Is somebody trying to take the piss?

how to save the world in ten minutes

People,
I have to share this with you. I AM REALLY FRUSTRATED. I am frustrated because I came out here in Vietnam with a little mantra in my ear "VSO, Sharing skills, Changing Lives"....well, 3 months in my job, I can honestly say that the people who are doing voluntary work are my colleagues at Hoa Sua and certainly not me.

I am frustrated because I'm here to work in Communications and I can't speak the language. Therefore I do 4 hours a week of Vietnamese language lessons, and I still sit still when in the car with the school's driver without saying a word, for fear of not understanding.

I am frustrated because I suffer the heat, and I get all nervous when we get power cuts because that means that the fans won't work.

I am frustrated because when I first came here I thought that it would be very easy to fall into the expat type of life, nice cafe's and nice restaurants, and I thought how I really really really did not want to do that. Going to be enjoying a lovely drink in Half Man Half Noodle tonight, maybe after a nice beer in Le Pub.

People keep saying that it's far too early to judge your placement and the effect that your work has in an organisation, and amongst people. But so far, I can see myself only taking and I really don't know how to give.
I thought I'd be less spoilt.

10 things you should know about Hoa Sua

1. Hoa Sua is a 100% Vietnamese organisation. All its staff are Vietnamese, except for us volunteers.

2. When you come to the Hoa Sua restaurant, or to any other training cafes or shops, everything that you see (or eat!) has been made by the students, as part of their training. So your wonderful cakes and breads in Croissant (35 Quang Trung) or Baguette & Chocolat (11b Cha Ca), the food in Hoa Sua (28a Ha Hoi), the clothes in the Sewing and Embroidery shop, appropriately called "Chef Collection" (21d Ha Hoi) are all made by the trainees. Not only that! All the uniforms that the table service trainees wear, all the napkins, tablecloths, curtains that you see in any of these places have all been designed, tailored and embroidered by the trainees of the Sewing and Embroidery class.

3. The shop assistants are not trainees.

4. Hoa Sua provides free training, food and board to all trainees.

5. All the training restaurants and shops, as well as some of the buildings that form the Training Centre in Linh Nam have only been possible thanks to International donors (ranging from NGOs to Embassies).

6. All the trainees find a job. Hoa Sua makes sure they are placed appropriately.

7. The revenues from the little businesses (shops, cafes, restaurants) are directly re-invested in the running of the school. There is no profit...

8. ...In fact, there's loss. Hoa Sua is in a constant financial crisis.

9. There is a Baguette and Chocolat, cafe and mini hotel in Sa Pa (Northern Vietnam), which trains young people of ethnic minority communities.

10. All the staff here are COMPLETELY dedicated to the mission of the school. They are all highly educated, capable and enthusiastic young people who love their work!

And this is to them, because they're part of what makes Hoa Sua such a great place to be at.

A couple of pictures of our day out on Sunday!

























If you'd like more information about Hoa Sua, Contact me!