About Vietnam

The Global Volunteer Network Vietnam volunteer program gives volunteers the chance to become involved in children's aid and education projects in Vietnam. This program has something to suit all skills and experience levels.

You have the opportunity to work in the Children's Program with orphans, street children and children with disabilities or in the Teaching Program with high schools, colleges and universities.

While sharing your knowledge and compassion you will gain an in-depth experience of the country and its culture that will stay with you the rest of your life.

For more information, please visit the Vietnam program page on the Global Volunteer Network website.

Recent Vietnam Journals:

My last week volunteering in Vietnam

Posted by Anna Bayley at 2:04 am Vietnam No Responses »

Jan 122012

I can’t quite believe that I’ve been volunteering here in Danang for a month already – the time has gone by so fast. This afternoon I had my last visit to the red cross baby orphanage, and I really didn’t want to have to leave the babies. Usually they don’t cry very much, but today the youngest two were really tearful and clingy. I gave one of them a cuddle before I left, and when I put him down he started crying to be picked up again. At the orphanage there are 11 babies/children, most with disabilities, and only 2 carers, who each work 72 hour shifts!! It’s such a tough job for them, that it’s impossible for them to give each child the attention they really need. We try to take different toys with us each day, and the children love anything new, since everything else in their lives is pretty much the same everyday – same food, same room, same people. It seems that adoption here in Vietnam isn’t particularly common, so I hate to think of how long these babies will be at the orphanage or what will happen to them next.

We’ve celebrated a couple of birthdays at the social support centre this week. Tam, who I teach English to, was 29. I’ve learned that here in Vietnam the day you are born is counted as your 1st birthday, so everyone here is a year older than they would be in the UK. I bought cake for Tam, and we decorated with balloons and streamers. Everyone got a piece of the cake, and while I was helping a boy called Luu to eat his, the boy sitting next to him, who is always very quiet and still, suddenly reached over and grabbed the whole piece of cake from Luu’s bowl, and crammed it into his mouth, all in a split second. Luu’s face was a picture – he (and I) couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.

At the red cross baby orphanage a new baby arrived this week. After she was born, her mother left her at the hospital, for reasons that we don’t know. She stayed at the hospital for 2 months, then was brought to the orphanage. As far as we know, she is healthy. The carers at the orphanage are deciding on a name for her, and she is certainly getting lots of cuddles from everyone.

Last weekend I went back to Hoi An with two other volunteers. Hoi An is so beautiful. This time we hired bikes to cycle around, visiting vegetable gardens (the Vietnamese equivalent of allotments) and the beach. It was the full moon festival that weekend, so lots of floating candles were released onto the river – beautiful! Here in Vietnam everyone is preparing for Vietnamese New Year (Tet) on 23rd January. It’s a bit like us preparing for Christmas in the UK. You decorate your home, prepare special food, get a haircut, buy new clothes. I’ve tried to get into the Tet spirit by buying some new jeans – any excuse for some clothes shopping! When I leave Danang this weekend I’m heading north to Hanoi, Sapa and Halong bay, then from Vietnam it’s onto Laos and Cambodia, then New Zealand – the rest of my trip is real holiday time!

So at the end of my time as a volunteering in Vietnam, what have I learned… Well, I’ve discovered that I actually quite like riding on the back of a motorbike, and it’s not as scary as I thought. Today I managed to carry a huge cake box whilst still holding on. I’ve really enjoyed teaching yoga (ok so it was actually just gentle exercise, not real yoga). I’ve experienced what it’s like to be tall, as I am taller than most Vietnamese people. But most of all I’ve learned that you can still adore children who can’t speak or respond to you in any way, yet in their own special way can capture a place in your heart.

My new career as a yoga instructor

Posted by Anna Bayley at 1:51 am Vietnam No Responses »

Jan 032012

So, when volunteering you have to turn your hand to just about anything – teaching English, arts and crafts, physiotherapy, changing nappies, bathing, dressing and feeding babies. Well, my latest job as a volunteer is that I am now a yoga instructor for the elderly residents of the social support centre. Now before those of you who are true yoga devotees get too horrified by this, I should actually tell you that the yoga (or goga as it’s called here) is actually just a gentle exercise and stretching class. I was all ready for my first class today – the mats were laid out, the chilled out music on my ipod was all ready to go, I was sitting cross legged on my mat getting in the yoga zone -but then a mini bus load of buddist monks arrived at the social support centre to leave a donation, so yoga was cancelled for today! I love the fact that you never know what the day will bring here in Vietnam!

