The Thanh Loc Project was born out of the desperate need for education and basic standards of living experienced on a visit to the Thanh Loc commune in southern Vietnam some years ago. Thanh Loc commune is a very poor area where many children do not have the opportunity to go to school due to lack of financial resources or the dangers of crossing the volatile canals on nothing more than a piece of floating wood or plastic.
Cheryl McKenna from our office has been and is personally involved with supporting this project and we’d like to help her share the message and promote these extremely worthwhile opportunities to enrich the lives of these people, and your own at the same time by participating in one of these life-changing trips (see below information).
One way in which we deliver our projects is by putting together teams of interested people to travel to Kien Giang and assist with the manual unskilled labour of a small infrastructure project. These trips are a life changing experience for everyone involved and the friendships made with other team members and the local people we are there to help are rarely forgotten.
Each volunteer trip consists of two weeks in Vietnam, including:
- Time in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), exploring the sights, markets, restaurants, and other places of interest
- Numerous grass roots cultural experiences, both in Ho Chi Minh City, Kien Giang, Rach Gia and the local poor communes
- Building for 4-5 days in Kien Giang Province (southern Vietnam province bordering on the Cambodian border), then 2 days rest and relaxation, then building for a further 4-5 days
*** Please note that where our teams work are not accessible by tourists or the general public, in addition, many of the experiences arranged on these trips are again not accessible by tourists or the general public. We have built very good relationships with all levels of Government over many years which enable us to have access to these places, which are usually quite sacred, remote, basic and protected areas of Vietnam, and they are quite different to what you will read in a typical tourist guide about Vietnam.
The costs of the trip is $3,900.00 when flying from Australia (an adjustment will be made for those travelling from outside of Australia to allow for international flight costs). This cost includes all international and domestic flights within Vietnam, all transfers, buses, boats, rest and relaxation, all accommodation, all food, all water, basically everything that your require from the time you leave Australia (or other country) until the time that you return. The cost does not include passport costs, VISA costs or travel insurance.
We are looking to hear from anyone who is interested in joining our projects. Although the work and atmosphere is physically and emotionally challenging, we all find a task that is suitable to our ability. There is a limited number of people per team and age or physical ability is no barrier.
Our volunteer team programs for 2017 have vacancies. If you are interested in, and would like to find out more, please do not hesitate to email Rod Stone on rodneyfstone@yahoo.com.au or visit www.thanhlocproject.vn
Next trip: 25th March – 8th April 2017
Another trip in September (Dates to be confirmed)
