Marketing for Social Enterprise
Vietnam • Summer & Fall 2022
If you are planning a weekend get-away from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, the breathtaking long-seated gem known as Van Phuc Silk Village should be put to the top of the must-visit destinations. Sophisticatedly embellished with serene ponds and temples with wooden silk weaving machines and stores, Van Phuc Silk Village charms its way into a hotspot attracting not only local residents but also foreigners to have a deeper insight into thousand years of Vietnamese culture as well as critical social changes that each puzzle of Vụn Art are making here.
Vụn Art is a social enterprise that employs individuals with disabilities to create art from recycled silk scraps. These artworks take inspiration from traditional folk painting themes embedding the soul and practice of Vietnamese people. In 2018, Vụn Art was born out of Mr. Cuong’s belief that people with disabilities like him deserve the opportunity to demonstrate their value to society and change societal outlook on unfortunate people in the process.
As a newly established organization, they might face numerous challenges to thrive domestically and globally due to a lack of human resources specializing in business and communication. Having recognized this dire need for supporters, three Northwestern students in the U.S.A that are Joshua Anderson, Ari Mostow, Jiayi Shen, and two local buddies Ha Anh anh Thao sent from ABROADER joined forces together to put the name of Vụn on the map.
On the first week of work, standing in awe of the picturesque landscape of Van Phuc Village and guided by their supervisor – Mr. Cuong, young interns toured around different segments to gradually form the ideas of key goals that should be achieved by the end of their internship. One of them is to create professional business presentations in both English and Vietnamese which Vun Art can use for future business meetings and tutorial videos for educational/interactive art products.
Approaching that matter, students eagerly talked to villagers and artists to dig into the beauty of traditional silk weaving and the process of making such artistic products. As Joshua remembered vividly on the day of being facilitators for Vun’s workshops, he thought that the work appeared easy as a piece of cake; nevertheless, he confessed that he kept having his fingers stuck with glue whereas the disabled artists instructed participants very smoothly. At that moment, he realized how unprepared he was and he truly admired the quality of their works when they underwent the scrupulous steps of turning silk scraps into art.
To Ari – an enthusiast for learning Vietnamese shared that
“I felt amazed when being able to see how actual work was done and conversing daily with villagers made me feel connected and belonged. Moreover, the people of Vun Art, Thao and Ha Anh were super friendly and willing to help me discover Vietnamese culture.”
Indeed, when coordinating among team members, communication is the KEY. Therefore, with the active engagement of two local buddies, one of their targets was ticked and the package materials for business slides of Vun Art were well-polished. Besides, the articles that these youthful interns wrote for promoting Vun Art will be published and translated into 5 languages by UNESCO, British Council and Hanoi People’s Committee in October. Reading their group’s writing and presentations, we can see how their work was beautifully done as it strongly delivered the message that the obstacles in mobility cannot deter incredible artists of Vun Art from moving forward on their terms with diligence and endless source of will and creativity.
Unfortunately, little do major organizations or social enterprises know about Vun’s mission. Therefore, Ari, Joshua & Jiayi decided to create a system for following up on future partnerships. More specifically, a database of potential partners for Vun Art, including information about the background and ideals of the potential partners, and a detailed record of channels of communications have been established.
As emailing is one of information exchanging approaches thanks to its professional features; however, sometimes interns may encounter the issue of time-efficiency. To solve that matter and apply a more time-saving method, calling might be suitable to reach out to likely partners such as local art centers, hotels or even embassy centers. In the end, a promising collaboration between the US Embassy and Vun Art on upcoming projects has been reached. More specifically, the U.S Embassy confirmed their tote bag deal with Vun Art for their 25th anniversary between the U.S.A and Vietnam. All the tote bags, following recycling philosophy, will be printed with patterns in the form of scraps. Those seemingly discarded pieces, under the meticulous work of Vun artists, are now transforming into useful accessories serving as the remembrance of friendly cooperation and something connecting people of the two countries.
