Do you want to serve up a smile in Vietnam?

Ho Chi Minh City is all things to all men; it speaks the international language but with a Vietnamese twang. The modern world has to take its place next to food carts and non la hats, and it makes for an interesting scene. Given that the country has featured in as many war films as holiday brochures it’s not surprising that it has lingering social problems though. This cooking house aims to improve things by delivering quality food to the poorest members of the city. The project relies on donations of time and money but still manages to prepare around 2000 meals per day. You will be involved with every aspect of food preparation, from chopping vegetables to bagging rice ready for delivery so bring lots of enthusiasm!

Project details:
You will be working at a cooking house for the poor, located in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. The cooking house is a charitable organisation, which relies on local donations and voluntary support.

The project is run from a single room with very basic conditions and is usually staffed by about 20 local volunteers, most of whom are from the Mekong Delta and of the Buddhist faith.

The volunteers at the project prepare around 2000 meals per day, and deliver them by hand to poor people and hospital patients around the city, who cannot afford to provide their own food.

Why volunteer at this project:
The cooking house cannot afford to employ permanent staff, so voluntary support is crucial to its continuing success. Although the project recruits local volunteers, it cannot rely on always having enough volunteers to operate.

This is a great opportunity to work closely with Vietnamese people and learn about their food, language and culture.

What kind of skills you need to go on this type of project:
Although no special skills or experience are required, you will need to be prepared to work hard, get your hands dirty and work as part of a team. You need to be flexible, as your project may involve working on any aspect of food preparation or delivery.

Compassion and understanding will be required, as you will be delivering food to very poor or sick people. It is important that you are in good health and physically fit, as this is a hands-on role which involves sitting on the floor in basic, cramped conditions.

Your role as a volunteer:
You will be involved with every aspect of food preparation, from chopping vegetables to bagging rice ready for delivery. All the food preparation is done on the floor, so you will need to wear comfortable clothes that you don?t mind getting dirty.

You will help to deliver the prepared food to the poor people of the neighbourhood, who are either ill themselves or have relatives in hospital. You may have the opportunity to teach some informal English to the Vietnamese volunteers at the project, as they are keen to learn. In exchange, they may teach you some Vietnamese!

Where the project is based:
The cooking house is located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam&rquo;s largest city. Here you will find traditional street markets and pagodas alongside modern architecture, international cuisine and American cultural influences.

Motorbikes are everywhere, and you will find plenty of places to go silk shopping or have clothes tailor-made at bargain prices. You will be staying in a local guesthouse in a residential area of the city, so you will have easy access to local amenities.Your accommodation will be in a shared room in a local guesthouse. No meals are included so you will need to budget accordingly for this.

Please book your flight to arrive into Ho Chi Minh City (airport code SGN) on the advertised arrival date to ensure your airport pickup. Please note that we can normally arrange for an airport pick up at an additional fee if you are arriving early, please contact the office to arrange.

What exactly do i-to-i provide?

It may seem like a strange concept to pay for your volunteer experience. You'd be right if you think you shouldn't and the truth is you actually don't! Your placement is free; it's the benefits around it that you pay for. It's important to note that i-to-i is a travel company and not a charity. We provide a professional travel service. We are responsible for finding and assessing worthwhile projects across the world, preparing you for the volunteering experience and supporting you whilst you're there.

Here’s some more information about what your placement fee covers….

Project sourcing and assessment

We work with hundreds of locally run partner projects around the world and are constantly sourcing new opportunities. We visit all projects to check that they are worthwhile and legitimate and we also conduct a thorough safety assessment before we'll send volunteers there. More

Expert help-desk

Almost everyone who works for i-to-i has traveled extensively or worked overseas. This means we're a goldmine of information; we're always available to offer support and guidance before, during and after your trip.

Thorough project briefing materials

Once you book on to a project you'll receive a Welcome Pack that contains loads of general information about volunteering, about your chosen country and project, and a DVD about how to have fun and stay safe. We'll also give you advice on visas and inoculations.

TEFL training

If you are volunteering on a Teaching or Community Development project then a 40-hour Online TEFL course is included in your placement fee. This is an internationally recognised and accredited certificate that will help you to make the most of your time overseas. More

Airport pickup

It can be pretty daunting arriving in a different country for the first time… especially after a long flight! If you arrive on your project start date, there'll be a welcoming face at the airport to pick you up and take you to your accommodation.

Arrival orientation

Soon after you arrive you will attend a thorough orientation with our in-country team. This is to cover important safety and security information. You'll also get some tips about sight-seeing options for your time off and maybe even learn some of the local lingo!

