Game Organizers in the National Pediatrics Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam

  Vietnam

• Hanoi: 
Hanoi

Durations of Program: 3-6 months, 7-12 months and 1-2 years
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks
Dates: year round

Description:
* Organize funny games in English (with the help of Vietnamese volunteers) for children in the hospital's playing areas (such as: singing, drawing, drama performances, magic shows, etc)
* Prepare topics for games every day and volunteers are the people who are in charge of taking care of toys for children.
* Volunteers will train and perform plays together with children every month
* Volunteers also can have talking with children or they can read stories for them if they want.
* Help the children's families to take care of them.
* Help Vietnamese volunteers to build playrooms, play libraries.
* To act like an active volunteer not like an employee or an alternative tourist.

Highlights: The National Hospital of Pediatrics (NHP), where convenes many pediatrics patients from all parts of the country, specializes in treating pediatrics patients. The hospital consists of 22 departments, with the number of permanent treating patients amounting up to 1000-1200, aged raging from infancy to nearly 17 years old. The majority of them are afflicted with difficult-to-cure ailments, such as hematologist, nephrologists... Treatment time is often long, depending entirely upon patients' conditions, special cases may last over 5-6 years. Time spent in hospital can vary from 2 to 4 weeks. Most patients come from low-income class, parents working in agriculture sector, living rather poor life.

There are up to 300 patients who are in desperate need of regular assistance. During treatment period, the patients do not have access to learning or participating in common leisure activities. The hospital itself is deficient in organizing psychology-care activities for little patients. Although 7 recreation rooms have been successfully established, catering for patients of 22 departments, those are still lacking in facilities and toys, not meeting demands from patients. In addition, there are only 2-3 personnel on duty so once or twice a week are these facilities open to people in need. A majority of the children do not speak English.

Qualifications:
* Not to be too sensitive: the children are sick and some are going to die.
* Know activities, games, songs that children would like.
* Be able to create a friendly environment for the children and their parents.
* Have voluntary or professional experience with children and teaching.
* Love children, highly enthusiastic and responsible for work.
* Have abundant understanding about stories, games, songs and collective activities.
* Creative, self -organized and able to self-managed work without daily supervisor.
* Strong inter-personal skills and experiences in working with a wide variety of people, cultural sensitivity, etc.
* Commitment to volunteerism, considerable experience as a volunteer.
* Member of a volunteer organization if possible.
* Ready to live as local people (basic accommodation, transport by bus or bicycle, local food).
* Be flexible, imaginative, patient.
* Interested by learning basic Vietnamese.
* High motivation and ready to face with many difficulties such as language and culture difference, low budget, and etc.
* Experience in multicultural working / voluntary environment.
* Experience in taking care of children as medical student or educator is an asset.

Cost in US$: 300/month

Experience Required: no

Age Range: above 18

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Vietnam Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups of 5-10

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Online Application plus Application Assessment

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home
• Job and Internship Network

Solidarites Jeunesses Vietnam's Mission Statement: By developing International Volunteering, we aim to: 1. Work towards a society of justice, peace and solidarity. 2. Break cultural misunderstanding between people and nations. 3. Improve local and global environment, provide informal education, help to reduce poverty and strengthen human rights 4. Encourage young people to participate actively in the society in which they live.

Year Founded: 2004