Changing lives in Asia’s education system with Better Life Vietnam

In May 2019, I started the incredible experience of being an online volunteer, and I was lucky that my first experience was with Better Life Vietnam (BLV). One of my goals has always been to dedicate some of my time to help others. As an economist and language teacher, I consider education to be one of the most important bases that enable a society to advance, reduce poverty and achieve its development goals.  With this social enterprise, I had the opportunity to work to improve education conditions for underprivileged children and youth in Vietnam. 

What inspired me to join the BLV Project was the commitment they have to the education of children; nothing was better than being able to participate in such a significant project. Part of what the organization does is getting funds through tourism: they offer a variety of tours in Vietnam to obtain profits to guarantee the education of many children in the country. This is done through Tours for Books - profits generated from the tours will be contributed to an education fund to provide books and scholarships to underprivileged children. I was part of the social media marketing team, and I was mainly responsible for the creation of different Instagram posts that were created to show readers not only the beauty of Vietnam to motivate them to travel, but also to showcase all the amazing tours that we offer. 

When I helped with the project, I had such a great experience writing the posts and learning about the organization. Initially, it was difficult to communicate with so many people from different parts of the world, considering that the BLV team is international. However, over time it became easier and I was able to meet and work with wonderful people who were working together for the same purpose. I liked working with them so much that instead of being a volunteer with them for three months (as was initially planned), I stayed for eight months. 

Now that my time with them is over, I have great memories, experiences and gratification from being a part of a great team. I have always been motivated to build a better future for children, and Better Life Vietnam allowed me to do so. With them, I could learn, work as a team with amazing people and discover that the enthusiasm of volunteers who want to help others selflessly can generate good changes for many children. For this reason, if someone reading this one day wants to create a change in children, do not forget that BLV is there, and it is a great place to start.

 

Angela Luna Guerrero.