new building, a garden area, and a fence to help the teachers and the children. The nursery school who was established in 2008, which has about 302 children split in between 10 classes, the children range in between the age of 2 and 5 years old. This school is placed in the mountainous area which means that the children usually come from poor agricultural family’s that cannot afford for the school.
1.Construction: there are many things that still need to be built, doors and toilets need to be installed , behind the building there is a fence that needs to be built. 2.Decorating: the rooms will need painting, and decorating to make it the most pleasant possible for the children which are going to stay in these rooms. 3.Gardening: the school needs an organic garden to supply it's self in fruit and vegetables, and teach the children how to do sustainable agriculture.
Work:
Volunteers help to build walls around the kindergarten and decorate children’s classroom to make them more vivid and fun. The space next to the building will need clearing, then be converted to an organic garden.
Study part:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
School hall. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Meals will be prepared by volunteers.
Location:
Phu Ninh District, Phu Tho Province (North of Hanoi Capital).
Terminal:
Hanoi Airport (2 hours to project site by bus).
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situation.
Leisure time:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
Ky Quang Orphanage is run by Ky Quang Pagoda, which was built in the early part of the 20th Century in 1924 and is quite famous in Ho Chi Minh City. The pagoda is now a place of charity for unlucky children and also helps treat diseases. Now, the pagoda is taking care and bringing up more than 200 children in the South of Vietnam. The children here have unfortunate backgrounds as many have been abandoned by their parents and relatives. Every few months, the monks find a new baby left in front of the pagoda gate. The head monk sometimes receives phone calls from hospitals requesting him to take in abandoned babies. At the moment, about 200 children are living in the Pagoda, their ages ranging from 5 days old to 40 years old. 90 of these are orphans that are suffering from cerebral-palsy, blindness or Down's syndrome. At present, about 30-40 local children have a chance to study at Ky Quang as some local teachers teach Vietnamese for them in the morning.
Work:
Volunteers will spend time with the children and help to improve their English, organize games and other activities for them. Volunteers will also do some manual work which benefits the project where the children staying, studying, such as help painting, classrooms, cleaning the area. Volunteers will get closer to the children’s life and try to build up wider horizon for the children and encourage them to learn better for brighter future.
Study part:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
VPV’s Dormitory in Saigon. Shared rooms. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Breakfast and dinner will be prepared by volunteers. Lunch is provided by project.
Location:
Go Vap District , Ho Chi Minh City (or Sai Gon – southern part of Vietnam).
Terminal:
Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN), 15 minutes taxi drive.
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situation
Leisure time:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
Sai Gon Shelters for Orphans is a project run by the Women's Charity Association (WOCA). Each shelter cares for about 20-30 orphan children (6-14 years old) from surrounding districts. All these children have disadvantaged situations, they might have relatives but can not stay with them as difficult economics condition, therefore, they stay there from Monday - Saturday but on Sunday's most of the girls spend the day with relatives.
Work:
Volunteers will organize educational activities, entertainment activities such as dancing, singing for them. Volunteers also organize games, help to improve their English.
Study part:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
VPV’s Dormitory. Shared rooms. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Breakfast and dinner will be prepared by volunteers. Lunch is provided by project.
Location:
Hoc Mon District, Ho Chi Minh City (or Sai Gon – southern part of Vietnam).
Terminal:
Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN), 15 minutes taxi drive.
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situation.
Leisure time:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
Phu Loc Kindergarten is located in the rural area which is 100kms far from Hanoi Capital in the middle of the rice paddies. It is a school, which is in a great need of manual labour, and resources to finish constructing a new building, a garden area, and a fence to help the teachers and the children. The nursery school who was established in 2008, which has about 302 children split in between 10 classes, the children range in between the age of 2 and 5 years old. This school is placed in the mountainous area which means that the children usually come from poor agricultural family’s that cannot afford for the school.
1.Construction: there are many things that still need to be built, doors and toilets need to be installed , behind the building there is a fence that needs to be built.
2.Decorating: the rooms will need painting, and decorating to make it the most pleasant possible for the children which are going to stay in these rooms.
3.Gardening: the school needs an organic garden to supply it's self in fruit and vegetables, and teach the children how to do sustainable agriculture.
Work:
Volunteers help to build walls around the kindergarten and decorate children’s classroom to make them more vivid and fun. The space next to the building will need clearing, then be converted to an organic garden.
Study part:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
School hall. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Meals will be prepared by volunteers.
Location:
Phu Ninh District, Phu Tho Province (North of Hanoi Capital).
Terminal:
Hanoi Airport (2 hours to project site by bus).
Qualification:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situation.
Leisure time:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
« I would recommend participating in a workcamp, especially with VAP, who ensured that I found a project to suit me and provided essential training for me in preparation for my trip. Being part of a workcamp really is a life-changing experience, oh, and it looks great on your CV! »
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