On Fridays we go to Hoi An to help at the orphanage there, where there are so many children. When I walked in on Friday there was a really sweet little girl (about 3 I think), who I know is blind, standing on her bed crying her eyes out. I went over to comfort her, talk to her and pick her up, hoping that despite the fact that we speak different languages, she would feel a bit happier. My cuddles seemed to do the trick, but then she didn’t want to leave my side and clung to me the whole time. Later, when we were about to leave I spotted another little girl, who looked just like her, and who was also blind – the little girls are twins. As we left they were both standing on their bed crying – heartbreaking to think of what life must be like for them.

On a much lighter note – the mosquitoes here are driving me nuts! I’ve had so many bites, mainly on my legs and feet. I’ve taken drastic action with a regimented routine of mosquito repellant application and even resorted to the fashion faux pas of socks and sandals on occasions to keep them away from my feet. I read the other day on the internet that actually mosquitos are attracted to smelly feet, so… off for a shower I think!

Volunteering in Vietnam

Posted by Anna Bayley at 1:09 am Vietnam No Responses »

Dec 272011

Well, I’ve been here in Vietnam now for just over 2 weeks now. I spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as it’s known to the locals), seeing the sights and visiting the Mekong delta. My first impression of Vietnam was definitely motorbike mayhem. I was told estimates of the number of motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh city ranging from 4 to 6 million! I’ve never seen as many motorbikes and as few cars in my life! And there don’t seem to be many rules of the road, or if there are any, people just ignore them. So crossing the road is a little scary, to say the least. According to my guidebook (or the bible as it is now known) to cross the road you just walk across slowly and motorbikes will swerve around you. Stepping off the pavement into the path of about 10 motorbikes is a little daunting, but the guide book is right, they will miss you. Apparently you shouldn’t try to run across the road as this will confuse the bikers.

Next I flew to Danang where I am volunteering for a month. It is definitely a contrast to my time in Prampram as Danang is a big city, and there are other volunteers here too. But the weather is also very different - grey and rainy unfortunately. Definitely wish I’d packed more jumpers!

So what do we actually do here … well most mornings we go to a local social support centre and work with children and teenagers there with varying degress of intellectual disabilities. I teach English to a guy called Tam and help him with some physio exercises. We take fruit for the teenagers and help them clean their teeth, take them for walks, feed them lunch and play with them. Colouring and lego is especially popular! There is one guy there called Ha who is a great character. Always smiling, he knows 3 words in English – Hello, Goodbye and Thankyou, and says them frequently. Seeing him there to greet us with a wave and a huge smile everyday really makes this worthwhile.

Then in the afternoons we go to the red cross centre, and do a variety of things. On some days I work in the baby orphanage where 10 todlers/children with a variety of disabilities live. They only have 2 carers between them, so we help out with things such as bathing them, feeding, physio and cleaning. I have just started teaching an English class there too – 4 older boys who live there.

Then on two evenings a week I return to the Social Support Centre (on the back of a motorbike!) to teach English to 3 absolutely lovely children there. Tonight we learnt the names of different animals. These children go to school during the day but live at the social support centre.

So, as you can see, we keep pretty busy!

My last post

Posted by Jade McDrury at 1:58 pm Vietnam No Responses »

Sep 162011

Over the last 10 weeks I have lived and breathed Volunteer Vietnam and what an amazing experience it has been! Volunteering through GVN has been a life changing and remarkable experience. I have learnt so much, made so many friends, gained invaluable life experience and definitely grown as a person. Going over to Vietnam was me leaping out of my comfort zone and yet I was made to feel so at home. When I think back to when I arrived on 27th June I was feeling a little anxious however after being welcomed by the Volunteer Vietnam team and the fellow volunteers I immediately felt right at home. There were gorgeous children, cheeky smiles, new born babies, a billion hugs, swimming adventures, ice cream outings, trips to the park, many English lessons, even a Vietnamese graduation and wedding! To be fair there was also a share of tears, comfort hugs, heart wrenching stories, crying babies, dirty nappies, sick children, hospital visits and goodbyes I didn’t want to have to say; however I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Through not such a good situation (lack of volunteers) I was fortunate enough to be able to spend time in both Danang and Tam Ky. Both centers were equally inspiring and fulfilling despite the volunteering undertaken at each being very different. During my 10 short weeks in Vietnam I got to experience so much. I had a fantastic dance class with elderly, interacted with mentally and physically disabled young adults and children, got taught basic physio techniques, taught English too many children from a very basic level to advanced conversational English and I even got to assist another volunteer in teaching conversation English to school teachers and university lecturers. I got to play for hours with young kids, give and receive [click here to read more]

