Vietnam

Coming to the end of our time in Thailand, and it's flown by! We've all seen and experienced some amazing things, including the volunteers having just completed their padi open water! Really proud of the guys, have made some really close friendships already, and all in all we're having a fantastic time. In particular, I've loved the elephant riding, and the historical aspects of Kanchanaburi. Koh Tao has been a well deserved break for us all, relaxing on the beach and building up our energy for the next phase...
Looking forward to what Cambodia holds for us!

I volunteered in Hanoi in August, 2012. It was an awesome experience. The airport pickup was great and we had someone waiting for us at our accommodations to make sure we got settled in. I stayed in Peace House 2. The simplicity of the rooms took my friend and me by surprise. We hadn't traveled before and so we didn't expect just a shower-head and a bucket rather than a full shower like we were used to. But it wasn't too bad. We had a nice house and each bedroom had its own bathroom. From what I heard, Peace House 2 was the best volunteer accommodations in Hanoi. We were also right in the city so we were just a quick bus ride away to our volunteer work and attractions/things to do. This is compared to Peace House 1 where you were more on the outskirts of the city so it was harder to do things and get around. The food at our house was also good. I learned to master chopsticks. Our cook didn’t speak English but she was still super nice and her cooking was amazing.

I volunteered with disabled children at the Morningstar Clinic. I was in a classroom with two other teachers and ten boys between the ages of 5 and 10. The class was very structured. Each day had a certain order of lessons that all the boys knew. Often they would break into two groups based on their ages and then go over certain lessons or activities. Sometimes I would get to lead a group (one teacher would lead the other group and the other teacher would do one-on-one lessons with the boys). It was really fun when I got to do this, but it was also very difficult if the boys weren’t in a mood to focus. The language barrier between us was a bit of a problem. During the afternoon, the boys were taught lessons about food, clothing, hygiene, or addressing people. This was a rough part of the day for me. Because I don’t speak Vietnamese I couldn’t do much other than sit beside the teacher and watch. So while some times at the Morningstar Centre were good, there were other times when I felt pretty useless. I really did enjoy my time there though. Both of my teachers were really nice (one could speak English, the other could not) and tried to get to know me. The boys were awesome. Even though we couldn’t speak to each other, they all had their way of communicating with me and establishing a relationship. It was very special.

IVHQ partners with an organization called VPV. They are the ones who you are in touch with in Vietnam. They were great. A lot of the VPV volunteers are university students. It was really cool to talk to people my own age and sort of compare our lives. They were the ones who gave us our Vietnamese lessons (which really did come in handy) and took us on our tour of Hanoi. They were so accommodating too. After our city tour, my friend and I expressed interest in seeing another museum and two VPV volunteers quickly agreed to take us the following day. I also had a VPV volunteer help me at my volunteer placement. Hang was awesome. She picked us up from our house in the morning, walked with us to the bus station, and took the bus with us to and from our volunteer placement. She did this for the first few days until we felt comfortable enough to do this on our own. She would also come into our classrooms at the Morningstar Centre to make sure we were doing fine and understood what was going on. She would even translate a conversation between me and the children sometimes. Hang also took us out for lunch, accompanied us to a museum, and took us shopping at the Big C. She was so nice and really helped make our experience more comfortable.

The other great thing about Hanoi is that there is so much to do and see. The volunteers in Peace House 2 would often go out together. We tried different bars, restaurants, and markets. On the weekend we did tours. VPV has partnered with a tourist agency in the Old Quarter so that we can get good deals on weekend tours when we aren't volunteering. It was a great way to experience other areas of Vietnam.

I had a great volunteer experience and would really recommend volunteering in Vietnam.

From the end of October to the beginning of November, I joined a volunteer program “Preserve natural Resources and help communities in Sapa” organized by Vina Volunteer Service for 7 days.

The reason why I decided to join the program was that I was interested in a volunteer work in overseas as well as I wanted to visit Sapa after I saw a beautiful picture of Sapa on the Internet.

In Sapa, I stayed with a local family in Tavan Village. The family welcomed me warmly. They served three meals of local food for me which were so delicious. Sometimes I helped them prepare the meals, which was a good experience for me.

From Hanoi to Sapa, and during my stay in Sapa, a supporter from VVS helped me all the way (interpreting, planning a daily schedule ete.) It was very helpful for me as I can’t speak Vietnamese and I wasn’t familiar with the area.

