Global Engagement: Preserving traditional handicraft villages

With the services provided by ABROADER, I felt it was really helpful how they picked me up from the airport and took me to get my accommodations and phone figured out. It would’ve been extremely difficult to try and figure that entire process out on my own. I don’t think there is anything that ABROADER could’ve done better. They gave me all the support I need to get through my Social Work Internship in Vietnam. My Internship in Vietnam was with the Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender – Family – Women and Adolescent (CSAGA), a non-governmental, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the rights of women and children who are vulnerable to violence and discrimination in Vietnam. It was pretty unclear at the beginning what was expected of me, however, I gradually figured out what was needed as the days went on. It was no problem at all. My supervisor was very sweet and so nice to me. She always asked me what I was doing on the weekends, and with my free time, and has offered me advice on different things about Vietnam. I felt that I was given everything I needed to perform my job here at CSAGA. My work seemed to be important to the agency since I did a lot of research for important proposals CSAGA was writing. The host organization had been very helpful and accommodating to anything I needed while here. They always asked if everything was going ok and if there was anything I needed to help make my time here more successful. I don’t think there was anything they could’ve done better.

What I love about my host company is the awesome supervisor, Ms. Lieu, that cares about me as a person. She frequently helps and supports me a lot in my work. Besides, the workplace was super close to the studio I stayed and I could walk to the company everyday. Though there weren't any windows in my room, it was totally fine. After the internship here, I think my ability to cope with unexpected situations has been levelled up and my interpersonal skills have been further developed. And most importantly, I could clarify my career and my educational goals in the future. Overall, I am satisfied with this internship as a whole!

Vietnam, from my experience, is a very work-oriented and relationship-oriented country. You must come prepared to work a lot, learn a lot, and you absolutely must not try to apply the logic or expectation that you would have in the West. This will do little to nothing to help you and will hinder your ability to learn. Come here with the mindset of a student, not an authoritative figure. There is much to learn in Vietnam that will be very valuable to you wherever you work or live, and it is important that you come to Vietnam with an open and unexpecting mind, so that when you go home you will have been able to learn, enjoy and apply your experiences to your future in a positive way. Come to Vietnam with the ability to motivate and add value to people’s lives. Set an example for people, and remember that you are at all times representing you country, university and culture, so make an impression that will stand out as a positive one. Make friends as much as possible and when you can try to study the language as much as possible, even if it is just the language that relates to your job. Doing these two basic things will make living and working here quite enjoyable.

I just wanted to say a Warm Thanks to the ABROADER team for creating an amazing experience for Zach. Kasia and your team went above and beyond and should be so proud of bringing the amazing experience of living in Vietnam to my son. Your buddy program was amazing and we met his Buddy several times. He even came to the airport at 7 AM this past Saturday as Zach left Vietnam. Zach learned so much about Vietnam this summer - about its amazing culture, food, how people live and of course Grab, and the crazy life of the traffic. This family has fallen in love with Vietnam.