Danang placements and Hoi An

Posted by Jade McDrury at 5:19 pm Vietnam No Responses »

Aug 292011

Iv now been based in Danang for a few weeks so i am well and truly getting into the swing of things. At social we spend time in the ‘baby room’ and with the intellectually disabled kids. With the intellectually disabled kids we play games, go for walks and just chat as much as we can with them. We also feed them fruit and afterwards brush their teeth. (I believe it’s the only time they get brushed). These really are wonderful people, some however do have horrific stories as to how they came to live in the Social Support Centre. One women called Cam has a particularly harrowing story. She was married and had just given birth to a baby boy. Her husband beat her so bad she was made deaf as a result. Now im not entirely sure but I do believe her husband is now in jail. Her little boy would now be 9, however she hasn’t seen him in years because her family won’t permit it. They have essentially disowned her. Cam is an amazing person despite all this. She mothers all the children at the centre and you never see her without a cheeky smile! Im finding it much better at the baby room in social now. I know which child needs what and have improved my feeding skills! I honestly used to get most of the food down the poor children’s front, now however much more makes its safely into their mouths. At the Redcross baby orphanage we really do have a blast. Part of our routine here is to bath the kids. It is so much fun! The babies love the water, the ones that are able to; splash around and have a ball. We spend a lot of time bathing them, firstly to [click here to read more]

Toughest week thus far!

Posted by Jade McDrury at 2:57 am Vietnam No Responses »

Aug 212011

The past week has definitely been my toughest yet. I have not been my normal healthy self this week even had to have one morning off volunteering but i seem to be on the mend now so fingers crossed!! The main factor i think though is the nature of the placements here in Danang in comparison to the placements in Tam Ky. I have mentioned in previous journal entries all about the placements in Tam Ky so wont go into to much more detail. However all the placements in Tam Ky that we go to, we go there essentially to provide ‘extras’ in the childrens lives. Like games, english lessons and just some tlc. Here in Danang though many basic necessities in the kids lifes are rather lacking and that is what we provide. At the redcross baby orphanage and at the baby facility at Social Support Centre we have the same routine. First when we arrive we change the kids nappies (they are often quite wet). Next we disinfectant the mattresses on the beds and mats on the floor. From here we do some physio work, feed and bath the kids. What makes it hard for me is that i never used to worry when i left the placements before as you know the kids will be fine and looked after but whenever you leave either of these placements i find it quite difficult. I find myself thinking, ok now we are not there who is going to feed the kids, who is going to bath them, who is going to change their nappies?? Its this that i find tough and rather demoralising. Now i say kids because these arent babies as such. The kids in these centres are disabled some quite severely. So the kids we deal with [click here to read more]

Whats changed in 6 weeks!?

Posted by Jade McDrury at 10:05 pm Vietnam No Responses »

Aug 122011

I cant believe i have been here for 6 weeks already and only have 28 days left in Vietnam! Sometimes i feel that i haven’t achieved all i had hoped i would have this far through. However then i think back on all the the special moments and changes iv seen, i know that i and my fellow volunteers have achieved a great deal! Take wee Xuan for example. Xuan is a gorgeous yet shy wee boy at the baby orphanage who i have talked about in a previous journal entry. Xuan used to spend most of his time carrying round his trusty plastic bag and filling it with numerous toys until it was absolutely bursting. Since taking him out to the pool with the other kiddies he has changed a great deal. Granted he still loves filling his bag up with toys but he now comes over for hugs, cuddles and kisses. His favourite pastime at the moment is being spun around by his hands, he giggles continuously. Yesterday on my birthday i was doing just this with Xuan, when i stopped for a much needed break. I sat down with him on my knee and totally out of the blue he gave me a kiss on the cheek! It was the highlight of the day! I think i definitely have to bring him back to NZ with me, that’s ok aye dad? We have also been able to do simple things like take all the kids at the baby orphanage to the pool and out for dinner numerous times. These are treats they would never get otherwise. The babies now also have 2 walkers that they can potter round in. The walkers have toys hanging at the front of them that the babies can also entertain themselves with. [click here to read more]

