Unlocking Vietnam: A Journey Through History, Culture, and Local Innovation for Social Impact

The program

The essence of Vietnam, a land of ancient history, vibrant culture and dynamic innovation, through an immersive learning program. Participants delve into Vietnamese culture, history, economy and society, and gain a broad understanding of the country.

The program goes beyond traditional exploration, with insight into Vietnam's social enterprises and community-driven initiatives. Participants see firsthand how local organizations address social, economic and environmental challenges with innovative and effective solutions.

A special focus is on sustainable practices and regenerative tourism in southern Vietnam: initiatives that preserve and revive cultural and natural heritage, so that it stays alive for generations to come.

Objectives

• A basic understanding of the history and the war of Vietnam.
• Delve into Vietnam's social enterprises and community-led initiatives that tackle social, economic, and environmental issues through creative and effective approaches.

Day by day

Day 3The sustainable livelihood of a river-based civilization

Morning

• 07:00–09:00 Breakfast and check-out
• 09:00–11:30 Social impact: a social enterprise whose staff are mainly deaf or visually impaired
• 11:30–12:30 Lunch at its vegetarian restaurant

Afternoon

• 12:30–14:00 Travel to Bến Tre
• 14:00–15:00 Check in at a riverside resort
• 15:00–19:30 A net-zero tour with a community-based tourism enterprise: the coconut land, dinner on a boat, and fireflies after dark

Day 4Local initiatives

Morning

• 07:00–09:00 Breakfast and check-out
• 09:00–11:00 Travel back to Hồ Chí Minh City
• 11:00–12:00 Lunch

Afternoon

• 13:00–15:00 Social impact: a zero-waste social enterprise, and soap making
• 15:30–17:00 Social impact: the restaurant of a social enterprise that trains at-risk and disadvantaged young people in hospitality

Evening

• 17:00–18:00 Dinner
• 18:00–21:00 Free time at a shopping mall
• 21:00 Check in at a hotel in central Saigon

Where the group stays

A hotel in central Saigon built as a community to connect, create and recharge, with self check-in and modern facilities.

A resort on the banks of the Hàm Luông river in Bến Tre, furnished with coconut materials: rustic and cozy, and comfortable.

Hosts and places

The War Remnants Museum, which documents the Second Indochina War and its impact on the Vietnamese people, as well as the French colonial period and the conflicts with China. Its photographs of the war's atrocities, many from US sources, and its exhibits on napalm and Agent Orange confront visitors with the realities of war; the ground floor shows international antiwar posters, and the Requiem exhibition honors the photographers who died in the conflict.

The Củ Chi tunnels, a base of the resistance against the French from 1946 to 1948, dug by the army and people of Tân Phú Trung and Phước Vĩnh An communes and later expanded by the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. The network is 250 km long, on three levels 3, 6 and 12 meters underground, with living areas, weapon stores, spike pits, trap rooms and minefields.

A social enterprise with five businesses run mainly by deaf and visually impaired staff: a restaurant where you dine in complete darkness (2014), a restaurant where you order in Vietnamese sign language (2017), a flower shop whose messages are signed (2019), a spa (2019) and a vegetarian restaurant (2020).

A community-based tourism enterprise in Bến Tre that works with farmers on tours rooted in local food culture and resources. Its net-zero tours calculate the carbon emitted by transport, lodging, meals and activities, and offset it through tree planting, renewable energy and other projects. Bến Tre has the most coconut trees in Vietnam: visitors walk under the palms, canoe through the canals, pick and open coconuts with farmers, and see the life of a river-based community.

A social enterprise that promotes a green lifestyle and recycling, and creates handicraft jobs for disadvantaged people.

A social enterprise that gives at-risk and disadvantaged young people a two-year hospitality training program, combining vocational training and life skills.