Overseas volunteering takes you out of your comfort zone and challenges your expections! BOVA volunteer, Peter, has been at his placement in Vietnam for just over a month, and still working out which way is up! Here, he candidly shares his thoughts about the joys and challenges he's meeting so far, and tells us about the Salesian community he is living in, and the work being done with young people. In the photo above, the young people and community of Don Thuang are celebrating Spetember birthdays. Peter is on the front row, 4th from the left.

I should mention before you start reading about my experience here that I'm still in a confused phase where I often have no idea what is going on, as I have only been in Vietnam for about five weeks! 75% of the boys and girls living in the Community speak only a few words of English and I'm pretty sure they have absolutely no idea what language I'm using when I try to make conversation in Vietnamese. In contrast, the English spoken by the Salesian fathers, brothers and sisters is very good but much more variable. I could not for the life of me explain how to play World Football Stars 2013/2014 Top Trumps to one of the senior fathers, called Fr Nguyen, during a long taxi ride. Communication is difficult. Dong Thuan is an incredible place, with incredible people, but I'm very aware some of the opinions I have written below might only be half the story, and they may change in the coming months of my placement.

I am an 18-year-old Salesian Volunteer, and have just finished my A Levels. I decided to apply for a placement with Bosco Volunteer Action for around 10 months in the year before going to University. I've found a lot of this first term really tough. Having said this, I have to say there have been many events and experiences here that I've thoroughly enjoyed and I'm very grateful to be here.

The community

Dong Thuan is essentially a boarding community for children from all over Vietnam. The community provides a safe environment for around 200 boys and 25 girls aged generally from 14 to 19. The fees are at a minimum level and many types of scholarships exist in order that some of the poorest children can attend (about 30 every year). Some children are poor in a material sense, but others are orphans or have been excluded from other schools around Vietnam. Many have nowhere else to go for an education.

One particularly stark example of how poverty affects the lives of the children is during the sport events at the weekend. Every other Sunday, a team visits Dong Thuan for a game of football against our best 20 or so boys. There have been matches against nearby schools, other Salesian communities and once the police showed up for a game. I remember the first game I attended where it was absolutely pouring down with rain (it's currently rainy season in South Vietnam), so to say our uneven, grass pitch was muddy would be a bit of an understatement. The local school turned up in full kits, shin-pads and boots with metal studs. In contrast, the boys playing for Dong Thuan played barefoot, and any kind of shirt that was white counted as their strip. Our boys were sliding all over the place and I can tell you that the strips were certainly not white at the end of the game. We lost 3-0 but it was a miracle that none of our barefoot players ended up with broken ankles. Recently in different games some of our players have worn boots (once one guy had one foot with a boot and one foot without a boot) but in general most players play barefoot.

The education the community provides for the children

For five days a week the children are educated at the attached school and vocational training centre (Engineering, metalwork and mechanics for the boys. Sewing, hair and beauty for the girls). There is additional compulsory education every day that includes important aspects of life such as music, sport and prayer.

The students work hard at their academic studies for an important set of exams when they are aged 18-19. They are tested in writing, mathematics and either geography and history or physics and chemistry. After attending some of the classes during the school day, I’ve seen the physics they do involves more material than the A level physics course in the UK. There were problems they were solving in class that involved content that I have never looked at, despite taking physics for my A levels last year at school. The maths they do here incorporates almost all the core modules of our A level maths course and some of the core modules of the Further Maths course as well. But only 1 or 2 children every year from Dong Thuan are able to get into the Vietnamese universities, so most have to focus on their vocational skills to get a job when they leave. The Prefect of Study in the community told me almost all the children get jobs or go onto colleges (for higher education in vocational skills) after leaving Dong Thuan. The system works because it is the Salesian fathers, brothers and sisters who approach companies and find jobs for the students.

From what I’ve seen, the students get a really good education, but to keep the costs of their education as low as possible, they also share all of the chores. The children work half the day on Saturday and often do extra work on Sunday doing jobs to maintain the community, including farming food to eat, cleaning the buildings and feeding the animals.

The community environment is generally very positive, but the rules are strict. For example if you are caught fighting, you are not allowed to do sport for one month and instead must do work similar to that done on Saturday and Sunday. There is also a very rigid timetable that all students must follow, including Mass and rosary at the same time every day.

Expectations and preparation for teaching before arriving

One of the main reasons that I wanted to take a year out after secondary school before going to university was to help the poor. Part of my job description for my placement in Vietnam was to teach English in a mainstream education context. To be truthful, I had very little preparation for this. I don’t have a teaching English as a foreign language qualification, nor did I bring with me any resources besides two textbooks recommended to me by my Uncle. I imagined that I would encounter something along the lines of the school having their own syllabus and English-Vietnamese textbooks that I could use to plan lessons.