Dalat for a weekend

Posted by Jade McDrury at 2:07 am Vietnam No Responses »

Aug 102011

The past weekend i went with Hannah another volunteer to Dalat. Now if you know anything about Vietnam’s geography or tourist scene you would have heard of Dalat. Dalat is a relatively small town nestled in the mountains of South Vietnam. It is a french inspired town which is shown through the cities architecture. When you are in Dalat if feels like you are in another country or Disney Land. It is known as the romantic capital of Vietnam due to its, flowers, horses, lake, strawberries and much more. We caught a train with 2 other volunteers from Tam Ky to Nga Trang, this was an overnight bus and took 9 hours. It was a sleeper bus so we could dose most of the way. However after getting over charged by 100 000dong and little sleep we were ready to get off! We arrived in Nga Trang at about 4am. From here me and Hannah went to the bus station to get another bus to Dalat while Katie and Oda went to their respective motels in Nga Trang where they were spending the weekend. At 5am we hopped on our bus to Dalat and after 6 hours we arrived. That first day (friday) we just chilled round Dalat going for a walk,to the market and on a cable car! The city was gorgeous and it was cold! Well not cold but cooler than the 36 degrees we get to often in Tam Ky. I wore jeans, ahhh exciting!!!! The market was like most others in Vietnam, where the locals go to buy and sell everything from meat, fruit and clothing. The specialty item in Dalat was the lollies. They were so yummy we even had rose petal flavored sweets. And the avocados were just out of this world! After being [click here to read more]

A weekend in Tam Ky and trip to My Son

Posted by Jade McDrury at 6:06 pm Vietnam No Responses »

Aug 012011

The weekend just been myself and fellow volunteer Hannah decided to spend it in Tam Ky and not travel anywhere to far. We have busy weeks and hectic weekends travelling miles so it made for a nice change. On the Saturday we went on a motor cycle adventure! Through our amazing cook, Mrs Hanh we booked two motor bikes and drivers to take us to the nearby imperial cham ruins called My Son. My Son is an old religious center with most of the temples here being dedicated to the Cham Kings. Some of the ornamental work was never completed on certain towers and now objects have been taken to museums but a lot of the main structures are still there. It was at first a little nerve racking driving on a motor bike on Vietnamese main roads but the drivers were good and cautious! It took about 2 hours to get there. We drove through small towns and the countryside to reach My Son, it was a beautiful trip. We were quite strange site, two European girls on a motor bike with Vietnamese drivers so we did get many stares. The odd person even slowed down to chat and practice speaking English with us. My Son was gorgeous. There were some ruins that were still quite in tact but others were quite overgrown and really just rubble. The US bombed them during the Vietnam war but after US President Nixon received a letter from Philippe Stern an expert on Cham Art expressing his concerns, Nixon ordered the bombing of this particular site to stop.(thats what the lonely planet guide told us). We wandered round this site for an hour or so taking lots of very cool pictures then after a coffee with the drivers made our way back to [click here to read more]

The End

Posted by Linda Tu at 2:49 am Vietnam No Responses »

Jul 312011

As my last week in Da Nang came, I became sooo busy trying to get last minute things done before I left and spend as much time as possible with the kids, my students, volunteers, the staff, and interns. All the festivities I had planned were so much fun, and I’m glad I could do something besides work with everyone that I’ve worked with this entire summer. Everyone has been so great to me, and I am truly appreciative of them all. The able kids gave me a drawing as a going away gift on Thursday, and I didn’t see Ti in the room with us. The intern told me that he went to go find something to give me as a going away present, which I think is the sweetest thing considering he literally has nothing to give away. He came back empty handed and just kind of sulked in the corner. He was a little violent and much more work to handle that day so I left him alone. Friday was our last day together, and he would hold my hand and run with me around the community center. Later that afternoon, Kristyn (another volunteer) and I took them out for a little afternoon adventure as our last hoorah before we left. Ti always wants to sit next to me on the bus or taxi, which makes me super happy, so when I picked him up that afternoon, he ran quickly to sit next to me. He “secretly” stuffs this rolled up paper in my purse and then pulls out my phone to play games. I peeked in my purse, and I know how shy he is so I just didn’t say anything about the rolled up paper. While they were all playing at the arcade, I unrolled [click here to read more]