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Service-Learning Placements

CET has cultivated partnerships with many local organizations and worked together with them to design a service learning experience that allows for extensive interaction with the local community. Participating in a CET service learning placement allows students to:

• Have additional opportunities to practice and refine growing language skills
• Deepen understanding of Vietnamese culture and society
• Learn more about and practice skills needed for working collaboratively in a regional and a global context
• Strengthen capacity for cross-cultural understanding and communication
• Form valuable relationships with local persons and organizations
• Contribute in a positive way to the host community
  

Many past CET students have said that the time they spent with their placement was one of the most valuable aspects of their study abroad experience. Especially, it allows for a level of interaction and practical experience that it is hard to achieve in the traditional classroom, and thus supplements and complements CET's rigorous academic program very well.

If students choose to complete a formal service learning placement with one of CET's existing partners, they will be given pass/no-pass credit on their final transcript. In order to receive a "pass" for a placement, the following requirements must be completed:

• Submit a resume, cover letter and complete an placement interview with prospective organization
• Establish a regular work schedule with your organization
• Work at placement location for a minimum of 6 hours per week
• Receive positive feedback about your reliability, attendance, and contribution to the organization from the participating partner (in the form of a midterm and final review)
• Complete a midterm and final placement experience evaluation
• Participate in periodic group meetings to discuss placement progress and issues
• Complete biweekly updates on your placement
• Write a 3-5 page final essay upon completion of placement, due to CET office by 5 p.m. on the final day of the program
  

Students should consider carefully their semester schedules before choosing to participate in an service learning placement, and before deciding upon their weekly work schedules. Service learning placements are a big responsibility and a great privilege, and CET's partners work hard to develop placements for students, and will expect students to remain faithful to their placement commitments throughout the course of the semester.

Placement Organizations

Past students have had the opportunity for service learning at the following organizations. We do our best to match each student's needs with the organization's needs. Because CET cannot guarantee that a student will work with a specific organization, we encourage students to think of a type of organization with which they are interested in working. CET students are also encouraged to look into more "non-traditional" internship opportunities, such as working in a local shop or café, or exploring other areas of interest in Vietnamese social and cultural life.

Peace Village at Tu Du Hospital
This is a center for children with Agent Orange related afflictions. Volunteers at this location most likely work together as a group together with Vietnamese volunteers organizing games, art activities, and possibly group outings for the children and teenagers living at the center.  

ENDA
ENDA stands for "Environment and Development in Action." This organization is an internationally-based but locally-run NGO concerned with integrated community development and environmental projects. 

Triangle Center
The Triangle Center is a French-based NGO linked with the local Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. The Center works with disadvantaged youth (many former street kids from local shelters,) teaching them waiting, restaurant management and cooking/baking skills.

Sao Mai and Thien Am Schools for the Blind
This position involves teaching conversational English to blind teenagers and adults. This computer school is a drop-in center for blind persons, where they can come learn IT and use IT facilities that are designed for their use.  

Thao Dan Center
This shelter is a shelter for street children - all boys, ranging in ages from 7 to 16. The shelter focuses on short-term intervention and tries to reunite street boys with their families.

Action Aid Vietnam
Action Aid Vietnam is an internationally-based, locally-run (almost 100% localized) NGO that specializes in public health and educational initiatives throughout the country. 

Phap Hoa Pagoda
This pagoda operates a free traditional medicine clinic. 

Friends For Street Children
FFSC is a Catholic-based organization affiliated with the local Association for Religious Affairs. They have projects in many local shelters for street children, as well as running an IT center and drop-in English classes for disadvantaged youth.  

Green Bamboo Shelter
The Green Bamboo Shelter is a shelter for boys aged 7-18, who are either former street children or come from extremely disadvantaged families, under the auspices of the Ho Chi Minh City Child Welfare Foundation. The shelter assists the boys enroll in local schools, get vocational training, and when appropriate will try to re-integrate them with their families. 

Little Rose Shelter
This shelter is dedicated to rescuing young women who are either at-risk for, or have already experienced, sexual exploitation. The shelter assists in psychological rehabilitation, vocational training, and the girls' re-integration with society.  

Project Future
Project Future is a project office dedicated to assisting street children and children from especially disadvantaged families. In addition to health check-ups and psychological counseling, they also run a year-long Basic English class.