Foreign Trade University - Faculty of International Education

On May 23rd and 24th, 2024, the Faculty of International Education, in collaboration with the Volunteer for Education, organized a volunteer trip in Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province. Joining the delegation this time were staff, students from the Faculty of International Education, and four interns from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

The group's first visit was Suoi Lon school in Son Thuy, Mai Chau district. Welcoming the group was teacher Dinh Thi Xuyen, an educator at the school. She shared that Suoi Lon school is a difficult school in the commune. The whole commune has a common school for both preschool and primary school levels. Due to difficult family conditions, as well as the weather, difficulty in travelling, students have difficulty going to school. Therefore, the volunteer group organized English teaching activities for children, in addition to a 0 VND Market to give gift packages including school supplies, candy, milk, and two bookshelves to the children, wanting to help them having better learning and living conditions.

Photo 1 + 2: International intern students are very eager to teach English lessons to children

Photo 3: The students were also very excited about the English lessons of the "teachers" from Canada

Photo 4: Taking souvenir photos of "teachers and students" in the volunteer English class

Photo 5: The children were very happy to be given meaningful gifts from the 0 VND Market

The group's second destination was Ban Lac 2, located in Chieng Chau commune, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province. This is a famous tourist destination of Hoa Binh, more than 700 years old and the original home of the Thai community in Mai Chau. The group met local people and talked about the homestay service business. Local people were very interested in hearing the delegation's suggestions to improve service quality. Moreover, the Group also participated in activities to improve facilities with local people here to contribute to improving the local natural landscape, with the hope of attracting more domestic and foreign tourists.

Photo 6: The Group participated in activities to improve local facilities

In addition to supporting activities to renovate facilities, the group participated in making traditional bamboo-tube rice to serve tourists. Under the guidance of local people, the group members were able to make their own bamboo rice dish, a famous specialty of the Northwest mountains and forests. The international interns were particularly impressed with the origins and preparation of this dish.

Photo 7: The international interns were very excited to make the traditional bamboo-tube rice while hearing local people discuss the origins of this dish.

In addition to volunteering activities, the trip involved interesting cultural experiences. The group members had the opportunity to visit and learn about the daily life of the Thai ethnic people, interact and experience the Thai ethnic spread dance, and see the traditional weaving profession of Thai people, all beautiful aspects of the local culture.

Photo 8: The group learned the Xoe dance of the Thai ethnic people

Photo 9: The group took souvenir photos throughout the journey

The volunteer trip and cultural experiences ended successfully, surely bringing good memories and meaningful experiences for the staff, students and interns of the Faculty of International Education.