Vietnam service learning in Mekong – Build a toilet – First day

Today we start one of the most exciting days of Vietnam service learning. We participate in a community service program in building a toilet for a local primary school. The school has no toilet and we will help around 60 children to have a place to answer the natural call of their body: just go to pee.

This is really not a big think at Western countries but a real big problem for children at most of schools in rural Vietnam. There is no toilet or toilet is too bad to go to pee. School time in Vietnam is often 3-4 hours and students do not go to pee within this period. This leads to health issues at kidney. And adults does not drink enough water as they keep the habit of drinking little water at their childhood so as they don’t have to have demand to go to toilet at school.

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We have a taxi drive from our characteristic hotel to the bus station to catch a pubic bus to Ben Tre Mekong Vietnam. Getting on public bus is special experience. It is cheap to save cost to our project. It is also a good observation to understand more the local people. The bus drive takes us thru the huge green rice farms of the fertile Mekong rice bowl of Vietnam. After some more great view of rivers, canals, farms, we arrive the local house of Mr. Muoi where we have homestay for our Vietnam service learning experience.

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That’s a little man with small eyes and big smiles. He welcomes us to his house. We look around his house and his big garden, and then arrange every people to beds in the house.

After a lunch of steam rice with fish and pork in claypot cooked with coconut, we walk to the boat quay and cruise along beautiful green canals to the site of Vietnam service learning project. That’s a great boat trip along the river of Mekong and it amazing canals. The view is so beautiful with water coconut ranges aong those canals. We see many local factories of brick production, fish processing or other kinds of factories. On the river, there are many local boats back and forth for their distinctive transportation way. There are also fishing nets, fishing traps, sand badges, and local boats full of local fruits from gardens to market.

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As arriving the community project site of our Vietnam service learning, we have some introduction to the master builders, the teachers and the local people there. We also have a brief on what to do then start to participate in building the toilet immediately. We carry sand from canal to the building site. We load bricks to the right location. We learn to mix cement with sand for a good mortar. We lay bricks with mortar, and build a real toilet.

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There are many local people coming to visit us because they are so surprised about this. There is also a lady with invitation to her house to have some coconut drinks. And we feel quite excited to visit her house with the promised beautiful taste of the fresh coconut right from the trees. After the time at the project, we go along lush gardens of tropical fruits, along trails at villages and visit her house. She asks her brother to pick a lot of coconuts at the garden. We have not only the taste of good coconut, but also the hospitality of the local and the special visit to such an authentic life style of Vietnamese Mekong Delta.

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On the way back, the surprise does not finish. We have low tide then we should have a short walk across gardens to the place our boat can pick us up. The beautiful sun beam makes our walking so adorable. And what is more, we end the walking at a local house where they make pickle lemon for Vietnamese drinking flavor, and we learn one more way of Vietnamese food, as well as interact more with local people.

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That’s a long day but it’s a great day of beginning the service learning experience in Mekong delta Vietnam.

Vietnam School Tour Mekong – Nature and Daily Life

Mekong Delta Vietnam is a so beautiful place with green nature and distinct daily life. The Vietnam School Tour Mekong is then the must do tour for groups coming to the South. Some of our programs includes community service project in Mekong, and that’s wonderful. We have full time integrating into the green beauty of Mekong, as well as touching the the culure of mekong people. This is also one of the poorest area in Vietnam, then the community services are true helps to change the lives of local people.

In some programs we have community services at other places, we also visit Mekong in one day. Then we can enjoy the special highlights of this land.

Mekong Delta in Vietnam is a land of maze of canals. The main river separates into 9 rivers like nine dragons in the local legends. Canals from those 9 rivers make lush beauty of the land. Boating into the canals in a Vietnam School Tour Mekong is great experience then. In this picture, students wear the conical hats which are a traditional hats of Vietnamese women.

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What can students see along the cruise at Vietnam School Tour Mekong ?

