What is a Long Term Volunteer (LTV)?

LTV stands for Long Term Volunteer and it is used in SJ Vietnam to refer to all volunteers committing to a project for more than one month. Long-term voluntarism is usualy the next step in the \"voluntary career\". Why the next one? Because it is intended for people who already have experience in the voluntary career (e.g. took part in a workcamp). Besides, it is a few months long project, so it is not the same as leaving for two weeks during holidays - it is a serious decision about leaving one\'s matters here and starting something \"here\", that is in a place far away from our friends, familiar places, culture and confortable life.Long-term volunteer is a person who takes actively part in a project lasting from 1 to 12 months.To decide to join a LTV project means also to accept to live as local people / volunteers (food, accomodation,budget, work and social activities) and to wish to integrate the way of life of local people.

Minimal conditions to become LTV

There is a minimum age of 18 to become a LTV. Volunteers are expected to have an very high motivation and certain amount of “life experience”, meaning that s/he can look after one’s self, work independently and be able to deal with any problems that might occur during the time the volunteer is abroad. .The applicant should be open-minded towards the project and motivated for the WORK of the project.The succes of your project will depend on your genuine desire to take part pro-actively in the project. The vast majority of our volunteers are committed to working for the common goals of the project. If you are only interested in tourism or a cheap long term vacation, please do not register.The applicant should know what volunteering is about, preferably by having participated in previous international workcamps. We say “preferably”, because we don\'t want to exclude those volunteers who have not done a workcamp, but are actually very motivated and realise what volunteering is about. If a volunteer has workcamp experience, then s/he has met with an international group of people, lived in basic living conditions and knows what to expect from a project\'s living and working conditions. This can be important as LTV work can demand a lot of initiative and independence.

Educational approach

SJ Vietnam promotes participatory management and democracy as an approach to encourage volunteers to take responsibilities and become self reliant through experimentation, success and partnership. More that workcamp volunteers, The LTV have to be involved in their project and take responsibilities such as project management, work schedule, organization of activities, etc. The LTV group manages its food budget and social life collectively in close relation with the staff and the local SJ Vietnam members.

Can i join a LTV project with a friend or with a group ?

People wishing to be placed in one project together should register as soon as possible because we try to limit the number of people from the same nationality to avoid groups between volunteers and to create the richest as possible international environement mix for the volunteers. If you wish to join a LTV as a group, then it is not anymore a LTV project but what we call a \"bi-lateral project\" between your group and SJ Vietnam. Please contact us at ltv@sjvietnam.org for more information.

How is it organized ?

In cooperation with several local partner organizations and institutes, SJ Vietnam organizes around 60 long-term projects (LTV-projects) in and around Hanoi each year. These LTV-projects can be attended from one months up to one year and is more than just carrying out the work at the specific locations. Long-term volunteers are required to participate more actively in the SJV organization and the project management. The LTV-projects are a lot more intensive than the STV-projects and need a higher motivation because they have to participate actively in the management of the project , sometimes they have also to supervise and support short-term volunteers. LTV\'s will stay in one of the SJV houses in Hanoi and will live together in an international environment with many different cultures. Cooking, cleaning, having fun (also sometimes conflict management) and learning about each culture will be part of every day life.

Please read the info sheet about our projects for more detailed information (PDF).

LTV\'s will live and work together in the international LTV House/Office of SJ Vietnam in Hanoi. The volunteers will be of different ages, between 18 and 30 years old- but sometimes of higher ages.

Together with the whole group you will solve problems and also make decisions together - about the project itself as well as about your daily life. Many things will have to be organized: e.g., your meals, the assignment of tasks for your project and just as important your spare time. The quality of a long-term stay depends on what each volunteer makes out of it. Many times you are required to improvise and to be flexible because things may be handled in a different way than in your home country. The kind of responsibilities you will get usually depends on your personal commitment and experience.

Remember that a long-term stay is not a holiday or a social-humanitarian project! At the end of your work as a long-term volunteer you will see the world from a different point of view. The cultural challenges that volunteers will encounter during their stay will strengthen them in their knowledge of problem-solving and life experience, so that when you return home, you will probably look differently at things that always used to be very common to you.

Please have a look at our projects (all projects can be done long and short term) which are listed on the navigation bar on the left-hand side. You will also find general information about Vietnam, Hanoi and SJ.