Vietnam
Hanoi
Hanoi is as thrilling as it is beguiling with its buzzing streets alive with color, aromas and sounds. A true sensory experience, Hanoi buzzes with excitement. Hanoi's charming streets are chock-a-block with vendors selling everything imaginable: herbal medicines, fruits, flowers, chickens, hardware, soups, ceramics. You name it, Hanoi's residents are selling it.
The charming Vietnamese capital has aged well, preserving the Old Quarters, monuments, and colonial architecture, while making room for modern developments. Hanoi's lakes, parks, shady boulevards and more than 600 temples and pagodas add to its appeal. Local cuisine specialties, exotic street food as well as dance and music clubs liven up the scene. There are opportunities to explore rural villages and learn about the various ethnic tribes that have inhabited the region for thousands of years. And our program includes excursions to some of the major highlights in Northern Vietnam like Ha Long Bay.
Learn
On the IPSL Hanoi program you can take courses at CSDS (The Center for Sustainable Development Services) with local Vietnamese university professors learning first-hand about Sustainable Development and Global Political Systems. Extensive excursions are both integrated into the courses as well as offered outside of class time. Vietnamese language classes are also available in either a ‘bootcamp’ intensive or traditional language learning.
Other courses include:
- Environmental Science & Sustainable Development
- Global Health & Environment: Vietnam
- Sustainable Tourism
- COSA (Community Organizing & Social Activism) in Vietnam
Serve
This program offers great volunteering options that generally include:
- Working with disadvantaged children
- English language tutoring
- Youth development
- Environmental and conservation organizations
- Eco-tourism program development
- Poverty alleviation
- Women's empowerment
- Microfinance programs
If you are interested in the Environment and Development, we can place students with several different NGOs that are focused in different areas of development, disaster mitigation, women's empowerment, land use, land rights, development policy, and water management.
Live
Students live in modern dorm/student housing at the Center for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS). The dorms accommodate both international and Vietnamese students and volunteers. Most meals are included and served at the CSDS center. Self-serve Western-style breakfast and Vietnamese lunch and dinner are offered.
Saigon
Experience life in Vietnam’s bustling economic and cultural hub while learning from expert teachers in an interactive and engaging environment. Saigon, now officially named Ho Chi Minh City, is Vietnam’s largest city, a bustling metropolis known for its vibrant vulture, rich history, and dynamic economy. It serves as the country’s primary financial and business hub. The city blends colonial architecture with modern structures, offering a unique mix of old and new.
Learn
IPSL’s Ho Chi Minh City program offers Vietnamese language courses from beginner to advanced. Classes can be taken privately or in groups. All courses are taught by qualified and experienced native language teachers. Long-term intensive programs are also available.
Serve
Volunteer service is not available in Ho Chi Minh City.
Live
You have several options for lodging in Saigon. Homestays that include both breakfast and dinner also include a private room. Shared apartments or private studios are also available. All options include wifi.
Meet Phuong, the IPSL Program Director in Hanoi
Born in 1976 in a rural area near Hanoi, Phuong moved to the city at the age of 15 to pursue his education. He later became a lecturer at Hanoi National University and has since built a diverse career working with international NGOs across a range of fields, including agroforestry, rural development, hunger and poverty alleviation, child welfare, education, public health, and environmental sustainability.
In 2005, Phuong founded Volunteers for Peace Vietnam (VPV) to promote international volunteer exchange and cross-cultural understanding. Building on this vision, he later established the Center for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS), which advances education for sustainable development, supports marginalized communities, and provides youth with opportunities for engagement and service learning.
Under Phuong’s leadership, CSDS received both the National Volunteers Award and the United Nations Award for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015.
With extensive experience in international volunteer exchange and intercultural learning, Phuong has traveled to nearly 40 countries and is passionate about connecting with people from all walks of life.
Every IPSL program is designed in collaboration with you, whether you’re earning a degree and want to spend some time abroad, or learning a language or serving others, we can customize that experience for your budget, time frame, expertise, and interests.