Firstly, among that background of canal life, students can visit the floating market which are places many boats gathering on the river to buy and sell and barter fruits and vegetables from their gardens. Students can learn stories of mobile lives on these boat, especially chidlren, which poor condition of education. Enjoying the amazing beauty of the floating market, students also get touched with the stories of lives.

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Seeing floating market, we need to sit on small boats going into the crowd of those thousand boats and see the bargain and exchange happen.

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Secondly, faces of children along the cruise make bright side of the experience. Among the poor houses with limited condition of living, we even see the most sparkling smiles. The happiness can be transferred from the poor children to our students.

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Thirdly, seeing life along the cruise is a better lesson than any in the classroom. We can see people do housework. We can see them do business. The exposure can be also hygen condition of life, family daily life activities, fishing from the river, ferries and the local etiquettes, etc. Those are real beauties that not any book of culture introduction can be better.

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Forthly, visiting local businesses in a Vietnam School Tour Mekong is an opportunity to understand more about locla life. In addition to having income from fishing, from rice farming, students can see how the local earn. Students can visit a brick factory and learn the whole process of making brick in Vietnam, especially with material and techniques from local experts.

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Experiencing Vietnam School Tours, students can eat alot of foods from rice, especially noodles. Visiting such a factory making noodle is also able to amaze students.

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How about popcorn? Do Vietnamese eat popcorn at cinema? We probadly don’t and we use rice instead. Visiting a family making poprice is also great chance to understand local snack. We can see how they we roast rice, how we process with a three generation business. We also can sit down and enjoy those beautiful sweeties among the atmosphere of Vietnamese house.

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Fifthly, Mekong canals are full of water cocot nut. Having a sampan rowing along these peaceful canals and being away from noise of modern life makes the most tranquil feeling of getting lost in nature.

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Sixthly, our Vietnam School Tour Mekong can stop at a locla house and enjoy folk music of Mekong people that has been acknowledged as Immaterialism World Hertage by UNESCO. We might not understand the lyrics of the songs, but we enjoy the melody as well as ways Mekong people act via scenes at the music show.

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Seventhly, we think visitting local house are of most discovery feeling for our students. We touch true local life and we meet cuties like in the picture below.

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Among our walking and cycling along trails at Mekong delta Vietnam, we can stop any where at a locla house and drink some very fresh coconut from them. We can relax but still discover daily life around, even just by endulging yourself into a hammuck and looking around.

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Ninethly, we have many challanges in Mekong and with friends around us, we can overcome those. Eating durian is an example of that. Imagine we visit a garden of durian and learn how they plan those. And of course we might be invited by the host the durian. And hahahaha…

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Last but not least, it’s so beautiful to interact with local kids.  Some are poor and some are better. However, they will come around with smiles. Though langguage can be a barrier but we believe cobversations are not big problems at all.

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Vietnam School Tour Mekong trip is of more things to discover. Don’t miss this when coming to South of Vietnam in your once for a life time trip.

Vietnam school tours Hanoi – the student trip to Oriental

One of our questions for our student trips is how to insert more the educational value to the visiting sites. Vietnam school tours Hanoi still make that with distinctive features for an Oriental city.

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There are many ancient temple and pagodas in the city and these are inevitably the destinations of our trips. Those are the authentic exposure of the special culture of Vietnam. We will visit some temples which are of strong impact from Taoism. This reflects the main ideology and life style of Vietnamese on Taoism. We also visit one or two pagodas of Buddhism which is the main religion in Vietnam. Students will have chance to listen to tour leaders to explain on the special features of the beliefs, the architecture of temples and pagodas. Learning things at sights at Vietnam school tours Hanoi like this will make students understand very well the special features of this oriental culture. Local tour leader are also experts in culture so students will gain impactful understanding on the day trip.

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Meeting and witnessing people coming to the temples and pagodas are also opportunities for learning about the culture. There might be little need of words of explanation from local tour leader. And combining with seeing the praying and conducting the ritual processes, students can have learn faster than reading a long book about Oriental culture.

