📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
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.
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
- Organizing games for kids in the Movement Room
- Assisting the teachers and children during lunch time
- Gardening
- Calling for charity (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.
🏠 Accommodation on site
Volunteers will stay in a dormitory with rooms shared with other volunteers. Living conditions will be Vietnamese standard with shared bathroom, shared room with bunkbeds. Mattress, blanket, pillow and mosquito net are provided.
Food will be provided at accommodation everyday except Saturday. 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 themselves.
📍 About the location
Address: Van Canh Commune, Hoai Duc District, Hanoi. It is approximate 15 kms far away from city center.
Travel to work from volunteer accommodation: about 1 hour by bus.
⚠️ Requirements
- Volunteers should like to work with handicapped children and maturity and initiative spirit.
- Preference: Volunteers with background or experience in medical/ social work or special education. However, volunteers without experience or background will still be able to join in different work as children are very excited with foreigners.
- Age: 18 and over.
- Be open-minded and sociable.
- Be willing to learn more about the country and adapt to different and working style in Vietnam.
- Extra fee: 430 EUR for the first 2 weeks, 115 EUR for every extra week