By the middle of August, the internship also came to an end, and the puzzles of hope, harmonious teamwork and cross-cultural partnerships have found their way to fit in the picture of Vun Art. Ari, Joshua, Jiayi and two local buddies that are Ha Anh anh Thao have successfully spread the belief and guiding philosophy of Mr. Cuong, which is to help as many disabled people as possible, and promote culture and resource conservation. As the role of educators, ABROADER and Global Engagement Studies Institute are glad to observe students’ growth and their contribution to local community development. Hopefully, Vun Art’s mission will continue to inspire more people to embrace the beauty in fragments and puzzles of Vun will never cease to extend that mission far and beyond.
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Featured educators
“Working with ABROADER has been a delight; their partnership in building a program that works for both our model and local realities has been top notch. Over the last few years, we have worked closely together to open a new location for Northwestern’s Global Engagement Studies Institute (GESI) in Hanoi. This eight-week program sends small groups of Northwestern students to intern directly with community-based organizations in Hanoi to partner on work prioritized by the host organization. ABROADER builds and maintains relationships with a wide variety of organizations that are passionate about their missions, as well as hosting students.”
COREY ANNE PORTELL
Northwestern University, United States
Senior Program Manager, Global Engagement Programs, Global Learning Office
Featured educators
“I thank you for your warm greetings ever since my first visit to Hanoi in 2015. We mainly deal with study tours for Japanese university students, but it is not unusual for students to go abroad for the first time. In an environment where individualized care is required for such students, sincere support has always been provided. Also, seeing our students interact with local students and host families in English, which is not their native language, allows for communication from the heart, which extends beyond just language. That experience has led to their confidence, and this is always touching. All of this is thanks to the pre-training of local students and host families and your efforts as a team.”
YUKO TAKAMOCHI
Ryugaku Journal Inc., Japan
Corporate Sales Manager, Private Organization for Overseas Education
Featured educators
“ABROADER has an extensive industry network that they utilise to provide the students with industry tours relevant to their classroom work. They have well established links to a number of Vietnamese Universities and use them such that coordinated activities and learning experiences are shared between Vietnamese students and students from Newcastle. ABROADER also maintains a local buddy system which providé an amazing insight into the Vietnamese people and culture. Students from Newcastle also appreciate the culture and volunteer days, not only as a break from their classroom studies, but as a learning experience as well as a chance to give a little back to Vietnam.”
JAMES WELSH
University of Newcastle, Australia
Associate Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computing
Featured educators
“For many years, ABROADER has been my trusted partner when I send my students to Vietnam. From ABROADER’s vast network of relationships with great industry leaders to their ability to pair students with local buddies, ABROADER ensures that my students gain a learning experience of a lifetime through deep immersion into the local businesses and culture. In helping with getting my students’ visas processed and from a risk management perspective as well, their team is reliably efficient, thorough, flexible, and highly professional. My heart-felt thanks to Lucy Nguyen and her excellent team for all that you do for my students!”
PROFESSOR LYNN IMAI
Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada
Counsellor & Coach | Global Leadership Expert
Featured educators
“I would like to thank you for your leadership, guidance and support of our pre-service teachers. Your thorough planning, preparation and attention to detail, along with your outstanding leadership during this professional experience, ensured that it was a great success for all concerned. The experiences that you enabled our pre-service teachers to have, and the relationships that you have built with collaborating schools, are vital to the work of the Faculty Education at Monash University. Your wealth of knowledge and experience in supporting the organization of quality International Professional Experience for our students is highly appreciated and valued.”
DOCTOR REBECCA COOPER
Monash University, Australia
Senior Lecturer
Featured educators
“I was part of the Ohio University Global Engagement team that visited Vietnam in 2019. Lucy and her team made the trip a never-to-forget trip. Though we were a bunch of faculty and staff, not the usual exchange students that ABROADER handles, they still were there for us. From the stroll in the central market of Ho Chi Minh City, boat-ride down the Mekong Delta, interaction with local business leaders and university faculty – ABROADER did an excellent job! When it comes to groups, exchange students, study-abroad students’ trips to Vietnam intending to have an authentic worthy Vietnamese experience, then without a shade of doubt, I would recommend ABROADER!”
GREG-VICTOR C. OBI, PH.D.
Ohio University, United States
Professor of Business Management Tech – College of Business
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