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What are the really special features of Hanoi as compared to other Oriental cities? Your Vietnam school tours Hanoi will definitely take you to the mausoleum of Hochiminh, the leader of Vietnam at the wars. Students will have chance to visit his embalmed corpse. That’s a unique experience that you might not have chance to do it again in your life. Together with watching the changing guard parades, students can have a very true feeling on Vietnam.

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Visiting Hanoi Hilton is another aspect of educational travel. It is a part of a big lesson of war of Indochina and Vietnam War later on. Hanoi Hilton is a nick name of Hoa Lo prison. The nick name was made by US B52 bombing pilots who have been jailed here for a while before going home.

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What is more, your Vietnam school tours Hanoi could not miss a cyclo ride along the ancient streets of Hanoi. Cyclo is a kind of rickshaw which its driver is at the back of passengers. This no engine vehicle rolls on the colorful streets of Hanoi, bring a great close up to the local daily life Vietnam.

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Your Vietnam school tours Hanoi also have 60 minutes on a theatre to see a very typical culture show of Red River Delta people: water puppet show. The delta is constantly impacted by the flood very year. The water puppets are the games of local people to entertain among flood time. Moreover, the water puppet show tells the stories of Vietnamese histories, cultures and daily life. The music, the musical instruments, the voices of singer at the show make deeper discovery for students.

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Don’t forget small things at Vietnam school tours Hanoi like a walking along streets in the Old Quarter Hanoi and seeing a busy life around.

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Last but not least, the food makes big part in our Vietnam school tours Hanoi. We might eat at some restaurants with special history, and unique fishes. However, we always visit KOTO, a restaurant cooked and served by street children. This social enterprise collects homeless children and gives them accommodation, trains them English, trains them how to cook and to serve. Eating there is a simple way to encourage the children to join the good site of life. Students can have opportunities to gain a skill. They can also graduate and work at some famous hospitable entities in the city. The society has one better citizen, and it will have less one bad crime.

Our Vietnam school tours Hanoi has more things than this, as the city is so rich in culture and heritages. Join us as we always try to integrate educational values to our student trips.

Vietnam school tours Cuchi Tunnel – a live Museum of War

Cuchi Tunnel is one of the very special destinations of the world. It is  a kind of a museum of war of humand kind. Our Vietnam school tours Cuchi Tunnel is then an opportunity for students to understand the guerrilla warfare techniques. It helps students to imagine what happens at the war time, how the local people can live The extraordinary life in the tunnel is also a good comparison for students to their current happy life.

We start the day from Saigon in an early morning. The local people Saigonese have been poured to streets by motorbikes to their working places. After an hour of driving, we have get out of the city center and enter into the green color of Cuchi.

It’s not about rice farms. We have those in Cuchi but it’s not many. The land is too hard. It’s good for tunnel but not good for rice farms. The green color can come from vegetable farms or rubber plantations.

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Our Vietnam school tours Cuchi Tunnel stops by  a rubber plantation. We follow our project leader to discover the stories of the rubber tree, how and when and why to collect the latex. We really have chance to touch the rubber tree knowledge at fields. In some days we also can meet workers collecting rubber latex and their working is amazing to see.

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The next stop of Vietnam school tours Cuchi Tunnel is a local house where our project leader introduces us to the host. She makes rice papers to sell those to the village. The visit will make understanding that lasts long in the mind of students, especially when they come to an Asian restaurant later. Some students even can try to make some rice papers for a great experience.

The main part of Vietnam school tours Cuchi Tunnel is the tunnel of course. We enter the site of the tunnel and watch a short document movie about life at tunnel long time ago. A miniature and a map are also available for the project leader to have some brief introduction about the Cuchi tunnel place.

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We walk around a while to see the tunnel history from outside. We see entrances with special camouflages; we see air ventilation systems; we see bunkers; we see shocked bamboo traps for guerrilla techniques; we see tanks on the ground which have been damaged and stopped there since then. That’s a thorough introduction of the tunnel.

