Taking care of handicapped children and improving the living conditions in Hai Duong welfare center, Vietnam

Volunteer project: Hai Duong welfare center was established in March 1982. With about 1000 disabled and disadvantaged children coming from many parts of Hai Duong province, it's the biggest center of this type in the north of Vietnam. In the welfare center, the children are handicapped in many different ways. Some are deaf mute, some are mentally disabled, physically disabled, or both. The center aims to provide compulsory education and vocational training, to create employment opportunities for the children. The center has a wide variety of courses for children of different age groups, ranging from infants to 18 years old. For example, children between the ages of 6 to 12 are provided with educational courses, and the older children are able to attend vocational training courses at the center. Furthermore, the center is helping to look for job opportunities for the children when they finish their courses.

Volunteer help is needed in different areas. One of the main tasks is improving the quality of the center in order to make it a better living place for the children. The project activities include renovating classrooms, painting walls and cleaning up the dormitories of the children. The volunteers will also organize interesting and meaningful leisure activities for the children, with the aim to enrich their daily life in the center and to give them a chance to open their minds to the outside world. The children have different skills and difficulties, so the activities must be adapted to them. You are expected to be imaginative and flexible. With one more or one less rule in a game, you can make it more accessible to all of them.

Project dates: August 27 - September 7, 2013

Leisure activities: There are famous tourist places near the center that the volunteers can discover by themselves at weekends and during their free time. It is also easy to go to Hanoi from Hai Duong by bus.

Language: English

Location: Hai Duong city is about 50 km away from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

More info and other projects in Vietnam: www.cadip.org/volunteer-in-vietnam.htm