Famous Halong Bay, situated off Halong city
My wife and I travelled to Vietnam in May. Part of the reason was to see our daughter Emily who has been doing a placement in a school in Halong City. During our trip we met the country manager, Huy. It was fascinating to sit by the lake in central Hanoi and listen to Huy talk about the great work our volunteers are doing on the Vietnamese programme and the huge and unsatisfied demand there is for English volunteers to help local people of all ages speak English. Everyone wants to learn It!
Central lake in Hanoi
All this was confirmed when we visited Emily. She has had a wonderful time but she can tell her own story, maybe! We were thrilled to be invited by the headmistress of her school to spend a morning at the school. This began with coffee and cakes with the Headmistress, her 2 deputies, the link teachers and Emily. We then had a tour of the school and went into some of the classes Emily had been teaching. What an enthusiastic and charming reception we had each time! Lots of photos and handshakes. This was then followed by a sumptuous multiple course lunch at a nearby restaurant at which we also met the chairman, vice chairman and another officer of the company which owns the school. Yes, it is a fee paying one!
All our hosts told us often, over many toasts how they valued the link with Lattitude Global Volunteering, what a positive impact and impression all our volunteers had made and that they wanted many more every year for many years!
If the time which Emily and her co-volunteer, Charlotte, have had is any guide, it is hard to see why the programme isn’t overrun with applicants! Thanks to everyone for a hugely memorable time.”
Tags: gap year, global volunteering, halong city, hanoi, lattitude, overseas volunteering, teaching english, Vietnam, volunteer abroad, volunteering