Name: Ben

Hometown: York

Destination: Vinh, Vietnam

Project type: Teaching English

Organisation: Project Trust

What were your impressions of your destination?

Upon arrival in Hanoi, the prospect of living there for a whole 12 months was quite daunting, especially with a completely alien language and bloody scary roads/traffic, but when it was time for me to leave, I didn't want to. The people, although often appearing quite hostile, are for the most part utterly charming, and I made some amazing friends and some amazing experiences.

Was the work interesting and challenging?

Initially both interesting and challenging, but towards the end of the placement I was pretty confident that teaching wasn't for me. Whilst still challenging, I became rather tired of the same old routine and was ready to go and travel for a bit to discover more and have more of an adventure.

What was your accommodation like? Did you feel comfortable and welcome at all times?

Our accommodation was excellent, the two of us at the placement had a 2 bedroom flat in a modern and safe apartment block, but I know for sure that we had some of the best accommodation out of all volunteers the PT sent to SE Asia.

Were you happy with the organisation and the staff that were responsible for you during your stay?

Reasonably so. There were a couple of issues that we felt, at the time, PT should have suported us more strongly than they did, but then I suppose half of the challenge of living away for any length of time is to be totally independent and not to go running for help at the first sign of trouble.

Do you feel that you got value for money on the project?

Yes absolutely. It was a lot of money to sign up to the PT programme, but for 12 months away, it is one of the best value programmes available to Gappers.

Would you recommend the project to others?

Yes