Ky Quang Orphanage is run by the 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 improve their English, organising games and other activities for them. Volunteers will also help redecorate the houses and classrooms, planting vegetables, and cleaning the area. Volunteers will get closer to the children’s life and try to build up a broader horizon for the children, and encourage them to learn better for a brighter future.
Age:
18+
Study Theme:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
VPV’s Dormitory in Saigon. Shared rooms. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Food prepared by vols with support from local people.
Location:
District 12, Ho Chi Minh City (or Sai Gon – southern part of Vietnam).
Travel:
Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN).
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situations.
Leisure Activities:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, 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.
Ha Cau Orphanage was founded in 1997 as an NGO to support children in difficult situation. At this moment, there are about 70 children who are orphaned, abandoned or disabled. The orphanage is providing housing, education and basic care for the children, as well as providing vocational training with the hope that children can stand on their own feet with a job in the future. Children are living in a house built with funding from an international charity. However, they have quite limited activities and connection with local community beside their official school time.
Work:
Volunteers will spend time teaching English for the children, organising games and other activities for them, and making handicrafts for fundraising. Volunteers will also help redecorate the classrooms where necessary, and improve their library by collecting/buying books from home countries or 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 volunteers with support from local people.
Location:
Ha Cau Orphanage is located in Ha Dong district, Hanoi. It is quite close to VPV’s Peace House in 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.
Chua La Orphanage is part of Chua La Pagoda located in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). It was built in 1996 when the Head Monk, Thich Truyen Tu, returned to the countryside and sold his parent’s land, in order to purchase 2 hectares of muddy land, in order to build a pagoda in Nha Be town. At first the pagoda was named Huyen Trang, but due to the roofs linking together with coconut leaves it got its name Chua La, meaning Leaf Pagoda. Today, in this peaceful and quiet space in the outskirts of HCM city, the Leaf pagoda is bringing up orphan children and helping old people in need. At the moment, there are about 40 children of ages 4 to 17 years old. In addition, there are 20 elderly people in the Leaf Pagoda, with most of them coming from the surrounding countryside in the South, where they have had a difficult life. Children have had opportunities to learn and speak foreign languages, with English being the most studied. They can also speak some Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. The standard of living here is low, almost all of their food is donated, and they only buy tofu.
Work:
Volunteers will spend time with the children and help improving their English, organising games and other activities for them. Volunteers will also help redecorating the houses and classrooms, planting vegetables, and cleaning the area. Volunteers will get closer to the children’s life and try to build up a broader horizon for the children, and encourage them to learn more for a brighter future.
Age:
18+
Study Theme:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
VPV’s Dormitory in Saigon. Shared rooms. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Food prepared by volunteers with support from local people.
Location:
District 12, Ho Chi Minh City (or Sai Gon – southern part of Vietnam).
Travel:
Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN).
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situations.
Leisure Activities:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
Vinh Phuc Welfare Center was established in 2000. The center has about 300 disabled and orphan children coming from many parts of the northern provinces. The orphanage aims to provide basic education, and vocational training to create employment opportunities for the older children. 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 attend vocational training courses at the center. While special education helps to lessen the burden of children’s families by teaching the disabled to help themselves with personal activities. This vocational training programs enables handicapped children to earn their living and able to live independently in the future.
Work:
Volunteers will help organise games and educational activities for children in the orphanage and exchanging with local volunteers and staff. Sometimes volunteers can help with some renovation work.
Age:
18+
Study Theme:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
Shared rooms in project site. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Food prepared by volunteers with support from local people.
Location:
Vinh Yen City, Vinh Phuc Province.
Travel:
Hanoi Airport, 1 hour drive to the north.
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situations.
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.
Ky Quang Orphanage is run by the 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 improve their English, organising games and other activities for them. Volunteers will also help redecorate the houses and classrooms, planting vegetables, and cleaning the area. Volunteers will get closer to the children’s life and try to build up a broader horizon for the children, and encourage them to learn better for a brighter future.
Age:
18+
Study Theme:
Disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Accommodation:
VPV’s Dormitory in Saigon. Shared rooms. Sleeping on floor. Showers and toilets available. Food prepared by vols with support from local people.
Location:
District 12, Ho Chi Minh City (or Sai Gon – southern part of Vietnam).
Travel:
Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN).
Qualifications:
Interest and motivation working with children in difficult situations.
Leisure Activities:
Vietnamese Day, International Day, self-organized city tour and excursions, etc.
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 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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