Laos forum
Laos (Vietianne) or Vietnam (Hanoi) Orphanage
Laos (Vietianne) or Vietnam (Hanoi) Orphanage
Laos (Vietianne) or Vietnam (Hanoi) Orphanage
I'm looking at volunteering in an orphanage in either Vietianne or Hanoi for a week. Has anyone ever done this? Is it possible to just show up and ask to volunteer? If so, can you give me the name of the orphanage? What kind of things did you do? Thanks.
#1 dhessie has been a member since 18/10/2007. Posts: 1
Orphanage volunteering (or Orphanage Tourism) is a filthy business. It's just terribly stressing for the children to have new people every week and being forced to show affection to them. Here some other tips:
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2012/05/201252285116180430.html
#2 Suturn has been a member since 14/4/2012. Location: Italy. Posts: 28
Send Suturn a private message
Here in Mukdahan we have a school for the deaf. It's a resident school. Most of the kids are not orphans, but they do live in dorms far from home, often from poor families and the school does not have a lot of money for even basics. For my wife's birthday we bought lunch last year for the kids and I must say it was heartbreaking. They all wanted attention (there were hundreds of them), a number of the kids were hugging me and didn't want to let go. I agree having part time visitors, well meaning though they may be, is not necessarily doing the kids a whole lot of good.
#3 MADMAC has been a member since 6/6/2009. Posts: 6,957
Send MADMAC a private message
I'm with the crowd here -- please don't do it. Perhaps look into sponsoring a local employees wages at an orphanage or something if your intention is to genuinely help orphans.
#5 enday has been a member since 12/9/2012. Posts: 30
This is a very bad idea. Do you realise you need a work permit even to volunteer? Do you also realise that this is a very stressful experience for the kids; they meet someone and then after a week they leave. Please do not do this.
#6 Rufus has been a member since 22/4/2007. Location: Laos. Posts: 978
Send Rufus a private message
You need to be a Travelfish member to be able to add a reply to this post. Please use the button below to log in. After logging in you'll be returned to this page automatically to add your post. Not a member? Join up here.