Childcare volunteers Vietnam | Community work volunteers Vietnam

Volunteer VietnamVolunteering in Vietnam is a great opportunity for those interested in Southeast Asian culture and wanting to help the people of a country that is suffering the knock-on effects of a war which laid waste to much of the countryside. Despite more than 30 years of peace, recovery has been slow and the country continues to experience social problems, poverty, as well as health and disability issues. Love Volunteers' local partner organization, based in Hanoi, began its operations in 2005 and has continually expanded, so that it now organises an array of volunteering opportunities. Programs are located in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Tay, Phu Tho, Thai Nguyen and Da Nang, where the local teams ensure that you have a meaningful, rewarding experience in Vietnam.

The rewards that volunteering in Vietnam bring include the undeniable satisfaction of making a daily impact on the lives of individuals affected by low levels of economic and educational opportunities, as well as poor health care. Volunteering provides you with the chance to meet local people who are eager to introduce you to their world, its customs and its outlook on life.

The volunteering work facilitated by our NGO partner in Vietnam includes teaching orphaned children, supporting projects designed to enhance poor women’s economic situation, promoting bio-diversity, conservation and eco-tourism within a national park. They are also active in the renovation of orphanages, schools and houses, as well as installing disabled access and upgrading toilet facilities at the organisation’s own centre for disabled children.

With competent, dedicated staff on hand, volunteers in Vietnam can be certain of being usefully deployed whilst being fully supported. For more information about the country take a look at Lonely Planet's Vietnam Guide.

Start and Duration

The programs running in Vietnam have set start dates. In Hanoi the programs begin on the 1st and 15th of each month. In Ho Chi Minh city the programs begin on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. Volunteers can help out from one week through to six months. It's possible to extend this further with our local partner.

Volunteer Requirements

Love Volunteers' local partner in Vietnam urgently requires volunteers, whether coming to the projects on an individual basis, as a couple, family or group. All nationalities are welcome and the only requirements are a positive attitude, being 18 years of age and possessing a working level of English or French.

If you want to work directly with a local NGO doing administrative work, clerical duties and fundraising you may require a university degree or some other form of tertiary education. For more information please drop us a line. Apply to volunteer in Vietnam now!

Project Descriptions for the Vietnam

Community Development

These projects have a positive impact on social development and concentrate on providing education, aiding the disabled, protecting the environment and tackling poverty. The work includes installing disabled-access to centres and toilets, building and maintaining basic housing for the disadvantaged, making improvements to food safety at a facility for children with disabilities, as well as supporting a micro-finance project for impoverished women in rural areas. Other programs encourage bio-diversity and eco-tourism within national parks.

English Teaching

The volunteer’s role in Vietnam is to support the provision of English in institutions where under-staffing and skills shortages are an issue. Teaching qualifications and experience are welcome, but are not a requirement. The teaching programs are based in either a Vietnamese school or community centre catering to pupils of both primary and secondary school age. Volunteers in Vietnam contribute to developing the children's English vocabulary and building on their writing and speaking skills. Of invaluable assistance to the local teachers on the project, the volunteer teacher assists with classroom management, educational activities and games. The working day is fairly flexible and hours can be tailored to suit the volunteer’s wishes.

French Teaching

Volunteers with advanced French are needed in Vietnam. There are opportunities available for teaching French and assisting local modern language teachers in delivering the subject. Provision is currently of an uneven standard, and the additional boost to French learning that foreign volunteers in Vietnam can provide is enthusiastically welcomed. As with English, the inventive use of games and activities is of great benefit.

Child Care

Volunteers in Vietnam provide much-needed support and assistance to children at various childcare facilities. One such facility is a government-owned school for orphans with disabilities aged five to twenty who are housed in single-sex dorms. The facility continues its support of students through either university or vocational training. Other placements include day-schools for disabled children, as well as kids from poorer backgrounds.

Duties mainly involve teaching the children English, organising and helping out with extra-curricular activities, as well as playing with the children. There are plans to introduce HIV and AIDS education to help reduce the threat which this disease poses in Vietnam.

Depending on personal inclination, volunteers can also lend a hand in the kitchen, which provides an opportunity to acquire traditional Vietnamese cooking skills.

Medical Internship

The aim of this internship program is to to provide skilled medical professionals and students the chance to experience a new culture and working environment while developing their healthcare knowledge. Volunteers get the chance to gain a greater understanding of differences between medical systems in developed and developing countries.

Interns will be placed with a local doctor and/or nurse who will guide them to different tasks and activities at the placement. As an intern, volunteers will not be expected or allowed to partake in serious procedures. However, depending on level of experience, participants may observe operations, provide assistance in basic procedures and visit patients – before and after surgery as well as any other tasks offered or required by the local staff.

While participants are always encouraged by local staff to see and learn as much as possible, they are also very interested to gain a better understanding of medical work in your country and in particular, learn about the similarities and differences. This is an interesting type of specialized cultural exchange where both participants and local staff can learn a lot from each other and develop themselves through greater knowledge and understanding.

Program Costs

The program fees that Love Volunteers charges are on behalf of our local partners. These fees are used in the developing country to accommodate, feed and support volunteers, while running projects that directly benefit local communities.

Fees for volunteer programs in Vietnam start at US$270 (€209), which includes accommodation, two or three meals a day (depending on the program type), an airport pick-up (if required), orientation and 24/7 in-country support.

