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.
Keeping the School clean, teaching and cooking free lunch for the children.
Schedule:
Work starts at 9am. A group (team 1) will go to the market to buy food for lunch with local volunteers, team 2 will be teaching children and team 3 will clean the house. You will have lunch with the children and in the evening you can go out or cook by yourself.
Accommodation and Food:
Volunteers will live in Youth House 1 with dormitory beds, running water and electricity being provided.
Location:
SJV's Youth House is close to the city centre. Volunteers will have the chance to visit and explore many historical places as well as true Vietnamese corners.
Remarks:
Please bring sleeping bag, mat, raincoat, info material and pictures of your country and...do not forget a smile!
Hosting Fee:
We are a non-profit organisation with no external income so we charge volunteers coming from developed countries a participation fee of 150 Euro per workcamp (you can pay in US$ or Vietnam Dong in the approximate amount). This fee includes accommodation, it covers the costs of all projects (eg. food, scholarship, donation, festivals for disadvantaged children, materials, training for locals), local transport, local food and 30% of these fees will be used to SJ Vietnam administration (staff salary and overhead costs, etc).
Hai Duong Orphanage was established in 2002. With about 1,000 disabled and orphan children coming from many parts of Hai Duong province. The orphanage aims to provide basic education and vocational training to create employment opportunities for the teenagers with many different age groups. The orphanage has a wide variety of courses for children ranging from infants to 18 years old. For example, children between the ages of 6 to 12 will be provided with educational courses, and the older children are able to attend vocational training courses at the center. While special education helps to lessen the burden on the childrens families by teaching the disabled to help themselves with personal activities, the vocational training programs enable handicapped children to earn their living and able to live independently in the future.
Work:
Volunteers will help organizing games and educational activities for children in the orphanage and exchanging with local volunteers or staff. Sometimes volunteers can help with some renovation work.
Study Theme:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Age:
18+
Accommodation:
Shared rooms on project site. Showers and toilets available. Food prepared by vols with support from local people.
Location:
Hai Duong City.
Travel:
Hanoi Airport, 2 hour drive to the east.
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situation
Leisure Activities:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
Vietnam Friendship Village is a treatment/care center located in the western outskirts of Hanoi Capital, which was opened in 1993 to treat children and veterans who suffer from the effects of Agent Orange (a chemical used by the American army during Vietnam-US War). The children, whose fathers/grandfathers were exposed (causing chromosomal damage), or who were contaminated from their mother’s milk, suffer from a range of difficult conditions. While staying in Vietnam Friendship Village, children and veterans are nourished and are provided with free medical care. The children, who may stay there for several years, receive not only basic education, but also some forms of job 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. At this moment, the farm is providing about 60% of the village’s consumption of vegetables. It is expected that it will eventually cover 100%, and there are products left for sale to raise funds for the village.
Work:
Volunteers will help with clearing the site, preparing soil, weeding, planting vegetables and fruit trees, cleaning a fish pond and redecorating the flowers in the garden. Additional activities may include planting trees, moving bricks for construction, collecting garbage and playing with the children or exchanging with local volunteers or farmers. [In VPV03-10, volunteers will focus on preparing Tet New Year Festival for the children in the Village. The work then includes redecorating the houses and making of Chung Cake – a traditional cake for this holiday in Vietnam].
Age:
18+
Study Theme:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
VPV’s Peace House with modest condition. Shared rooms. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Food prepared by vols with support from local people.
Location:
Tay Mo, Tu Liem, Hanoi Capital (western end of the city).
Travel:
Hanoi Airport, 1 hour drive.
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situation.
Leisure Activities:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
Vietnam Friendship Village is a treatment/care center located in the western outskirts of Hanoi Capital, which was opened in 1993 to treat children and veterans who suffer from the effects of Agent Orange (a chemical used by the American army during Vietnam-US War). The children, whose fathers/grandfathers were exposed (causing chromosomal damage), or who were contaminated from their mother’s milk, suffer from a range of difficult conditions. While staying in Vietnam Friendship Village, children and veterans are nourished and are provided with free medical care. The children, who may stay there for several years, receive not only basic education, but also some forms of job 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. At this moment, the farm is providing about 60% of the village’s consumption of vegetables. It is expected that it will eventually cover 100%, and there are products left for sale to raise funds for the village.
Work:
Volunteers will help with clearing the site, preparing soil, weeding, planting vegetables and fruit trees, cleaning a fish pond and redecorating the flowers in the garden. Additional activities may include planting trees, moving bricks for construction, collecting garbage and playing with the children or exchanging with local volunteers or farmers. [In VPV03-10, volunteers will focus on preparing Tet New Year Festival for the children in the Village. The work then includes redecorating the houses and making of Chung Cake – a traditional cake for this holiday in Vietnam].
Age:
18+
Study Theme:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
VPV’s Peace House with modest condition. Shared rooms. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Food prepared by vols with support from local people.
Location:
Tay Mo, Tu Liem, Hanoi Capital (western end of the city).
Travel:
Hanoi Airport, 1 hour drive.
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situation.
Leisure Activities:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
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.
The centre aims to provide obligatory education and vocational training to create employment opportunities for the children. Furthermore the centre is interested in bring forward the relationship between local people and foreign volunteers.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES:
Established in 1982, the centre takes care of more than 1000 mentally or physically disabled children aged up to 18 years. It provides compulsory education for the younger children and offers vocational training for the older ones.
COMMUNITY CONTEXT:
The centre is located in Hai Duong, a town with about 170,000 inhabitants, 58 kilometres from Hanoi and 80 kilometres from the coast.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS:
The volunteer should...
- Be flexible, creative and patient. - Have experience with children. - Be ready to work with heavily disabled children. - Know activities, games, songs that disabled children can enjoy. - Appreciate to live in the countryside.
VOLUNTEER TASKS:
The volunteers will help the disabled children in their daily activities by organizing leisure activities and trying to encourage them to communicate with others. Volunteers also join painting, drawing classes for the children at the centre. Besides, they can organize English classes for the staff at the centre, communication classes for the people living nearby welfare centre or students studying at some universities.
- Helping children with daily activities. - Organizing leisure activities. - Join painting and drawing classes. - Organize English classes for the staff. - Organizing communication classes for the people living nearby the centre.
VOLUNTEERING PERIOD:
Ongoing project. Minimum period of stay - 2 weeks.
HOSTING SITUATION:
Volunteers will stay in an accommodation in the centre. They should expect a Vietnamese standard, which means sleeping on dormitory beds or on the floor and sharing bathrooms with the children. The centre does not allow hotel-stays; the volunteers are expected to live in the centre.
« 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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