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We come to another section of the trip by get into the tunnel and start crawling like a Cuchi man long time ago. You might be afraid of little space, of darkness, or unwanted dangers from the tunnel. However, its is a special experience that you can’t not find it out where else.

The more you crawl, the tunnel get smaller. You can crawl from meeting room to living room, further to under ground hospital or even to a hidden kitchen. Getting to know the special techniques for surgery at the war time is also amazing. Futher crawling can lead to some bottle neck that is design for Vietnamese bodies only. It’s small but it’s a very unique experience when we should crawl by our belly.

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Getting out of the fear in the small tunnel, we can visit the outside of the kitchen and understand how they hide smokes at cooking. What amazing ideas to survive. We sit down and enjoy some typical food of Cuchi men long time ago.

We make some pictures of the Cuchi man display before getting to the bus. What a knowledgeable day!

Vietnam School Tours Saigon City – Value of educational travel

Our Student trips to Vietnam are not only for community service projects. They also come for experiencing the culture, the history and the life exposure of Vietnamese people. Join our Vietnam School Tours Saigon City visit. You will see why we are proud that every experience at Green Summers contains educational value to our young students.

The trip of Saigon city tour lasts one day. Our Vietnam School Tours Saigon City also visits the highlight of the city like Opera House, Hotel de Ville, Central Post Office, Saigon Notre Dame, Reunification Palace, some temples and markets. What is more, we make some walking to back roads of the city where the poor people live their real life.

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Have a look at this picture and see how students can feel how lucky they are at their life. We have visited a local house where many families at a quarter do the job at a family glass factory. They cook the broken glass to liquid and use a long tube to blow air and make jars or vases. The heat in a tropical country plus the heat from the oven makes the factory so hot. The local people should work there around 10 hours per day in that hot and dangerous environment six days per week. However, they are still of happy faces when we arrive.

The walking into the small alleys at our Vietnam School Tours Saigon City is not just a destination. We visit many houses with different interesting things to see, but transferring the same message that some places in this world people should work very hard, and that does not mean they are less happy.

You can see at another house like the picture below. Some ladies are not strong enough to work in a hot room of glass factory can do other things here. We walk further 4 house blocks and visit this lady.

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Walking further at the alleys we also see houses making incense sticks. We also see this man of rental delivery. He is there to carry any things needed by the local here like glass, incense sticks, tables, etc. He just stay there under the heat and wait for the opportunity. What a boring job! Nevertheless, he’s still a happy man.

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Our Vietnam School Tours Saigon City also arrive an orphanage where they care the children abandoned, handicapped, of no parents, or of victim of Agent Orange. The children there need not only food but love as well. We come, we play with them, we hug them, we feed them. We bring them extra care and love. We also donate some finance for the center to feed them. However, the time we spent for them is the most counted.

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In between the trips we have lunch at a local restaurant where we enjoy the best and the most typical food of Vietnam: Pho. We can have choices of beef, chicken and even vegetables.

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The Vietnam School Tours Saigon City has been run in a bit different way but is necessary to deliver messages to students about values of life. We believe that it’s the best way to run school tours for students.

 

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You should come and experience the special beauties of Vietnam, see different lives, and run community service projects by our Vietnam School Tours. Let’s have a look at how you will enjoy this trip with so that many values.

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Special beauties of Vietnam at Vietnam school tours

What will your see at your Vietnam school tours? Firstly that should be Hanoi as a distinctive Oriental culture city with special daily life, architecture and the famed Old Quarter. Taking a rickshaw ride along tiny streets of the Old Quarter should make real touch to this lovely city. Having dinner with the fish dish listed by Anthony Bourdain as the ten world best dish to eat in life is another impressive experience.

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Secondly that should be Halong with amazing cruise in the middle of isles. Do it and imagine you are in the movie King Kong Skull Island which is made here. The sleeping over night on a junk with your private room or trekking thru national forest on the biggest island should make special pages in your diary.