Volunteer period [weeks]	1	2	3	4	6
Medical	-	-	-	US$600	US$810
Teaching English	US$285	US$390	US$495	US$600	US$810
Teaching French	US$285	US$390	US$495	US$600	US$810
Working with children	US$285	US$390	US$495	US$600	US$810
Community development	-	-	-	US$600	US$810

Volunteer period [weeks]	8	12	16	20	24
Medical	US$970	US$1285	US$1600	US$1915	US$2230
Teaching English	US$970	US$1285	US$1600	US$1915	US$2230
Teaching French	US$970	US$1285	US$1600	US$1915	US$2230
Working with children	US$970	US$1285	US$1600	US$1915	US$2230
Community development	US$970	US$1285	US$1600	US$1915	US$2230

Other volunteers periods available. Please, contact LoveVolunteers for pricing of other periods.

A Love Volunteers registration fee of US$235 is charged in addition to the program fees and covers any placements you undertake for twelve months from the start of your first placement. The fee is refundable if you choose not to volunteer more than three months prior to the start of your initial placement. This fee ensures 24/7 pre- and post-placement support from Love Volunteers, checking and vetting of local organisations, a comprehensive information pack, as well as administration and marketing costs.

All transaction costs pertaining to online, bank or wire transfers are additional to the program fee and must be covered by the volunteer.

Food and Accommodation

Volunteers in Vietnam working on the childcare program are housed at our partner’s headquarters, which is an hour to the west of the frantic central Hanoi. Accommodation is in dorms containing between four and twelve bunks and equipped with a wifi connection. There are shared bathrooms and good-sized common room with a television. Total numbers staying at any one time tend to be between ten and twenty. The building is in a semi-rural spot next to rice paddies, but close to a small town where foreigners are met with great curiosity and usually a warm smile.

Meals are prepared by a cook whose food is greatly appreciated by volunteers. Two or three meals will be included depending on the program type. Lunch may not be included depending on the placement location. Vietnam is known for its fantastic food. Pho is a staple dish comprising noodles, often consumed at breakfast. Spicy and fragrant, pho also features in two soups, Pho Bo, containing beef, and Pho Ga, containing chicken. Com (young green rice) is a much-loved autumn speciality served in a lotus leaf.

Nems (fried spring rolls) are made from a variety of ingredients. One snack-style dish is giò served at the time of the Vietnamese New Year (Tet). It comes in many varieties, but all of these are infused with the aroma of banana leaves and fish sauce. Also consumed at Tet are Chung cakes - sticky rice cakes involving pork meat.

Other ingredients used in the extraordinarily varied cuisine of the country are fresh vegetables, mussels, shrimp, crab meat, tuna, fish of various kinds, bamboo shoots, garlic, cassava and chilli. Seasoning often includes herbs, as well as lemon grass, lime and kaffir. North, Central and Southern Vietnam each have their own regional cuisine.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are both home to many outstanding restaurants.

Volunteers on programs elsewhere in Vietnam are accommodated with host families or in dormitories.

Orientation

Volunteers in Vietnam are introduced to the local neighbourhood. The logistics of travel are gone into, as are the do’s and don’ts of living amid Vietnamese people with their specific culture. Orientation also includes some Vietnamese lessons.

A Typical Week

The Working Week runs from Monday to Friday, and amounts to a total of between 20-30 hours worked.

Typically, volunteers rise at around 7am, have breakfast and report for work at 8am. Lunch breaks normally fall at around 11am-12pm. The working day generally ends at 5pm, with dinner eaten at 6pm.

Free time can be spent relaxing or travelling to visit such places of interest such as Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its attractive islands and amazing limestone forms known as "karsts"; Sapa, a picturesque town in the North-west; Hue on the Perfume River, which is full of fascinating attractions including the Imperial City. Volunteers may also want to visit the Thien Mu Pagoda with its interesting bars and eateries, or the quiet, car-free ancient city of Hoi An. The Mui Ne beach is a popular yet quiet tropical beach resort on the South China Sea, which is great for kitesurfing and windsurfing.

About the Country

Vietnam has 85 million inhabitants and relies heavily on rice production, as well as petroleum, tea, coffee and rubber to fuel its economy. Devastated at the time of the war with the US, Vietnam has had 30 years of peace and its countryside, affected badly by chemical de-foliation, is recovering. The wildlife, particularly in the north, is legendary. Gibbon, Asian Elephant, the lizard known as the Bengal monitor and the Green sea turtle are just a few of the species found here. The south has coral reefs, mangrove swamps and dazzlingly clear waters.

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam and the cultural heart of the country, is home to more than three million people. Cultural and historic monuments are dotted across the city, representing fragments of a succession of dynasties.

Due to its picturesque setting among a large number of lakes, the city, though bustling, also offers leisure destinations, with West Lake probably being the most popular. Hanoi has a 2,000-year-old ‘Old Quarter’, with labyrinthine streets and an amazing blend of commercial enterprises and buzzing night life.

Vietnam is ablaze with colours, tastes and scents. In rural areas, you will see children astride buffalo, women working the fields wearing traditional conical hats and land being farmed on impossibly steep slopes. The cities are a non-stop whirl. Uniting these diverse geographical zones is the happy optimistic outlook of the Vietnamese people.

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