🏢 About the local organisation
Friendship Village is about 8 km far from the VPV headquarters and 15km from Hanoi center. Since bus connection from VPV house to the village is not very convenient, the common transportation to work is bicycle. Other ways to work will be discussed upon volunteers’ arrival.
Main Aims and Activities
The aim of the program is to jointly bring care, love and happiness to the children through volunteers’ activities.
The Vietnam Friendship Village opened in 1998 and was established to treat and care war veterans and children who are suffering from the effects of Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. Armed forces in its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam War. There are currently around 120 children and 40 veterans living in the 11 houses that comprise the Village.
Established by George Mizo, an American Veteran of the Vietnam War, in collaboration with American, German and Vietnamese governments, the Village aims to provide rehabilitation through medical care and physiotherapy, as well as basic education and vocational training for children.
In 2004, an organic gardening project was started at the Village with the aim of increasing awareness of the consequences of war, and to demonstrate strategies for healthy living among those still suffering its effects. The garden now provides around 60% of the vegetables eaten at the Village. It is hoped that in the future the garden can provide all the fruit and vegetables needs for the Village, and eventually grow enough to sell and raise further funds for this much needed community center.
The aim of Friendship Village is to give every effected child the chance and opportunity to lead normal, happy and fulfilled lives. Clearly, given the circumstances this is no easy task, and although, thanks to the dedicated work of those at Friendship Village, tremendous advances have already been made, there still remains much work to be done.
💼 What the programme involves
Here are some possible tasks that you can do there:
- Caring for and playing with disabled children
- Assisting teachers in special education classes
- Assiting the teachers and children during lunch time
- Gardening
- Calling for charity or Subscription (depends on volunteers)
Working hours:
There is no fixed timetable for the volunteers, their working times depend on the tasks they choose for themselves. A usual working day could be from 9 am to 4 pm with a lunch break from 11 am to 2 pm.
Travel to work: 1 hour by bus.
🏠 Accommodation on site
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 accommodation. Meals will be mostly local food, which vary from the daily cooking schedule.
During working days, volunteers may either have lunch outside or eat with the staff at Hope Centre. They have to inform the cook at the centre one day in advance if they want to eat there. Volunteres can also come back to eat at the volunteer house.
⚠️ Requirements
Volunteers should pay a program fee of 400USD for the first 2 weeks and 100USD for each week after. This is to cover airport pick-up, orientation, food and accommodation, transportation to work as well as regular support from VPV team.