Thirdly that should be Sapa where you make trekking across villages of hill tribal people with different clothes, culture and languages. Indulging yourself into the amazing landscape of vast terraced rice fields of getting lost among a weekly market meeting of hill tribes will burn your camera as you will use it so much.

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Fourthly the place should be Hoian where students get touch to a live museum of lifestyle since 16th century, enjoying peace as well as cycling around to see traditional jobs of local people that have been existed for thousand years.

Fifthly visiting Hue and students can see architecture of ancient Vietnam Kingdom with its Oriental culture and science. Discovering the poor life of families living on the boats, or playing with children at some communities along the cycling routes to the countryside are the great memory of life.

Sixthly that is exploring Saigon with all its two fold beauties: the colonial corner with great building versus poor alleys with slum dog houses, the bustling markets versus the easy going of Saigonese, the peaceful streets versus the fierce pages of the history at the museums. The trip to Cuchi tunnel also a great opportunity to learn another angle of world history.

Last but not least, it’s Mekong delta where your Vietnam school tours should have boat trips along mazes of canals across tropical fruit gardens. Students can make cycling along small trails in the middle of vast rice farms and see local people working on the farms. And, never skip the floating markets where thousands of boats gathering on the water to merchandise one another.

Witnessing different lives at Vietnam school tours

Along our Vietnam school tours we often have some visit that either benefits the local people or students or both.

That can be a visit to an orphanage where handicapped children are brought up. Students can splay with children to bring love and care to them. That also can be a walking into special alleys of Saigon and witness the local people working very hard 60 hours per week. And they are still very happy people. Students also can have trips to local houses with special jobs like coconut jobs, rice paper making or pop rice making. The more experience can be a visit to rice farms, to gardens or to markets. These are just to show how some people works very hard and they are still happy people.

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Community service projects at Vietnam school tours

The community service projects are not always included in our Vietnam school tours. However, they are the special ones and best ones for students to gain special values for their maturity. The students will have 5 days staying at a homestay. They will eat local food. They wash their own clothes. They learn how to cook. They play games with local children. And especially they participate in building a work that benefits a community. Thru the community service project, they learn the value of adaptability, of communication, of no fear in a strange place, and of sharing their hands to help real poor people at a third world country.

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And of course the local people welcome them because community service projects will make their life a sustainable development. Then the Vietnam school tours is not just for entertainment only, but also for educational purposes.

These should be the great trips of your school life that will help to change you to a new person of maturity.

See some of ours community service projects we are organizing now.

CONTACT US FOR MORE ADVICES

Safety terms

Because safety is at top priority at Green Summer Campaigns, the following describes the steps we take to ensure our trips are safe and injury free.

Tool Instruction

Students are required to wear proper shoes when working at community project sites, especially when using heavy equipment. (Please see the picture on the right). The use of woolen gloves and helmets are advised, and sometimes required based on the project. We provide gloves and helmets and students should bring their own footwear.

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Emergency back-up plans.

When evaluating potential community service project sites, we carefully consider what resources are available in the event an evacuation is necessary. We only choose sites where hospitals and health care centers are nearby, and map how quickly we can arrive there. Chaperons and teachers will be provided a copy of these arrangements upon arrival.

Basic health and allergy information

Students must complete a form requesting basic health condition, which includes allergies and food preferences.

Other health and safety considerations.

Life jackets on boats: We often have boat trips along rivers and we always have life jackets on board.

Students are advised to bring plenty of insect repellent.

Green Summers provides luggage name tags and identification information to our front office so that any student can be located at any time.

Do you have any other concerns?

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Villages where we run our Community Service Programs

Every year, we add new destinations for our community service projects. We choose new locations based on the immediate needs of the villagers.

Current projects available now are:

BenTre – Mekong Delta Vietnam

Ben Tre is Vietnamese for ‘The land of coconut trees’, as 75% of villagers earn their livelihood by planting coconuts since the land can’t sustain a rice crop. During the Vietnam war, this area experienced much fierce fighting, and is one of the poorest places in the Mekong Delta.