Realities regarding my teaching

On my first full day at Dong Thuan, I was told I was to start teaching the children the next day. I would teach as I saw fit, in a school classroom and with Fr Nguyen as my translator.

Unfortunately, the timetable was so tight that my lessons with the boys were (and still are) scheduled at the same time as their sport on the afternoon, rather than in the school day. This meant many boys have to choose between learning English and playing a sport not a difficult choice for most! Attendance at my classes is low and I miss out on the sport myself during the weekdays.

A harsh reality of the placement is that the children often simply have more important things to do than learn English with me - there is no final public examination in English. I only teach about 20% of the boys. After my first week of teaching, my lesson time was cut in half so they have more time for sport and play. Of course, this letter was terribly disheartening at the time. I currently have 1 hour contact time with the children each day for five days a week and I teach three separate groups (each group gets two or three 30 minute lessons per week). I also have one-to-one sessions with the fathers, brothers and sisters which I am enjoying.

I’ve asked the children why they want to learn English, but unfortunately only very few know enough English to answer that question. I’ve had interesting responses: because I want to travel the world, because I want to become a DJ, and the most unusual, because I want to become a YouTube Star. However, Fr Nguyen has let me know that my lessons are important, because the children are likely to work in factories in the future where some of the machinery has parts with English names. He said that anything that helps improve the pronunciation and listening ability of the children is worthwhile. I really appreciated him saying this to me.

The basketball team

How is the teaching going?

Initially, teaching was painfully difficult, and my first couple of lessons were simply terrible. However with the help of others back home, I’ve been convinced that helping the children learn about the English culture is just as important as learning about the language itself. Therefore by teaching English songs such as the Rainbow Song and heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, I can make my lessons more enjoyable and they are definitely much better now. I’ve also played a lot of the game twenty-one and I plan to have a few games of heads down, thumbs up in the future.

The response to my teaching these days seems to be either be quite good or a bit of a calamity, with no middle ground. My two most recent lessons probably sum this up quite nicely. The first was with a class of 25 boys. We were playing a game where teams of about four had to predict the weather around the world on that day using vocabulary I’d just taught them. I had researched the weather and whichever team got the most correct answers won a big bar of chocolate (I have stooped to bribing the children with sweets in an attempt to try to boost attendance). The students were really enthusiastic and I got a round of applause at the end of the lesson, which made my day. However, the next day I was teaching a class of 6 boys. I arrived at the classroom in the school and found no one was there, which was pretty awkward when Fr Nguyen showed up. When I went out looking for them I discovered that one of the other fathers was giving out free, delicious cake next to the basketball court for people doing sport. Naturally all my students were in the queue for the cake or enjoying it already nearby. After rounding up the boys and shepherding them back to the classroom, we ended up starting 12 minutes late for a 30 minute lesson. There was not enough time to fit in the work I planned so we ended up just revising previous vocabulary. At least they enjoyed the Milka chocolate I gave out at the end of the lesson.

Despite some of the catastrophes in class I’ve found myself really enjoying teaching when lessons go well. I have realised how much I love performing, and some of the students in my class can be so witty that they really make me laugh. I get on well and have fun with Fr Nguyen and we are becoming more effective as a team. From the beginning he has been willing to help me with anything at a moment’s notice. I am extremely grateful for the support he provides.

A metalwork class in Dong Thuan

What else can I do Dong Thuan?

What I can provide is my presence and commitment to Dong Thuan. With the children, I’m trying to pull my weight when it comes to the chores; I attend Vietnamese Mass every day with them and show up for their meals and parties. My favourite memories have come from cheering the children on in their art festivals where they perform in singing, dancing and music. They are very talented. I’m also learning to play the bamboo flute with them, join them for sport on the weekend and can now challenge them in Chinese Chess.

But I don’t want to mislead you and give the impression that I’m joining in with activities all the time. The children go to school during the day and the fathers, brothers and sisters are very busy, so occasionally cancel their one to one sessions. I’m afraid that sometimes the result is me finding myself in my room watching friends episodes on my phone and eating Milka chocolate. But often the work here is very intensive, so I do believe this kind of down-time is important.

Also it’s not as simple as equating being active to doing good work. For example, I once snuck in for one of the girls’ dance classes without realising they had quite an important upcoming performance. Since I have so little dancing experience, I spent the whole time getting in the way and annoying everybody. They were far too polite and shy to tell me to just go away. At the end of the lesson, one of the dancers made clear that she did not want to sit next to me that lunchtime.

