Volunteer Travel for Families in Vietnam

Bond with your family while you teach through example

Introduction

As travel increasingly becomes more about experiences and less about transient sight-seeing, volunteer travel take off as the hottest new travel niche of the 21st century. Here we’d like to break a myth that volunteer travel is only for the teen and millennial generation. It is also for families who want to take the time to bond together on holiday, while making it a meaningful and wholesome experience for all.
So if you are planning a family holiday, then why don’t you make it an unforgettable experience for all, combining it with volunteering? A handful of immersive experiences with locals, days filled with volunteering activities, fun-filled hours of sight-seeing and lots of “together” moments – the perfect recipe for family travel of a lifetime!
As more and more families choose to volunteer abroad as a way of experiencing a new country while giving back to the local community, IDEX has become the ideal provider of affordable family volunteer vacations for those looking for the perfect way to holiday abroad while helping make the world a better place.

Why Volunteer travel for Families?

Still not convinced and wondering whether your kids would be bored? Having second thoughts about not making it an R&R holiday? Curious to know how you would benefit as a family?
Then, read on, and find why family volunteer travel is the best thing in a digital era where families do not get to spend quality time together. Family Volunteer Travel helps to
  • Bond as a family, as you share meaningful experiences with your children and your partner.
  • Create beautiful experiences that you can cherish as happy memories when you look back years down the line at some of the best days you spend together.
  • Teach your children on-the-go, for every experience during volunteer travel lends an opportunity to teach one another through the real-world instances.
  • Teach through example – for what better way to teach your child the joys of giving than by setting an example with your volunteering?
  • Learn from each other positive life lessons – While the simplicity of your children and their innocent outlook helps to take away some of your jaded perspective of life as you notice all the little things that give joy to your kids, your children, in turn, learn from you how to handle responsibilities and provide their best efforts to the volunteering..
  • Spend quality time together to give an added dimension to your family vacation without the 24/7 intrusions of social media and devices, of which, bothus parents and children are guilty.
  • Being away from the comforts of your home or luxury hotel can help your children learn that living a quality life is more than materialism. It can also be about great cultural and travel experiences, and the joys of giv- ing to the community or environment.
  • Inculcate values in your children, that make them better citizens of tomorrow
  • a sense of gratitude for what they have, when they see those less fortunate than themselves,
  • the humility that comes with every volunteering activity,
  • tolerance towards ways of thinking and living that are foreign to them that goes a long way to help them in future,
  • caring for another person, especially the underprivileged and handicapped,
  • the generosity of spirit, by getting into “the habit of giving” during the tenure of volunteering,
  • kindness to people, children and animals,
  • respect for the environment.
  • Boost your child’s self-esteem and confidence, as they go about their daily volunteering activities with you as parents to guide them along the way. Volunteering helps children see that they have the power to make a change in the lives of others, beginning with a project, and later on in more significant ways.
  • Instil soft skills in your children that help build the foundations of a secure future in their careers
  • problem solving,
  • patience and perseverance, as your children learn to cope with various situations that they may be unprepared for,
  • teamwork as they work in a team on the given volunteer project.

How we do Family Volunteer Travel

Our focus is on giving you a wonderful family holiday while providing you with many opportunities to bond through volunteer activities and sight-seeing excursions. We understand your needs to be together as a family while wanting to give to the local communities and the environment your time and efforts. So we endeavour to pack in fun-filled moments as well as cultural encounters and volunteer activities that make a difference to lives and the environment.
  • A balanced mix of volunteering and travel experiences.
  • Meaningful activities for children based on their age or interest.
  • Very young children and teenage kids to join their parents in the projects.
  • There is an option to enrol older children at a local school for the duration of the program, for exposure to learning methods, culture in a foreign land and of course to make some friends.
  • Cultural pursuits that filled with new experiences and fun remembered for a long time afterwards.

Such as -

  • Learning to cook the local cuisine
  • Participating in activities that are a part of the daily lives of the locals
  • Meeting local families and interacting with the members
  • Taking native language lessons
  • Attending dance, craft, and art workshops that reflect the foreign culture

Two models of Family Volunteer Travel.

Mostly Travel Some Volunteering

You can volunteer for 3 or 4 days, working on a simple project such as building a library or painting a school. Spend the rest of the time in exploring the local attractions and landmarks, as well as experiencing the destination as in safaris or monastery visits.
  • This model of volunteer travel is recommended for
  • Families that want to see more of a destination as well as relaxing and spending time together.
  • First-time visitors to a foreign land.
  • Families that want to introduce their children to the concept of helping others and honing their social and personal skills.

More Volunteering, Essential Travel

You can stay mostly in one place, for a more in-depth volunteering project with a focus on bonding and working as a family.
More Volunteering, Essential Travel model is recommended for:
  • Families where parents want to instil deep values and skills in their children.
  • Families that want to spend more time together for bonding.
  • Families that are seeking relaxation and personal time.
  • Those who want to see some key highlights of the destination, during their volunteering abroad.
  • Families who are more keen on profound cultural encounters during their volunteering.

Tailored Accommodation

Different accommodations and surroundings are provided for different preferences and budgets considerations.
  • A wide choice of stay is provided, ranging from accommodation with local families (less expensive) to 5-star luxury resorts.
  • Different experiences are combined on the same trip for enriched travel and holiday experience.

Tourism level facilities and services

Well-established regular tourism quality and standards are maintained throughout the travel period.
  • Only thoroughly vetted facilities and local infrastructure are used.
  • All guides and workshop experts are hand-picked for their expertise and knowledge.
  • Transportation used is of the highest possible standards with acceptable quality tourism norms.
  • Activities are of high quality, aimed at a wholesome experience with a cultural as well as fun element.