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Bentre is also the name of the Province where the village of BenTre is located. There are many other districts nearby. While our community service project takes place in a very rural area, the village’s proximity to Hochiminh City makes it easy logistically for travelers to get to the region. It also facilitates the use of our service vehicles.

Beautiful canopies of coconut trees provide shade for us as we build roads and houses, and repair a school. The coconut tree canopy is a unique feature for this community project, and is a backdrop for the maze of canals that crisscross the village. The hospitability of the local people, who are so grateful for our help, cannot be beat. This – making this experience one of a lifetime.

If you think a community service project in Bentre is right for you, let us know.

Vinh Long – Mekong Delta Vietnam

Vinh Long is famous for being ‘The land of tropical fruits’. Hundreds of beautiful floating markets slowly wind their way down branches of Mekong River, sustaining villagers through the trade of tropical fruits.

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Our community service project in Vinh Long takes place within the tropical fruit gardens, and is punctuated by easy logistics, gorgeous delta views, interesting cultural experiences, delicious tropical fruits, and long boat trips following alongside the floating markets.

If you think a community service in Vinh Long is right for you, let us know.

 Tra Vinh – Mekong Delta Vietnam

Tra Vinh is another poor village in the Mekong Delta, and is home to the  Khmer people in Vietnam. Tra Vinh is also the land of Theravada Buddhism, and the countryside is filled with beautiful many pagodas of stunning architecture. The religious sects that live in the part of our country are different than others, but all live in harmony.

If you think of community service in Tra Vinh is right for you, let us know.

Don Duong  – Dalat the highland

Different from places along the river of Mekong, Don Duong is another village along the Mekong River, very near dalat city which is 1500m above sea level, making the weather cool and comfortable all year round. Don Duong is famous for being the home of the K’ho minority people, and exploring their unique culture is a real highlight of our trip here.

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Don Duong is also famous for huge plantations of vegetables, flowers, tea and coffee that grow here. The area is also known for its large pine trees, hand-woven fabrics, and the special wine made from jungle leaves. Our time in this area will be enhanced by experiencing the unique dance and music by the Gong people, acknowledged as a World Heritage treasure by UNESCO because the music has been passed down orally through thousands of generations.

If you think a community service in Don Duong is right for you, let us know.

Sia – small town by the citadel at Hue city – Central Vietnam

Sia is a peaceful and beautiful town surround by a large lagoon and situated 15 km from Hue, the place of an important citadel from the last dynasty in Vietnam. This picturesque area is perfect for anyone interested in photography, and its splendor has been captured many times by visitors.

The people of Sia give daily thanks to lagoon fishing and rice farming for sustaining them. The sandy land cannot support crops, so no real plant harvest exists, unlike other parts of our country where the land is very fertile. In addition, it often rains over 3000 ml a year in this part of the country, making it more difficult for business, travel and farming. These hardships make life is Sia challenging, and as a result the area is among the poorest in all of Vietnam.

Sia is one of the villages of the South nearest to the river that separated two parts of Vietnam before 1975. The village suffered greatly during the war, and there are many sad stories told by veterans about the war’s impact on the village.

The community service project in Sia will include a visit to the King’s citadel, boat trip on the river, visits to king’s mausoleum (the gates to a new heaven for the Kings), traditional music and royal dinners that were once only for the King’s families.

If you think a community service in Sia is right for you, let us know.

Khe Sanh – Quang Tri – DMZ Vietnam

Khe Sanh is famous worldwide for being the site of the fiercest battle during the Vietnam War, where tens of thousands of soldiers died. It was the biggest hotspot of the Demilitarized Zone, which marked the border separating the Communist North from the US backed South from 1954 until the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

A community service project here is a unique experience. There is little to see except endless desserts where rice can’t grow, the martyr cemetery (the home to thousands of unnamed soldier’s graves), and countless adults and children wounded by land mines. The poverty is almost unimaginable.

