Volunteer in Special Needs Care in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Volunteering in Vietnam with IVHQ was a truly meaningful and memorable experience. The program was well-organized from the beginning, with clear guidance and helpful information that made the preparation process easy, especially as a student and first-time international volunteer. The local team was very welcoming and supportive, and I always felt safe and comfortable during the program. The activities allowed me to contribute to the community while also learning more about Vietnamese culture and daily life. The program was very affordable compared to similar opportunities, which made it accessible without sacrificing quality. Overall, this experience helped me grow personally and gain valuable international experience. I would highly recommend IVHQ Vietnam to students and young volunteers looking for a trusted and impactful volunteer program.

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This experience will stick with me forever. Over the course of the three weeks I volunteered, I learnt a lot professionally, particularly relating to Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy. However, I really learned the value in connection, and how even the smallest of actions can really impact people’s lives. I’m so grateful for my experience doing this program, and I really believe you get out whatever effort you put into the program. I couldn’t recommend this experience more if you want to have fun, learn a lot, and truly make a difference.

The first thing I can say about IVHQ is that they facilitated the best experience of my life. The time between applying to the program and actually travelling was nearly 2 years, and the team were incredible. Any questions/concerns were answered in depth and quickly, and I attended a couple of the online sessions, which were incredibly informative. While in Vietnam, the local team were incredible, supportive and treated everyone like family. I genuinely couldn't have had a better experience and would recommend it to anyone and everyone!

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The best moments from volunteering was any time spent with the disabled children classroom! Their smiles are life changing! Do it! So fun to explore a new culture with an underlying purpose. Have done trips through IVHQ twice now, and love it!

Before this opportunity, I already have a lot of experience working with disability groups and with children by being a Community Support Work at Saskatchewan Abilities Council, and I really enjoyed the work I did with them. This volunteer trip was a great experience to see the differences in mental health support between developed countries and developing countries. It gave me a better picture of how I can utilize my skills to support diverse groups. I was surprising that there is so many skills I used at work are from my study at school. This industry is for sure a place of interest for me in the future. Overall, I enjoyed this experience very much. First, this hospital is way more organized than I thought, due to language barrier, the hospital specifically signed coordinators who speak English to work with us. Second, I was able to walk out of my comfort zone to work at a developing environment. Most importantly, I was able to use the skills and knowledge I so far learned at school at real work place, it made me enjoy the program at school more and made me more certain that this is the area I want to study and work for in the future. I learned so much from this trip.

I really wanted to start volunteering and didn't know how to go about it. To try and find a good program and company that I could do it through was challenging. I had heard through a friend that a few years ago she had Volunteered through IVHQ and even after looking them up and reading the amazing reviews, I was still a little hesitant. My volunteer program was in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) and it was nothing short but amazing. Helping out with children who had disabilities and providing them support every single day for 2 weeks was such a rewarding experience. Just to see the smile you put on their faces was more than enough. I've met some amazing people and have made new friends through this experience!!

In August 2016 I fulfilled my lifelong passion to volunteer with children who needed it the most. I spent 3 weeks in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. And I have just booked again to go in 6 weeks time, same place, same program! I was based at a local hospital where I cared for children with disabilities from unprivileged families living close to destitution but had the support of this vital volunteer program and hospital day care. I gave my time, my love and my gentle hand to children who just wanted to be accepted. I assisted local staff in providing therapeutic treatments, feeding, play time, entertaining and educating. In my spare time I visited an orphanage where my heart was broken; 3 floors and 75 children with no mummy & daddy and a safe place to call a home. There were no bedrooms for these children - they shared communal floor space and simply was provided with a pillow, they were fed twice a day and relied on donations from volunteers - donation of time and donation of basic supplies for everyday living. The orphanage was over an hour on the bus out of district 4 and I was struck by the vision of poverty on the streets, no documentary can prepare you for that. I fell in love at the orphanage with every child I met – I spent most of my time in the baby room as my heart lay there, with around 10 babies under 2 including ‘tiny toes’ a 10 day old baby abandoned by his mother and born at 7 months premature. This sweet innocent child was perfect but with a long road ahead of him and no name at the time. It’s also hard to forget Quin – a 12 year old girl with severe mental and physical disabilities who also resided in the baby room at the orphanage as the staff where not quite sure what to do with her due to her inability to walk or feed herself, she was playful and sweet and just wanted to play. I knew it wasn’t going to be easier but I had no idea how hard it was going to be. 35 degrees of heat with no air con at the hospital or orphanage, in an area struck with poverty and a nation of people with no healthcare support. There is no public health cafe in Vietnam! We have all had ups and downs in life some harder than the other (loss, illness and hardhsip) but we are truly blessed to have access to clean water, health care and a roof over our heads and food in our tummy’s. To give your time is to give happiness. Last a note from the words of a true inspiration - Christina Noble. “I will work with the ill and unwanted, with the lonely and the misbegotten, with the throw-away children of this war torn country. The future of our world is the future of our children, our beautiful children. For many of them, it is a matter of giving them back their future, giving them a life, giving them hope and giving them the childhood they deserve.” xx

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Though I was only a part of the volunteer program for 2 weeks, there is no denying the immediate impact that our presence had on the children in the orphanage we visited each day. I worked with the toddlers, aged 17 months - 5 years, and they are so full of love and light. We were supposed to have a "prep" time at the end of each day to plan for the next day, but that was completely unnecessary, as the kids preferred free play, and turns being held.....any organized activity was simply not a part of their daily agenda :) The orphanage we visited was very well run and maintained, and though there are probably more kids than the staff can handle (67 kids, aged 1 month to 22 years old), they are trying their hardest to give these kids a shot at a good life, and that is highly respectable.