Accommodation and meals

Accommodation is included with all projects and meals are even included with some. We only use locally-owned and operated accommodation so that part of your placement fee is filtering back into the local economy. Most projects offer homestay, guesthouse or shared volunteer houses as standard accommodation, but some offer the chance to upgrade to a more comfortable living standard. More

Local in-country coordinators

Your in-country coordinator (ICC) will pick you up from the airport and conduct your orientation upon arrival. All ICC's are English speaking and are locals of your destination country. They won't be at your project every day, but will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week if you need them. More

24/7 emergency support

Aside from the local support from your in-country coordinators you'll be given access to a 24/7 emergency phone line manned by i-to-i staff in case any problem should arise while you're overseas. We also hire crisis management professionals Docleaf to be on hand in case of a situation that requires additional expert support. More

Ongoing training

The safety and security of our volunteers is paramount. For this reason we provide ongoing crisis management and emergency response training to our local teams around the world. At the end of 2006 we flew all our in-country coordinators to the UK for thorough training to help them offer the best safety to the thousands of volunteers they support each year. More

Supporting our projects

We don't fund our projects directly, but once a year they are all invited to apply for funding for special projects or resources from our registered charity arm, the i-to-i Foundation. i-to-i funds the operation of the i-to-i Foundation and is the largest single donor. Along with the generous support of our volunteers, we have distributed over US$200,000 in funding in the last two years alone! More  

Recruiting people like you

We make no secrets of the fact that part of your placement fee is reinvested in to recruiting volunteers just like you! The volunteers recruited in one week will typically deliver over 2000 man-days of service. The difference this makes to projects overseas is immeasurable. Many of our overseas projects rely on assistance from international volunteers, so it's necessary for us to put together brochures and websites to find the people who can support them. This recruitment process is vital to ensure programs have a constant stream of reliable volunteers.

The intangible benefits

Volunteering through a company like i-to-i has a lot of intangible benefits to developing overseas communities and the individual projects that we work with. To find out more about our placements. click here

What we will do after you've booked:

• Once booked on you will instantly receive a welcome email confirming your booking with access to your online account
• We will send a Welcome Pack in the post containing further information and a t-shirt, the information in this pack should answer most things you need to know
• Community Development and Teaching customers will receive an email introducing them to their Online TEFL course
• Community Development and Teaching customers will be requested to complete a police check (where relevant) or send through a reference
• We will contact you if we require anything else e.g. CV/resume for some projects, doctors note for medical conditions etc.
• We will hound you to complete your forms and pay your final balance when they are due
• We are available for any questions you may have on 800 352 1794 or operations@i-to-i.com
• We will prepare for your trip and send you an email with final project and accommodation confirmation 21 days before you go

What you need to do after booking your place with us:

• Book your flights
• Arrange suitable travel insurance
• Fill out some extra details through our online interface:
  • application from
  • travel details
  • insurance details
  • medical information
  • emergency contacts
• Complete your police check or request your reference (where relevant)
• Do your Online TEFL Course (where relevant)
• Make final payment at least 60 days before you go
• Make sure you have a visa for your trip if its needed
• Visit a nurse or travel clinic for advice on inoculations and malaria prevention
• Read all details and prepare as much as you can for your trip
• Take contact details of the in country team and where you're going in your hand luggage - just in case!
• Get on the plane!

Orientation Information

You will arrive on the Arrival Date - Friday and will be met at the airport on that day. You will be taken to your permanent accommodation for your stay, the Nhu Ngoc Guesthouse (see contact details below) where you will have the first day/night to recover from your flight. The Guesthouse is located in the backpackers area in the heart of the city and is close to restaurants, shops, markets,internet services and ATM's.

Note: If you're arriving early we can arrange a meet and greet for you. If you require this please contact us to arrange this service. If you wish to make your own way please arrange to be at the address below on the arrival date:

Your orientation will take place over the weekend and you will be introduced to your project on Monday and will start working as a volunteer.

Insurance

It's important that you get adequate travel insurance for your i-to-i experience and as many of you will be working this often means standard policies won’t work. The good news is that no matter where your coming from we have already found a policy to suit you.

The best time to get your insurance is when you book your project as this means you can get a fully tailored policy exclusive to i-to-i, just ask your consultant for further details at the time of booking.

If you have already booked but still need insurance then you may still be able to take our tailored policy. If, however it was more than a few days ago then try the links below:

Australian customers - find out more here >>

All other customers - find out more here >>

Flights

As with insurance we advise you get these booked as early as possible to avoid high prices and to make sure you arrive on the right day. The i-to-i team is right up to date with the best deals no matter where you’re flying from; their insider knowledge could save you some time and money.

Early Airport Pick-up

If you are arriving before your designated arrival date, we can arrange for an extra meet and greet service for you. For an extra supplement we will be there to meet you at the airport and take you to the orientation accommodation. Accommodation payment for any extra nights will then be made in country directly to the accommodation (approx 10 USD per night).

The cost of this Early Pick-up service is US$ 45.00