The Vi?t Am Learning Service Program, organized by Volunteers in Asia (VIA) with the collaboration of Pacific Links Foundation (PALS), deserves special attention. VIA was founded in 1963 and organizes short- and long-term volunteer opportunities for Americans to teach English in Asia. PALS is a Vietnamese American non-governmental organization (NGO) that has been implementing the An Giang/  Ð?ng Tháp Alliance for the Prevention of Trafficking (ADAPT) program three years ago. ADAPT is a collaboration among three Vietnamese American organizations: PALS, the East Meets West Foundation and the International Children Assistance Network.

According to Lillian For-syth, the VIA Vi?t Nam director, the Vi?t Nam program was particularly successful at '"connecting volunteers with their country of heritage."' VIA created the Vi?t Am Learning Service Program in 2007 to meet an '"overwhelming demand"' by Vietnamese Americans to participate in VIA’s programs, especially its summer-long Teach-in-Hu? program.

'"VIA is committed to promoting cross-cultural understanding of people in the United States and in Asia,"' Forsyth said. '"This program works on bridging the gaps between the Vietnamese American communities here and the Vietnamese over there."'

Volunteering in Vi?t Nam

Over the summer, the Vi?t Am program sends approximately four to seven volunteers to An Giang province to teach English and help at local NGOs. Volunteers spend three to four weeks teaching basic English to middle and high schoolers in the ADAPT scholarship program and one week teaching American culture to university students at An Giang University. They also have the chance to help out at the Vi?t Nam office of PALS/ADAPT.

The middle and high school students are children who are at risk of dropping out of high school. ADAPT aims to prevent them from falling victim to human trafficking by offering education. An Giang province has one of the highest rates of human trafficking crime in the country.

The An Giang university students are training to become English language teachers. The VIA volunteers teach them about American culture and help them improve their conversational English. Some of the exceptional students also apply to be teaching assistants to a VIA volunteer. They work with the volunteers to develop lesson plans and coordinate classroom activities.

Teaching assistant Hu?nh Duy Thu?ng, a senior education major at AGU, said, '"We had a lot of trouble in terms of expressing our ideas to the class because we tried to use English in class instead of Vietnamese. However, the students were so lovely. We got along well with them… Outside the classroom, the TAs often had breakfast and dinner with the teachers so that we could understand each other better in order to cooperate well in class."'

Volunteers are charged with designing the English curriculum. In Vi?t Nam, PALS reviews and gives feedback on the curriculum. Forsyth also said that the volunteers learn from each other.

Unlike other VIA programs, the Vi?t Am program recruits Vietnamese American volunteers in particular.

'"PALS’ goal for the Vi?t Am program is to engage Vietnamese American volunteers in working toward a better Vi?t Nam, to expose them to the idea and practice of community development and NGO/social work in Vi?t Nam,"' said Linda Tr?n, ADAPT development officer. '"We want to foster a young Vietnamese American generation invested and committed to the development of Vi?t Nam and the advancement of Vietnamese people. Another important goal for the Vi?t Am program is for the volunteers to learn about trafficking issues in Vi?t Nam and to take this awareness and outreach to more people once back home in the States."'

Tr?n is also the on-site volunteer coordinator in An Giang. She said she finds her work rewarding because she gets to '"expose more people to trafficking issues and plant the seeds of community/social work in Vi?t Nam in young Vietnamese."' Moreover, she said that the Vietnamese American volunteers get to '"experience Vi?t Nam on a deeper level and are not merely tourists"' and the on-site PALS/ADAPT staff in An Giang get to interact with '"young, motivated Vietnamese Americans with enormous potential to help Vi?t Nam."'

The program begins at the end of June and last for about five weeks. For some volunteers, five weeks is not enough time. Tr?n said that some volunteers are frustrated because they are not able to help out more, which would require a deeper understanding of human trafficking issues.

VIA manages the program in the United States and has the primary responsibility for choosing program participants. PALS helps coordinate the volunteer program once participants are in Vi?t Nam. Tr?n said VIA keeps in mind that '"PALS desires to have volunteers that are open, genuinely interested in learning (about NGO/community work and trafficking issues) and/or are committed to Vi?t Nam."' PALS also reviews VIA’s list of selected volunteers.

Although the VIA and PALS offices are both based in California’s Bay Area, they accept applicants from all over the country. Last summer, there were volunteers from the Midwest and the East Coast, as well as California.

Forsyth said that the program is open to volunteers of all ages. Thus far, volunteers have been college age or recent college grads, but older volunteers are encouraged to apply.

The volunteers for the Vi?t Am program must have some knowledge of Vietnamese language. Those who apply for VIA’s other programs do not necessarily need to speak Vietnamese. Although teaching experience is preferred, it is not required. However, a demonstrated commitment to helping the Vietnamese American community is.

In 2007, the first year of the program, some of those who had applied for VIA’s Teach-in-Hu? program were asked to be in the first class of the Vi?t Am program. VIA funded the program that year with a surplus in its budget. Then Forsyth secured Ford Foundation funding to subsidize the Vi?t Am Program after its first year.

Although the program is largely funded by the foundation, college under-grads pay a $500 program fee and college graduates pay $1,500 program fee. This covers program training, orientation, emergency me-dical insurance, housing and ground transportation; it does not include vaccination, airfare, and food. Financial aid also is available. Volunteers have an option of staying longer in Vi?t Nam to travel, at their own expense.

This story is reprinted with permission from Ngu?i Vi?t Tây B?c.