Boys' Dormitory

Why were the realities of my placement tough?

I can hear many of you thinking that I’m living a life of Riley and I must be having a fabulous time. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live in a beautiful and interesting country, with extremely friendly and kind people, all at the cost of just around 2 hours teaching every day.

Truthfully, there have been some experiences I’ve had here on some days that I’ve enjoyed so much and I know I couldn’t have had anywhere else in the world. The fathers, brothers and sisters here are so kind and complimentary that they can also very easily make my day. However, if I’m honest, there have been some days that I haven’t enjoyed at all, and it’s not easy to articulate why.

It might partly be guilt. I received a ridiculously wonderful welcome when I arrived, with people cheering and applauding me. I’ve been given my own en-suite room, whereas all the children sleep in huge halls containing about 50 bunk beds. The fathers, brothers and sisters are keen to show me around the city by motorbike and give me a taste of the delicious local food. Again, this may sound great (and often it is), but it made me feel just ashamed in the first couple of weeks when my lessons were not going well. It still makes me feel guilty sometimes when I spend too much time relaxing in my room or I make mistakes whilst spending time the children.

Maybe it’s also just my ego taking a hit - I really had to rethink my expectations about how much impact I could make whilst on placement. In particular when it came to my contribution as a teacher but also as an influence on the poor children living in the community. The work I do is very different to that of the Salesians. They speak Vietnamese so can talk to the children about their problems and really build such strong relationships with them. This is not possible for me. I remember several occasions where children have said to me “I miss my family”, which is maddening when they don’t understand when I try to talk to them about it. I came to Vietnam with the intention to try and do many good things for the poor here, but my placement is by no means a shortcut or pass towards this sort of thing.

With the benefit of hindsight, reducing my contact time with the children was sensible. I’m only 18 with very little teaching experience behind me so my lessons need a lot more work. I currently have the opinion that spending time in the presence of the children is more valuable than the English they pick up during my lessons. Life here is certainly getting a little bit easier for me every day which means I’m having more fun. My lessons are improving and my relationships with the people are getting stronger. I’ve definitely developed a healthier perspective on my role in Dong Thuan.

What else encourages me in Dong Thuan?

Probably like most places which cater for large groups of young people, one of the most hilarious and also impressive aspects about them are the children themselves.

One particularly impressive character in Dong Thuan is Hung, a boy who is such a talented musician and specialises in shuffling and singing pop songs - so naturally his English is pretty good. He can play his favourite song, Luis Fonzie’s Despasito, on the box drums, the bamboo flute, and melodica (which is basically a piano attached to the side of a flute). He’s also on the basketball team and recently I went to watch the team play Cai Lay, another Salesian community. On the bus to the game, Hung was making me laugh because whilst other players were getting some sleep or psyching themselves up, he was taking pictures of himself on his iPhone. I jumped in on one of his photos and was interested to see his reaction. He told me it was a beautiful photo and that I was not to worry, that he would “put on Facebook”, and to him that’s a big compliment. He’s known to be a very kind person.

Another impressive person I’ve met here is called Cam. She’s the first girl in the history of the school to be doing technical skills (mechanics I think) with the boys. On the day I arrived at Dong Thuan she sang an entire English song in front of me and all the girls. She’s from one of the poorest backgrounds in the community so is benefitting from one of the scholarship schemes. When I asked why she studies mechanics, she said that she would use her skills to help her family back home. Her English is amongst the best of the children, so I’m afraid she spends most of my lessons doing work for other subjects!

Maybe only 10 children here speak enough English for me to have a conversation with- including the two I’ve just mentioned. What is sometimes trying is that I cannot find out very much about any of the children who don’t speak good English. I really hope in the coming months communication will get a little easier and I’ll be able to find out a bit more about them.

Conclusion

I must apologise to anyone who skipped the massive overload of information for some sort of conclusion because I’m afraid I haven’t got one. This experience has been crazy for me! Right now though I am glad I have got through the very tough bit at the beginning and have kept going. I am excited about the coming months where I can hopefully tell you about some nail biting games of World Football Stars Top Trumps.

Thanks so much to everyone for all the support,

Peter Hampshire

October 2017

BOVA is a volunteer group of the Salesians. It offers opportunities to adults (18+) to live and work with Salesian communities around the world, assisting in their work with young people while experiencing life outside of the UK. Placements last between one month and two years. If you would like to find out more about serving as a Salesian volunteer overseas, visit the BOVA website or email BOVA.

Peter received a bursary from the Catenians to support his overseas volunteering experience with BOVA. Find out more about Catenian bursaries, offered to support young Catholics to take part in projects to help others.