Providing Meals and Education for Disadvantaged, Poor and Street Children in Hanoi

The children who come to Youth House are from the Fisher village, which consists of more than 40 families living on temporary ragged boats by the Red River (a small part of the village is on an island). Their lives are extremely difficult: the surroundings are badly polluted, they don’t have tap water, electricity and they have to clean the water from the Red River by alum and use it.

Thus the rate of diseases and drownings is very high. All families have more than 5 members while they don’t have jobs, so it is very hard to feed the whole family. Their children, all of whom are badly malnourished and illiterate, have to collect rubbish, sell collected fruits, vegetables, lottery tickets or catch shrimp overnight.

The children going to Youth House are disadvantaged, poor and street children from 8 to 16 years of age. They have low education level: nearly 90% don't know words, some of them haven't joined any official vocational training before. They come from very poor families or have no families at all. The children speak Vietnamese and very basic English, learnt from former international volunteers.

Youth House School is a small non-formal education center for disadvantaged, street and poor children. It is also a friendly place for local young people and international volunteers to come to explore their cultural diversity with lots of youth exchanges, music performances, photos exhibitions, classes for the children and fun leisure activities. Teachers and volunteers are needed to teach classes to the children and cook meals for 20 children every day.

These activities are combined with projects intended to help disadvantaged people at Fisher village, who are very old and poor and live in slum-boats on Red river, by giving them free food, supporting medicines for their disease, providing water filters, toothpaste, second-hand warm clothes, etc.

The volunteers will join a team of local volunteers to manage the projects and participate in the daily activities at the school. They will teach English and organize leisure activities for the poor and disadvantaged children living on float boats in the Red River. They will also help the local volunteers to keep the Youth Center clean and prepare free lunch for the children. The volunteers will take part in promotional and fundraising activities such as giving English lessons and organizing workshops in a private school/university to raise funds for the school fee of the children.

The volunteers need to have a very high motivation, very good communication skills and to be able to be independent in their work. Volunteers also need to have many ideas about how to keep the children's attention and they need to know how to deal with problematic situations with the children, as well encourage them to go to the Youth House regularly for free basic education and nutritious food. Thanks to the volunteers’ efforts through the years, children’s awareness of education has raised, which can help them get a simple job and a better future, and ensure their independent living and economic self-sufficiency. The scheme will demonstrate the important role of volunteerism and public-private partnerships for social development.

General purposes of the Youth House:
- Giving free lunch to disadvantaged, poor and street children
- Helping children to integrate into the community
- Giving them opportunities to take part in different activities, exchange ideas, deal with complexes, and improve their self-confidence
- Improving their education level

Leisure activities: Hanoi has many historical and cultural places and it is also a famous destination for tourists. Visiting Old Quarters and traditional trade villages are good choices for the volunteers at weekends or in their free time. Many cultural festivals are held in Hanoi annually so this is a great chance for the volunteers to explore the Capital which is 1000 years old.

Language: English

Duration of the project: 2-12 months

Accommodation: Volunteers will stay in a host family. They need to bring a sleeping bag.

Location: Phuc Xa, Long Bien, Ha Noi

Terminal: Noi Bai International Airport (HAN)

Age range: 18 and over

Participation fee: $590 CAD

Extra fee: 7,500,000 VND (about 260 Euro)/month

The extra fee is intended to support the hosting organization who does not have sufficient funds. It is due upon arrival on the project.

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