A synonymous feature found across myriad countries and cities is a sense of community. This binding feature, I have found, has been ever present in my hitherto time in the wonderful city of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Quan Com Xa Hoi Nu Cuoi, the Smile Food Shop, is one of the pillars of the community geist in District 10 of Ho Chi Minh City. A local soup kitchen, the location has opened its doors for over 13 years to the local community, serving food to the locals for 2000 VND (approximately 6p). The soup kitchen embeds the traditional values of soup kitchens (serving food for very low income individuals) with local customs and values. The small cost per meal is one way in how this is reflected. Whereas soup kitchens in many Western countries offer meals for zero charge, Vietnamese locals were originally offended by the free offering, and the food shop found that locals were more receptive to a very small price rather than a free hand out. Furthermore, the soup kitchen fuses staple Vietnamese cuisine with affordability, and throughout my next few posts I will highlight some of these meals.
The Food Shop has a core staff of 8 local Vietnamese workers, who are there everyday from bam to start with the food preparation and cooking for the day. My personal volunteering will include helping with the food preparation, preparing the area ready for service, and ultimately serving the food. Arriving to the shop by 7:30am with the other volunteers, we would have to ensure that everything was ready by 10am, ready for the 2 hour service where we would serve at least 500 portions to customers. Almost every week the food shop features a “Happy Day”, where instead of rice, noodles are served. On this day, the kitchen frequently produces over 800 portions over the same period.
I remember going into this feeling a mixture of both excitement and nerves. I had never worked in a proper kitchen environment before, nor did I understand the Vietnamese language. Whilst I would have other volunteers in the same boat, and a programme coordinator who spoke both English and Vietnamese, I was nonetheless slightly daunted by what would come next. That said, one of the core principles of leadership taught throughout my Laidlaw experience is adaptability and overcoming challenges. Instead of feeling angst or pressure, I knew that coming here I would have to be as outgoing and hardworking as I could be. Despite the language barrier and the lack of previous experience, I thus had the growth mindset going into my volunteering experience to make the most of this incredibly unique experience and to appreciate all of the challenges as a part of my development as a leader and a person.
Finally, the Green Lion, the organisation which I have partnered with for my LiA, had been fantastic from the start, and more will be mentioned throughout my next posts on Vietnam. With all the volunteers living together, as many as 40 volunteers in my second week, and all the programme coordinators being fantastic, I was very lucky to have such an amazing group of volunteers and coordinators to help me feel at home in Vietnam.
The next posts will look further at my time in Ho Chi Minh City as I become more settled in this wonderful city and as my volunteering journey continues with the Smile Food Shop.