Vina Volunteer Service

The administration was very effective , with guidance when needed.
The homestay accommodation was very satisfactory , overlooking a beautiful thatched old house.

The food that Ms Xuan prepared was excellent and varied . My only regret was that she produced it in such vast amounts that I was unable to do it justice. She refused to reduce the servings because she said they had plenty but I dislike any waste. My only consolation was that at least my leftovers went to the pig!
I enjoyed the work although some activities had the feel of attempting to give me an experience rather than truly adding to the produce of the farm . For instance , when I was cutting forage for livestock sometimes there would be other people not being productive because we had only bought one tool.
In the second week much of the vegetable gardening had been completed. I volunteered myself to help a neighbour moving sacks , helped construct a buffalo shed and even worked on the foundations of a new house. Here I felt I was being useful and relished the variety,
The landscape around the homestay is stunning and I was happy to make my own discoveries. I found the 1000 steps cave in Mai Chau and was amazed. I visited the waterfalls of Go Loa which were also spectacular.
Although Ms Xuan gave me some local leaflets , it was pure chance I came across the caves and I only found out about Go Loa by talking to a tour guide who visited the homestay one night.

I rank the experience as 5 stars and the friendliness of the people I met certainly contributed to that. I was offered hospitality in people’s homes almost on first acquaintance.

Many thanks and Best wishes for the project

I have been in Mai Chau for 3 weeks teaching English. It was an amazing experience! I taught 1 to 3 hours per day in one of the local schools and 2h to adults in the evening. I slept in a homestay with the lovely Xuan, who took care of me as if I was her daughter and took me on bike and hiking tours to see the surroundings. Mai Chau is a quiet place, where you can really take your mind off the stress of a city life. There you really get in touch with the traditions and life style of the white Thai people, one of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities. People are very friendly and although you can rarely find someone who speaks English it is amazing how one can communicate without a language, if there is good will and a smile.

Teaching in the school was sometimes challenging as not even the teachers could speak English and the organization in the school was not very good, but I saw that as part of the experience, it would have been boring without one adventure or two. Although the students were doing 5th to 9th grade, their English level was very basic. Until they got used to me they had problems understanding even the most basic sentences. So I invested in vocabulary, using drawings and mimics, we played game and sang songs. In the end I was proud of how much they had learned in only 3 weeks.

About Vina Volunteer Service I have only good things to say. It is a very small organization orchestrated by Vietnamese people. I was a bit nervous about it, normally people look for very big and controlled organizations acting worldwide, but it worked really well. I got the feeling that Vietnamese people are very honest and caring. Everything went on as planned, I was picked up at the airport and taken to Mai Chau, David stayed with me overnight to explain me everything, introduce me in the school and translate. Every time I needed I could reach him on his phone and get his support. David also helped me afterward organizing my trip in Vietnam
Thank for the wonderful experience