VNI018 - Teach Languages to disadvantaged and street children

Duration: Min 2 months, Max 6 months
Dates: available all year round
Location: Hanoi
Background Information: Children come to Youth Center are from the local “Fisher village” where consists of more than 40 families living on temporary ragged boats by the Red River (one 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 having diseases and drowning is very high. All families have an average of 5 members and do not have an income, 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, vegetable, lottery results or catch shrimp overnight. The Children assisted are as follows:
- Being disadvantaged, poor and street children from 3 to 16 years old.
- Having low education level: near 90% haven’t known education, not all of them have joined in any officially vocational training before.
- Having a very poor family or no family.
- They speak Vietnamese and very basic English learned from our international volunteers
Project Aims: The Youth Center is a small non-formal education center for disadvantaged, street and poor children. It is also a friendly place for young local people and international volunteers come to explore their cultural diversity with lots of youth exchanges such as music performance, photos exhibition, and lessons for the children and funny leisure activities. We need teachers and volunteers to give lessons to the children and cook meals for 20 children everyday. We combine these activities with projects to help disadvantaged people at Fisher village who are elderly and poor living in slum-boats on Red river with giving them food etc.
Volunteers will join a team of local young people and SJ Vietnam coordinators to manage the projects and participate in daily activities at the school.
Project Tasks: 1. To manage the projects and participate in daily activities at the school.
2. To cook and give them free food, support medicines if they are ill; provide water filters, toothpaste, second-hand warm clothes and free hot shower in winter, etc.
3. To teach basic English, French and/or other languages for the children at the Youth center. Volunteers also need to train and instruct Vietnamese volunteers to be English tutors for the children.
4. To create friendly communication environment.
5. The volunteers could also teach basic other subjects for the children (with the help of the local volunteers)
6. The volunteers will live in the school and in close relation with the children and their families.
7. To call for help from philanthropists’ sponsors as well as the youth, contributing efforts and capacity to a better life for those children.
13. To build up special English teaching manuals for children for long-term application.
14. To organize funny games in English or other understandable foreign languages (with the help of Vietnamese tutors) for children
Who Can Participate?: Volunteers must also be ready to live as local people (basic accommodation, transport by bus or bicycle, local food). Anyone who is willing to help can help.
Placement Costs: US$220 per month (US$55 per week) for local food and accommodation in the international youth house.
Transportation: Volunteers are expected to travel with-in Hanoi on either local buses or by bicycle.
Hours of Activity: Volunteering hours are 5/6 hours 5 days a week to poor students at the center.
Visa Requirements: Volunteers must arrange their own visas.