My typical daily life was that trekking in the morning (in and around the village), and volunteer work in the afternoon.

As for the trekking, one of the family members guided for us. During trekking, I met local people from several ethnic groups, and saw local houses, many kinds of flowers, trees, animals and so on. Thanks to the family member and the supporter, I was able to see the inside of several houses and to know their life closely.

And importantly, I enjoyed Sapa’s very beautiful scenery. The area is surrounded by mountains and many terraced fields pictures I had seen. This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.

As for the volunteer work, I planted trees and vegetables, and watered them. Also, I picked fruits and vegetables.

During the stay, I realized the local’s life is very simple. They build their house by themselves, grow vegetables, fruits and rice, feed animals, and catch fish for their meal. I thought they are very good at taking dvantage of natural resources and I respect it. Although quite a few families seemed poor, their house are small and unclean, some of them have no electricity or water in the house; they still have nice smiles and warm hearts, which are missing in people living in big cities.

I hope more volunteers join this program to help these people live better life.

Lastly, I was satisfied with this volunteer program and I’d like to join again whenever I can take a vacation. I think this program helps the communities as well as gives volunteers a very valuable experience.

This our second Volunteer Abroad program with WLS. We are so pleased with this organization. My 4 children (21, 18 and 14 year old twins) and I will most definitely make volunteer arrangements through WLS again.
We went to China two years ago, and Vietnam this summer.
Both trips were reasonably priced, well organized and safe.
There was flexibility to make changes and any questions or concerns were addressed quickly.
We stayed in (clean) hostel type facilities in both countries. The locations were convenient to stores and transportation. The transfer to and from the airport was provided, and we received all local contact information upon arrival.
The children and facilities we worked in were wonderful. We looked forward to going each day and it was certainly sad when it was time to leave.
Our family has taken a volunteer trip each summer for the last 12 years. I have had experience with organizations that charge a great deal and provide very little for the money. I was fortunate to find WLS International and would highly recommend them. The only downside is that their program is only in Asia; hopefully they will soon expand.

This is my second program with GeoVisions and I've already started making plans for the 3rd. For this program I chose Conversation Partner in Vietnam.

I was just bowled over with the hospitality provided by the team on the ground in Vietnam. They were accommodating and welcoming. I was well taken care of from the moment I landed. My "students" were appreciative of my hard work and I was well received. Students in Vietnam are very eager learners.

I became ill while on the program and all the staff were helpful and took good care of me.

The staff arranged for me to be in 4 different cities. Each city provided it's own unique opportunities and beautiful landscape. Even when the schedule needed to be changed, GeoVisions was able to give me enough notice. I happened to be in Vietnam during the Lunar New Year and the staff were gracious enough to provide me with suggestions and activities during the school break.

There is nothing I would have asked for to be different.

Each city and school provided unique opportunities. No two schools were alike, and so I felt like GeoVisions didn't use a cookie-cutter approach.

It was a great program and I'd recommend it. Just tell them what you want to do while you're in Vietnam and they will make it happen.

I have been in touch with a Matt from WLS about a volunteer program in Vietnam and communication was good for a while. However, when I started asking about more details about accomodation, run-down of the volunteer program, as well as the contact for the local Ho Chi Minh coordinator, everything stopped. Since then, they have not replied to me despite my repeated email attempts, the UK phone number listed always go to voicemail. It really does not give me much confidence to put up so much money to an organisation located halfway around the world in the UK whilst the program is in Vietnam. I think WLS is a shoddy organisation, probably a scam and I will not recommend it at all. I am glad I did not pay for anything yet. I wonder why did get such good ratings on Abroad Reviews?

I spent 6 weeks volunteering at GVN Vietnam doing the teaching program. This was the most amazing experience I have ever had, and I would not trade my time for anything else. I had the opportunity to meet some of the greatest and most kind hearted people. I truly was able to help and do something for others beside myself, and GVN gave me this opportunity. The GVN staff was always very prompt in answering any of my questions or concerns before my placement took place. They were very helpful in my preparation to going to Vietnam such as what I should prepare for, vaccination shots, etc. Everything was very professional, and I was pleased with how smoothly everything went. When I arrived at my placement, the staff and other volunteers were very, very friendly. By the end of my 6 weeks, I felt like I had a new family, and I was devastated to leave. The staff was so friendly and accommodating to all the volunteers that it made the transition to a new place much easier. You could definitely tell the staff tried to incorporate some western culture into the house as much as possible to make everyone feel more at home. The price of the program is very reasonable as it covers your meals (the program says it provides meals from Monday through Friday, but if you ask, the cook will come in on the weekends to make you something to eat!), your housing, and they provide rides to all your placements. The living conditions were very well maintained. The rooms and bathroom are very clean, and there's a cleaning lady that comes every day to clean the house. I definitely would recommend this program to anyone interested in doing volunteer work in another country. The work is amazing, and it is truly a life changing experience. I think about the kids every single week, and I hope that one day I'll be able to go back and see them again.

