Global Engagement: Preserving traditional handicraft villages

No words can represent how much experience I have gained throughout my internship in Vietnam. Working at my host company as a research assistant, I have gained many technical and soft skills, such as participating in lab undergraduate training courses, doing lab testing services and also learning the culture of Vietnam with the Vietnamese people. After this internship, I realized that I could adapt myself to a different and foreign environment. This enables me to be able to work with a more diverse environment, even with colleagues with different background and knowledge. This pushes me as an employee to learn and work even harder to cope and manage with different people and adapt accordingly to the needs of the company. All in all, I feel that it was a breathtaking experience for me to have this opportunity to immerse myself with the Vietnam culture with the Vietnamese people, and I am really thankful to have taken up this internship experience with ABROADER for letting me experience such a new life. The funniest moment I had during my internship experience was that I had to CHASE down a bus when I was on the way to work. It was a really funny one as I have this mindset that the buses in Vietnam would wait for you to board before it starts to drive again. However, the bus did not even stop moving and kept on driving, and left me behind the bus stop. Since that day onwards, I ensure myself not to miss the bus by chasing the bus down before the driver closes its door on me. Thank you ABROADER for this memorable experience!

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!

The host school was very welcoming and friendly, provided me with plenty of opportunities to interact with different year levels and observe classes, very keen on showing me Vietnam and making me comfortable. The teachers that we got to work with were very supportive – very kind and supportive! They welcomed us into their community and provided us with numerous opportunities to be in the classroom and teach. We get to receive feedbacks from teachers after the classes and it really helps a lot for us to make progress and improvement. I am also very grateful for the local buddies that support us throughout the program, they are all very kind and helpful.

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.

Words cannot describe how much I gain from this internship. The time here has been productive, meaningful and of course an unforgettable one! When I first came to Ho Chi Minh City for the internship, I was overwhelmed by the culture difference. To the roads packed with motorcycles to the food, everything was different for me. Honestly, I thought it would be very hard for me to adapt to the culture in Vietnam, however, ABROADER provided us with a lot of support! They have local buddies that bought us around Ho Chi Minh City, teach us their culture and are very open and happy going! They even brought us to grocery shopping which we needed desperately! What’s more, they gave me an internship in one of Vietnam’s top IT outsourcing companies! The team was professional, always looking for ways to improve and welcoming! They always try their best that I am doing great! Thank You ABROADER!