Pacific neighbours lend a helping hand
VietNamNet Bridge - From helping out on the farm, to teaching in schools, and working in hospitals, volunteers coming to the country work long hours for little pay, but make a whole lot of difference.
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Local and foreign volunteers work on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. As many as 90 youths from countries like Belgium, France, the UK, Cuba, Holland and Spain took part in the project, with half of them women. |
When Kimura Atsushi was 14 he saw a Japanese volunteer helping African villagers dig a well on TV. From that moment, he knew he wanted to dedicate his life to service.
“Seeing the volunteer and the local people working together through the difficulties of searching for water really moved me,” Kim said, remembering the first time he learned about the A volunteer demonstrates her skills in calligraphy during the Japan festival in Hoi An ancient township this year.
Japan Overseas Co-operation Volunteers Programme (JOVC).
Eighteen years later, Kim, is a full-time volunteer helping ethnic minorities in Hoa Binh Province’s Cao Son Commune create organic fertiliser to grow safe vegetables. Kim is also assisting locals find a market for their organic projects.
“Now local people know about the demand for safe organic vegetables and they are beginning
to think of ways to meet that demand,” said Kim.
Vietnamese and Japanese youths clean Tran Phu Street in Da Nang City. The activity was held while many Japanese youths visited the city earlier this year.
In the past, the Muong and Dao ethnic people in the area mainly grew vegetables primarily to feed their families, but now they are increasing their household incomes by selling excess produce.
Kim and two other volunteers have also helped people make their kitchens more efficient and hygienic, installing biogas stoves fuelled by cattle dung and educating them about the clean water project, which is funded by the Japanese government.
Volunteer Kimura Atsushi teaches ethnic minorities techniques on growing organic vegetables in Hoa Binh Province.
Kim has even spent part of his meagre US$300 per month stipend to buy seedlings, rice bran and other raw materials to create organic fertiliser for farmers. He spends the rest on food, water, electricity and transport.
The JOVC was created to send Japanese volunteers with technical skills to assist local people in developing countries.
Since the programme was instituted in Viet Nam in 1995, about 200 Japanese volunteers have worked with locals in areas such as education, martial arts, gymnastics, agriculture, cattle breeding techniques, medical Volunteer teachers and students from Kincoppal-Rose Bay high school in Australia fix up classrooms in Hoa Binh Province. The task was part of a programme to help some mountainous schools in the province polish their facilities. They also contributed nearly VND60 million to purchasing equipment, tables and chairs for a kindergarten in the area.
care, nutrition and construction.
There are currently 54 Japanese volunteers working in cities and provinces across the country.
Viet Nam has also received volunteers from the Korean International Co-operation Agency (KOICA), the German Development Service (DED) and the United Nations.
Over 20 of the 600 international non-governmental organisations currently working in Viet Nam specialise in volunteer work, including the Australian Volunteer Institute (AVI), the Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) and the English Language Institute (ELI).
When organisations began sending volunteers to Viet Nam in the 1990s, they mainly focused on teaching foreign languages at universities. However, since 2000 a number of dedicated volunteers have been involved in many areas of the country’s development.
In many cases, volunteer stipends are barely enough to cover the basic cost of living. Many even ask for assistance from their families.
“All volunteers, are enthusiastic and responsible,” said Deputy Director of the Foreign Economic Relations Department Hoang Viet Khang. “They want to contribute to the development of Viet Nam.”
Devoted friends
One of this dedicated bunch, Yoko Nishimura, is currently working as a physical therapist at the Cho Ray Hospital.
When Yoko first came to Viet Nam a year ago, she was surprised to see that the rate of people suffering traumatic injuries to the brain, spine and extremities in Viet Nam was much higher than in Japan. The hospital where she works is overcrowded and Yoko is always busy, usually treating around seven patients a day.
The young doctor shows her patients how to increase movement and reduce swelling through massage and manipulation. Though she speaks little Vietnamese, Yoko also tries to show them the correct way to exercise without further injuring themselves.
She hopes that physiotherapy in Viet Nam will receive more attention to improve the current condition of overcrowded hospitals, she said.
Although Yoko is only halfway through her two-year work term, she wants to stay in Viet Nam and help care for patients.
“I am a doctor so I feel that I understand their pain,” Yoko said.
Eto Rieko was a primary school teacher in Japan for six years before she came to Viet Nam last year to work as a volunteer teacher.
She views the education of the country’s children as a vital way to create more open-minded individuals, who can learn to express themselves through singing, dancing and other creative activities.
For this reason, Eto teaches physical education to children at the Ninh Son primary school in Bac Giang Province. She helps her students learn important skills like co-operation and teamwork though sports and active games.
Her enthusiasm usually means she can be found running alongside her students, joining them in their games.
“I feel that there is no distance between us,” said a 11-year-old Doan Vinh Hai, one of Eto students. “I always look forward to her class.”
The school’s deputy principal Chu Thi Luong said that Eto has set a good example for other local teachers in terms of her enthusiasm and closeness with the students.
Chairman of the Viet Nam-Japan Friendship Association Nghiem Vu Khai said Japanese volunteers are ambassadors for their nation. They want to teach others about Japan’s language and culture.
Khai said the association is considering a plan to award certificates of merit to volunteers in recognition of their contributions to the development of Viet Nam.
(Source: VNS)
Update from: http://english.vietnamnet.vn//features/2008/12/816798/
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