Destination: Vietnam Book now!
Organization: East Meets West

Minimum Time Commitment: One Week

The East Meets West Foundation transforms the health, education and communities of disadvantaged people in Southeast Asia by building partnerships, developing opportunities and creating sustainable solutions. Founded in 1988, EMW has a 20-year track record of innovative and effective work in Vietnam and a vast portfolio of completed projects. EMW projects and programs are known for their high quality, long-term sustainability, emphasis on results and significant scale.

Service Opportunities:

In collaboration with Kontum people’s committees, East Meets West (EMW) has built an ethnic boarding school for secondary school students in beautiful scenery on mountains of the highland area. The school is a compound of:

1. A low rise building consisting of 8 fully equipped classrooms.
2. Two low rise buildings consisting of 27 dormitory rooms, fully equipped. Each room has 8 beds and 2 bathrooms. These dormitories can accommodate 220 students.
3.  An administration building with 3 working offices
4. A fully equipped canteen that can serve  150 children at any given time
5. A play ground area
6. A fish pond; and a garden area

This is the largest boarding school of the same kind in the highland area. The school is located in Dak To Lung Commune, Konray District, Kontum province which is home to the Ho Re, S Ra and H'Mong ethnic groups.

Travelers will have the opportunity to help building a green house on the site of the school. A group of community-pro travelers can participate by contributing finance, techniques and manual work to build a the green house where the students can learn how to do organic farming in house. High yield crops such as organic vegetables, valuable flowers, fruits, etc. can grow vigorously in such a favorable climate in Kontum.

Another option is to help with the organic garden on the site of the school. There is a generous piece of land on the campus where students learn how to do farming, planting, and cultivation of fruit trees, green vegetables, and flower trees. A part from this land, terracing is a feasible option to help solve slope erosion problem at the site, because the school resides on a steep hill. Therefore, handy travelers can contribute by participating in working in the field, developing the terraces, teaching the students or learning from the local farmers of the upland cultivation.

A playground would be greatly appreciated on the campus. An area of about 400sqm is available for the students to play on, but the ground has not been built up yet. Travelers have the option of assisting with the playground development.