I recently volunteered for two weeks in Vietnam.I did enjoy meeting new volunteers and the local Vietnamese staff were very friendly & helpful.The local program Volunteer Vietnam is well run and it was a wonderful experience meeting and helping so many children in need. Unfortunately I found the the program through GVN was overpriced in comparison to many other organizations.The main reason that I am giving GVN this low rating is because of a major incident that happened with one of their head office managers who came to work here from the New Zealand head office, I will give her the courtesy of anonymity. She got in some adminstration dispute with the local director and tried to start a coup d'etat by encouraging all the volunteers to leave the program.For almost the entire two weeks of my stay I forced to listen to non-stop gossip and rumours.This caused a big rift between volunteers,most of whom had just begun their placement there. The entire situation was extremely uncomfortable and I asked repeatedly not to be involved.I feel her actions were extremely unprofessional as we were are only volunteers have nothing, nor could do anything about upper management issues.After contacting GVN headquarters they sent an email explaining the situation, however no apologies were made and the New Zealand person continued to bad mouth other programs within the GVN organization.If I had my time back still would of gone to Vietnam just not through GVN. GVN should really learn to focus on the children's needs and leave politics out of it!!!

I am 52 and I travelled to Da Nang this year in March to be a volunteer in the Childrens Program. I travelled alone which was difficult because I have never travelled overseas before alone but i was very excited about what was to unfold. I had researched GVN through their website and when accepted into the program I decided a months placement would give me enough time to be able to make a difference.
When I arrived in Da Nang I was picked up at my hotel by the GVN staff who were very courteous and made me feel very welcome. They took me to GVN house where I met other staff and the volunteers who I would be working with for the next month. The orientation was thorough and everyone made me feel very relaxed. I was fortunate enough to have my own room which was modest but very comfortable. The placements involved several orphanages and schools where we assisted with physiotherapy, occupational therapy and the teaching of English. The english classes meant that we had three night of the week out but the children loved us coming and were very eager to learn. The staff were willing to listen to our concerns and assisted us with any programs that we initiated. Resources were limited but it did not take me long to realise where the department stores were and I would make the time to shop for things such as paper, pens,stickers, nappies, formula and other baby requirements which were appreciated by the mothers(carers) at the orphanages. I became very attached to my English students and was very sad when I had to leave.
I intend to return to the program in 2012 and have been accepted. I at this stage will go with another volunteer who I met im March.
I have made friends with many people from all over the world and we keep in touch on a regular basis.
I highly recommend this program and I thank GVN for giving me this opportunity

I was 18 when i travelled to Vietnam to volunteer with the Global Volunteer Network. Understandably nervous about the prospect of travelling alone and volunteering in a foreign country, GVN were so supportive and lovely throughout the whole experience. I became very good friends with my team leader, Minchau, who is a 22 year old Vietnamese girl, and became friends with the other volunteers very quickly.
I was worried about the accommodation and food, however both of these turned out to be great. We stayed in a volunteer house which, whilst small, was perfect for what it is used for. I shared a room with another girl around my age and we slept on separate beds in a simple room with drawers and a cupboard.
The food was amazing! The volunteer house has its own cook, Mrs Hahn, to cook breakfast lunch and dinner for the volunteers and I eagerly awaited each meal. Traditional vietnamese cuisine as well as some creature comforts from home made meal times an absolute treat.
The children we worked with were beyond amazing. Beautiful, affectionate babies and toddlers and the orphanage and energetic, fun kids at the Home of Affection (the school and orphanage for older children).
The only recommendation i have for GVN is extra support in structuring lessons, as these were quite difficult to figure out and run!
I took extra money with me and discussed with Minchau how i could spend it on the children. We decided we would give it to Mrs hahn and she used it to make a feast for the children at the orphanage and the home of affection. They had fish burgers and chips which were amazing by Australian standards.
A truly amazing and worthy organaisation, i cannot wait to volunteer with GVN again!!