Projects Abroad Volunteer Programs in Vietnam

I volunteered in Vietnam over a period of four weeks as an Occupational Therapy Student with Projects Abroad. I was placed with a friend from university at Hanoi Friendship Village, a residential community for Vietnam War veterans and for children and adults with disabilities resulting from the intergenerational health effects caused by Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide that was sprayed during the Vietnam War. We spent most of our time in the therapy room, working with the children and adults from 13-30 years old, most of who presented with Cerebral Palsy like characteristics.

Living and volunteering in a country completely unlike home came with its own set of challenges to overcome, and looking back, without the support from Projects Abroad, I don't think I would have learnt or experienced what I did. The Projects Abroad team are incredibly well experienced, and this is shown through their attentiveness to my needs and concerns throughout the entire volunteer process.

We stayed at one of the volunteer houses with fellow volunteers from around the world. Sharing this experience other volunteers was one of the highlights of my time in Vietnam - and we travelled and explored the city together on many weekend trips. Another highlight of my volunteer experience at Friendship Village, was coming to a deeper understanding of the Vietnamese culture and learning to communicate and provide therapy despite the language barrier. I will never forget the sweet smiles and laughter that I shared with the children and adults I worked with, and knowing that I was able to make a meaningful contribution to their lives, however small, fills me with joy.

I volunteered with Projects Abroad in Thuy Anh, Vietnam. I was an English teacher at a primary school down the road from the Thuy Anh rehab center. I had grades 1-5, and taught two lessons a day that were each two hours, and each class had about fifty kids in it. I had the time of my life teaching those kids! They were so wonderful and so eager to learn. They enjoyed songs and games and making pictures. One day while I was teaching I gave them all paper dolls to draw clothes on (they were learning clothes and accessories) and they could dress their paper doll up as anyone they wanted. Most of the boys dressed their dolls up as Messi, and the girls dressed them up as their mothers or their favorite singers, but when one little girl stood up to present her doll to the class she had dressed it up as me. That was probably the best moment of my life, and I would give anything to go back and be in that classroom everyday.
The staff at Projects Abroad were extremely helpful with our assignments, our travel, and with our accommodations. They were always reachable and always did their best to help. Our accommodation was in the rehab center, so we were surrounded by the kids that lived there. While the rehab center was not my placement, I chose to play with the kids and help out when I was not at the primary school.
I would thoroughly recommend this program to anyone who truly wants to help and has an adventurous spirit!

I discovered Projects Abroad through a random google search looking for medical volunteer projects in Vietnam. After doing a decent amount of research I decided to choose them for my Sandifer Fellowship that I received from Eureka College. My overall experience was incredible!

Throughout my stay, I volunteered at the National Hospital of Traditional Medicine. Here I assisted with over 20 surgeries and learned to make injections on patients. The staff in the hospital was incredibly friendly and helpful. The main doctor that I shadowed while there even took me out to lunch every single day!

Projects Abroad had incredible support as well while I was there. Even though I didn't speak the language I always felt safe and secure. Transportation was made easy and there was plenty to do in the city during my free time. 10/10. Would do it again

When a guest speaker came to one of my classes and talked about how she had volunteered as a professional occupational therapist abroad I immediately knew it was something that I wanted to do. As an undergraduate student in the United States I am always looking into ways to make my grad school applications more competitive. Maybe that's what I was mostly hoping to get out of my experience in Vietnam, but it turned out to be so much more than that.

First off, I cannot say enough about the Projects Abroad staff. They helped me with everything before, during and after my time in Vietnam. As a person who had never left the United States I felt completely assured that my trip would go smoothly, and it did!

More importantly though, my time in Vietnam was meanginful. I was able to work and live at a rehabilitation center for children in a more rural part of Vietnam on the weekdays.

At the rehabilitation center I lived in a simple accommodation with other volunteers and our translators. I was able to have really great relationships with the other volunteers and especially my translator, who I now consider to be a very dear friend. We have all kept in touch and hope to meet again someday.

Working with the children at the rehabilitation center was amazing. They are resilient and interactive and love the attention. I was able to learn and grow within the field of occupational therapy because a certified occupational therapist was also volunteering there. I was able gain valuable experience working with children. The staff at the rehabilitation center were willing to learn and utilize the occupational therapy techniques that we were using.

During the weekend I lived in a beautiful house in the city of Hanoi with other volunteers from other projects. We were all able to explore the city and travel around Vietnam at our own leisure. I would not trade those experiences for anything.

I would recommend traveling to Vietnam through Projects Abroad to anyone!

During the week, at the rehabilitation center

My experience volunteering through Projects Abroad was honestly phenomenal! As a pre-med student, I wanted to do something meaningful during my summer, and I especially wanted to go abroad. Out of the various organizations available, I chose to volunteer through Projects Abroad because as a first-time international traveler, Projects Abroad seemed to provide a lot of support, advice, and tips to their volunteers. In addition, Projects Abroad also provides housing, food, and transportation. Organizing these as a first time traveler would have been a nightmare for me! Before my trip, I found the national office and volunteer adviser to be super helpful and accommodating to my placement requests; and the second I was picked up from the airport after 23 hours of travel, I found that the local staff in Vietnam were just as helpful. They were super friendly and were eager to help me make the best of my experience there; and when I suddenly became ill during my stay, they were quick to accompany me to the hospital and made sure that I was okay. Whether it was giving advice on a work-related issue or recommending restaurants and sights to see, the local Projects Abroad staff was happy to help! In addition, the volunteer house was large, clean, and comfortable, and the cook was absolutely amazing at her job! She made lots of traditional Vietnamese dishes but also lots of yummy Western dishes. It was great!

As for my project, I could not have been happier! In response to my specific requests, Projects Abroad placed me at the Vietnam Friendship Village, a rehabilitation center for Vietnam veterans and Agent Orange victims, where I taught English in the mornings and assisted the physiotherapy department during the afternoons. Most care project volunteers teach and plan classroom activities, but Projects Abroad was happy to help me include a medical component in my project because of my studies. The people at my placement were super friendly and easy to approach, and the kids I worked with were incredibly happy to have me there. It was so rewarding to see that my time there was much appreciated. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity meet so many new people and to gain so many new and exciting experiences. Overall, I loved my experience with Projects Abroad and would have loved to stay longer!