Meaningful Volunteering

  • Projects are pre-decided and planned to take your preferences and age of children into consideration. All details are provided to you before departure from your home country, to facilitate the change to volunteer mode.
  • In Mostly Travel Some Volunteering Programs with ten days of volunteering or less, the project includes activities like
  • Working with wildlife or environmental conservation projects.
  • Physical pursuits, such as painting a school or fixing a library.
  • In Mostly Volunteering Essential Travel Programs with more than ten days of volunteering, the project includes activities like
  • Teaching in a school.
  • Supporting orphan children.
  • Caring for young infants.
  • Helping and caring for elderly people.

Volunteering Activities

Depending on the duration of volunteering during the program, families can enjoy, bond with and contribute to others through activities designed for the highest impact in the shortest amount of time. The volunteering activities will be set up before they start and what the family members would have to do is to listen carefully at the orientations( both online and on site), follow the instructions and then do what they can through a well laid out structure. Volunteering activities can include:
  • 1. Teaching and education Project
  • 2. Care at Disabled Centre.
  • 3. Beautifying /renovating/constructing
  • 4. Helping and Caring for Elderly people.
  • 5. Care work for children or the infirm.
  • 6. Care & support -HIV suffering
  • 7. Care & Supervision to Orphan Children.

Mostly Travel, Some Volunteering – Outline itinerary ( 2 weeks)

Enjoy vibrant Vietnam and get a taste of volunteering.

Arrival in Hanoi. Transfer to hotel and overnight.

Meals: No meals

Transfer from Hanoi to Halong Bay to experience its natural wonders. Overnight in Halong Bay.

Meals: Breakfast

Return to Hanoi. Half day sightseeing tour followed by transfer to train station for the overnight train. Sleep overnight on the train.

Meals:Breakfast

Pick up at the train station followed by transfer to hotel. Later boat trip on the perfume river and visit the Thien Mu pagoda. Overnight in Huê.

Meals:Breakfast

Morning transfer to Hoi An visiting Marble Mountains visiting the fa- mous rock temples. Post-arrival transfer to hotel and overnight.

Meals: Breakfast

Full day Hoi An including city market walk and bike tour in rice fields. Overnight at Hoi An.

Meals:Breakfast

Morning transfer to Qui Nhon with a stop at My Lai, a town severely affected by the war. Overnight at Qui Nhon.

Meals- Breakfast

Morning transfer to Nha Trang by tourist bus. Check in into hotel upon arrival and overnight stay.

Meals- Breakfast

Full day in Nha Trang to relax on the beach under waving palm trees. Optional, snorkelling and visiting authentic fishing villages. Overnight at Nha Trang.

Meals: Breakfast

Transfer to Mui Ne by tourist bus. Transfer to hotel and visiting the dunes along the sea for observing the curious natural phenomena. Overnight at Mui Ne.

Meals- Breakfast

Morning transfer to Saigon by tourist bus. Check in into accommodation followed by orientation about volunteering and activities, in the next few days.

Meals- Breakfast

Start your volunteering project in Saigon in the morning. Sightseeing of Saigon in the afternoon. Overnight at Saigon.

Meals- Breakfast, Packed Lunch

Continue your volunteering project during the morning time. Afternoon to explore Saigon on your own. In the evening, a cooking workshop to learn how to cook authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Overnight at Saigon.

Meals- Breakfast, Packed Lunch

Conclude your volunteering project and bid farewell to the project. Afternoon at leisure followed by a unique experience of visiting a regular urban family in Saigon for learning about their lives, see their home and have a meal with them.

Meals- Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner

Transfer to the airport for flight back home.

Meals- Breakfast

Mostly Volunteering, Essential Travel - Outline Itinerary (2-week trip)

Enjoy Vietnam at a relaxed pace and give back more to her people.
These programs can be done for up to 12 weeks.

Pick up at Ho Chi Minh airport and transfer to accommodation. Acclimatisation and rest.

Meals: No meals

Post breakfast Orientation about the volunteering and activities over the next few days. After sightseeing of Saigon. Overnight at Saigon.

Meals: Breakfast

Start the day with your Volunteering project. In the evening, enjoy dinner with a local family to get experience of day to day life in urban Vietnam.

Meals:Breakfast and Packed lunch

Volunteering during the day. Visit the Ben Thanh market to get a first- hand local shopping experience.

Meals:Breakfast and Packed Lunch

Volunteering during the day. Rest of the day free to explore the charming markets of Saigon.

Meals:Breakfast and Packed Lunch

Volunteering during the day. Afternoon excursion to Chu Chi tunnel. Overnight in Saigon.

Meals:Breakfast and Packed Lunch

Depart for Mui Ne. Check in upon arrival. Visit beaches with dunes. Overnight at Mui Ne.

Meals- Breakfast

Late morning return to Saigon. Overnight at Saigon.

Meals- Breakfast

Volunteering during the day. In the afternoon, enjoy a Vietnamese cooking lesson and learn how to make the local cuisine. Overnight in Saigon.

Meals: Breakfast and Packed Lunch

Volunteering during the day. Afternoon visit to pagodas such as Vinh Nghiem.

Meals- Breakfast and Packed Lunch

Volunteering during the day. Post volunteering visit to rural Vietnam to experience the daily life of farming communities.

Meals- Breakfast and Packed Lunch

Volunteering during the day. Afternoon at leisure.

Meals- Breakfast, Packed Lunch

Bid farewell to the beneficiaries on this last day of your volunteering project. Afternoon free to do some last minute shopping in Saigon.

Meals- Breakfast, Packed Lunch

Depart for Mekong Delta in the morning. Enjoy activities such as boat rides, bee farms and floating markets of the area. Overnight at Mekong Delta.

Meals- Breakfast

Morning transfer to Saigon and then international airport for flight back home.

Meals- Breakfast