Study Abroad Programs

 

Vietnam Village Trek
Including Health Clinics and
Village Infrastructure Development

Dates:  August 20 - August 30, 2011
Program Cost: $1,850 (estimated cost for 2011)

Leaders: TBA

World Nomads (WN) filmed our 2009 Vietnam Village Trek. WN documentaries are featured on CNN, National Geographic Channel and in-flight entertainment on 30 airlines.

View video: Positive Footprints - Vietnam Village Trek.

Reflections on Vietnam from GI participants:   Hai Nguyen  |  Robin Rowedder

Previous Vietnam Village Trek Video - view highlights of this trip ( Video length: 5 mins )

View photos and updates of the 2009 trip on Shutterfly

Vietnam Trek Release and Addendum (include signed release with application)
Apply now to hold your space!

Seattle-area healthcare professionals and SCCD students/staff will join Vietnamese physicians, nurses and other volunteers on a medical trek and community development project in remote villages in the Mai Chau Highlands, Northern Vietnam. Our goal is that participants will be involved in all phases of the village campaigns. Our Village Development Project includes strategic activities that will impact the overall health of the community. For example, in 2009, Global Impact renovated latrines and kitchen facilities at village schools, working alongside local workers. Our healthcare clinics include basic medical and dental services.

View sample itinerary. Each year, the exact itinerary is updated to reflect new villages.

Examples from the sample itinerary, prepared by our Vietnamese hosts:

Day 4: Hanoi-Mai Chau - Hang Kia Village
After breakfast we depart Hanoi for Hoa Binh province and the town of Mai Chau. This scenic drive takes around three hours. Along the way we pass fields of tapioca and sugar cane as well as rice paddies. We arrive in Mai Chau and will be welcomed by local officials and health workers (some of them will join us over the next four days). We will also meet with our local crew including cooks and porters who will carry our equipment. After lunch in a traditional stilt house of the Thai people, we drive for one hour to Sa Linh Village to begin our trekking. The verdant and rugged mountain scenery combined with the colorful local population makes this an unforgettable experience. Today we walk along gravel tracks and small paths, used by the locals. Our destination for this evening is Hang Kia village, home of the H'mong Minority people. Here we stay overnight as the guests of an H'mong family in a traditional long house, situated in a picturesque valley of peach orchards.

Day 5: Working day in Hang Kia Village
We will start early and set up our working place in the village surgery which is staffed by a local H'mong who has attended some public health training sessions in Mai Chau. Today, we will provide health examinations for approximately 200 people — many of them have never received a health examination by a doctor in their entire lives. We will also offer basic dental services, especially targeted to children. We will also provide health education focusing on hand washing and oral hygiene. Our Village Development volunteers will work side by side with local craftsmen to renovate the facilities (building sanitary latrines and kitchens) of local schools to improve the health of the children. At the end of the day, we will pack everything for a long walk the next day. Our porters will carry the equipment and supplies.

Day 6: Trek Hang Kia - Van Village
Today we get well and truly off the beaten track as we trek through tropical rain forest, using the local tracks and passing through cornfields as we descend into the Mai Chau Valley. On the way, we will encounter the local villagers as they go about their daily business tilling the fields, logging or herding buffalo. The trek will take around 7 hours and is quite steep in places. It may also be slippery if there have been recent rains. Lunch will be provided en route, and weather permitting, we will have a picnic near a babbling brook at the foot of the valley. From here we pass through several White Thai villages, and are sure to attract attention as this part of the country receives very few visitors. We will arrive at Van village by late afternoon and we will have time to walk around this charming little village, enabling us to understand a little more about how the people live. The village is home to the Thai people, and tonight we will be their guests in one of their traditional stilt houses.

NOTE: For participants unable to trek 7 hours, there is optional transportation available. However, previous participants count this full day of trekking in the rainforest one of the highlights of the trip.

To sign up and reserve your place on this exciting trip, complete the application form. Limited scholarships are available for Seattle Community Colleges students.