Destination: Vietnam!
on Moni Brar (Malawi), 14/Feb/2011 00:51, 34 days ago
I have a new placement! The joy! The anticipation! The anxiety!I will be going to Vietnam for a 6-month volunteer placement with Uniterra. I will be working as an Internship Coordinator for the International Seminar, which has a long and well-established history dating back to 1948. The seminar takes 20 university students from across Canada and joins them with 20 students from the global South for a six-week educational experience. The seminar uses a grassroots approach to learning and offers students real-world understanding of development issues, the chance to work in a cross-cultural context in a developing country, and the opportunity to collaborate in a group project that supports a local development organization.In my role, I will be working alongside another Canadian volunteer, as well as two Vietnamese coordinators. Together, we will coordinate and support all aspects of student fieldwork, guide the students, and facilitate the learning process and group dynamics. This year, the seminar will focus on the theme‘Youth in the Workforce and the Socioeconomic Development of Vietnam.’ The field project is a collaborative venture with Uniterra’s partners in Vietnam and local stakeholders. All of the topics, methodology, and approaches are determined collaboratively in order to support the work and develop practical and useful materials and information for the partner organizations. Seminar participants will share their learning and experiences when they return to campus, as well as in their communities through public engagement activities.Here is a look at the focus countries for the International Seminar over the years:1948 - Germany1949 - Holland1950 - France1951 - Canada1952 - Europe1953 - India1954 - Europe and West Africa1955 - Japan1956 - Germany1957 - Ghana1958 - Yugoslavia1959 - West Indies1960 - Israel1961 - Sweden1962 - Poland1963 - Pakistan1964 - Algeria1965 - Chile1966 - Turkey1967 - Canada1968 - West Africa1969 - Canada1970 - Mexico1971 - Colombia1972 - Peru1973 - India1974 - Caribbean and Central America1975 - Egypt1976 - Guyana1977 - China and Acadie1978 - Senegal and Western Canada1979 - Sri Lanka and Ontario1980 - Tunisia1981 - Ecuador1982 - Costa Rica1983 - Egypt1984 - Haiti1985 - Thailand1986 - Mauritius1987 - Zimbabwe1988 - Mali1989 - Leeward and Windward Island1990 - Morocco1991 - Botswana1992 - Brazil1993 - Indonesia1994 - Benin1995 - Vietnam1996 - Peru1997 - Peru1998 - Vietnam and Botswana1999 - Benin and Zimbabwe2000 - Benin and Malawi2001 - Vietnam2002 - Vietnam2003 - Benin2004 - Malawi2005 - Burkina Faso2006 - Botswana2007 - Ghana and Burkina Faso2008 - Ghana2009 - Peru2010 - Nepal