However, this stark area is a wonderful backdrop for students to experience what life is like for people less fortunate. Villagers here open their arms and hearts to us, as we are helping them make their dreams come true. This community service opportunity is very powerful emotionally.

If you think a community service in Khe Sanh is right for you, let us know

Regular Q&A

Project scopes

At Green Summers, we continually seek out new types of student community service projects. We carefully research new places, assess community needs and ensure that appropriate accommodations for our students are available before moving forward. We build risk assessment and evacuation plans, evaluate transportation options, consider traffic and safety and make sure the experience will be, above all, educational for our students. We develop multiple back-up plans in the unlikely event that something unexpected occurs.

Our project types vary from public construction that will positively impact an entire hamlet, such as building a bridge and setting a cement road to building a house for a poor family.  We build libraries to support educational goals, and improve sanitation by building toilets. Each trip includes ample opportunities to travel and experience the dramatic and magical Vietnamese countryside.

We carefully consider the ages of our student volunteers, their interests and physical labor abilities. We offer three group opportunities, each of which starts with 5 days of community service followed by several days of cultural and historical discovery and relaxing as compensation for our efforts. Our student community service opportunities are classified as heavy, moderate and standard levels:

Heavy Level Projects:

Green Summers creates heavy level projects suitable for anyone who loves hard work, is energetic and fit, and would to accomplish a huge amount of work that will exceed their imagination. Tasks for these projects include carrying mortar by the bucket under the tropical heat, cutting tons of steel into small pieces, flattening roads before paving and creating cement by mixing rock, sand and water into mortar. Examples of past heavy projects include:

Mekong exploration and community project: 5 days of hard work in the Mekong Delta followed by days of historical discovery and beach fun. Projects have included building roads, renovating schools, fixing houses and creating a bathroom where none existed for school children.

Community project with indigenous people and tropical beach: 5 days working in a highland setting and living nearby a minority people followed by several days of sightseeing, experiencing the local culture and relaxing at a beach. These projects have included fixing a bridge, and re-building water supplies.

A village South of Hanoi: 5 days working in a poor village nearby a national park plus visiting the , followed by a trip to experience the beauty of Hanoi, the colorful culture features of minority people and relaxing on Halong Bay, a spectacular UNESCO world heritage site of with geographical significance. Typical projects focus on rebuildinbg water supplies.

Community service in Centrale Vietnam: Perhaps the poorest land in a very poor country, rural central Vietnam has many needs. We can visit any number of sites, such as Sia, a village next to Hue City or Khe Sanh, the famous battle field at war time. The service includes 5 days of improving irrigation systems to support rice cultivation. The rest of the time is spent exploring valuable historical sites and enjoying traditional boat trips.

Moderate Level Projects: 

Moderate level projects include one or two days of hard work described above, but with more time for less strenuous in-door jobs like like painting, decorating, arrangement and instruction. Examples of previous moderate level projects include:

Creating a library: Transforming a room in a local school from nothing to an attractive and appealing library by adding a metal roof, cement, wood, paint and contributing your artistic abilities. Books are loaded onto the shelves, a book search system is developed and then we instruct students how to use the library and inspire them by reading in English.

Standard Level Projects:

Standard level projects are suitable for students who are not interested in manual labor but who have the energy and interest to contribute in other meaningful ways, such as transferring knowledge and teaching new skills for members of the community. These projects require students with great communication, social and interpersonal skills.

Raise the environmental awareness among a community: These community service project occur in National Parks, beaches or slums  where we have come to install rubbish bins, decorate buildings in disrepair, deliver brochures on environment issues and talk to the locals about reducing littering.

English teaching programs: We provide volunteers an opportunity to teach English to younger children, read stories, and inspire a love of education through enthusiasm.

Green Summers contributes all materials needed for our projects, organizes local volunteer labor and hires skilled local people to keep our projects running smoothly. Upon successful completion of a volunteer program, students receive a certificate for 40-100 hours of community service. And leave with memories that will last a lifetime.

Please email us if you would like additional detail about any of our