We always advise potential participants and their families to speak to our references. They are the best spokespersons. The proof of VISIONS' teen service programs abroad is "in the pudding," rather, in the unique program ingredients that are the VISIONS participants themselves, their reactions and reflections. Samantha Saccomano, Westport, CT, was with us last summer in Vietnam. In Samantha's case, we are hard-pressed to decide which is the more glowing reference for VISIONS teen travel programs abroad: her words or the powerful images she snapped of Vietnam. Samantha wrote to us recently.

"This past summer, I participated in the VISIONS Vietnam program. Through working and travels, I was able to document and photograph our journey and the people we met along the way. Though all of my images mean a lot to me, I chose seven to enter in numerous photos contests and to send to colleges that I am applying to. My high school decided to display my photos in school to highlight the importance of understanding and learning about different cultures. In the near future, I am planning on a kids' clothing drive so that I can send clothes to the children at the [Thuy An] center.

Relationships Ripen in Thuy An

2010 is Wes Hedden’s third season in VISIONS Vietnam. He’s worked the life of the program so far, and this season will be the program director. We met Wes during one of our earliest planning trips to Vietnam. He was working then for a university and a rural development NGO. From Vietnam Wes moved to Burma in 2008 to teach history and coordinate service learning at a small school in Yangon. This year, while living in rural Cambodia, his work focused on disaster risk reduction. After VISIONS Vietnam ends this summer, Wes returns to Cambodia to a job focused on protecting the rights of ethnic minorities in the eastern part of the country. Simultaneously, and with assistance from Princeton-in-Asia, Wes also will create a volunteer exchange program between Cambodian and Vietnamese university students; a program, Wes tell us, that draws much of its inspiration from VISIONS.

College Essay: Reflections on VISIONS Vietnam 2009

by Alex Ottenstein

I sit down on Hue’s bed, a metal frame with a bamboo mat on top of it. Hue is eleven years old, with luminous eyes and long black hair that reaches her waist. She wants to teach me a board game. I know this will be a challenge considering she is deaf, mute, and knows only Vietnamese.  Hue teaches me the game in complete silence, just using her hands. Together we wait to see what number will appear on the dice and how many spaces we can advance our plastic horses. Although we’re supposedly competing, Hue laughs whenever I roll a high number, as I feel she secretly hopes I will win. 

I have always been passionate about service learning and global experiences. By studying Mandarin Chinese, I became fascinated with Asia. I was craving a new experience that incorporated these interests, which led me to spending five weeks this past summer in Vietnam. I was headquartered at the Thuy An Disabled Children’s Center, located in a rural village in Northern Vietnam.  The children at the Center suffer from multiple disabilities and are sent to Thuy An for rehabilitation because their parents cannot afford to care for them.  Every morning our group of 11 high school students worked on a construction project in the community.  We spent the afternoons working with the deaf children in their classroom, where I taught English, math, and facilitated arts and crafts projects.

VISIONS alumnus, Harry Weiner, embodies the concept of life-long service.  Harry participated in VISIONS second season in 1990 in the Appalachia program.  His program home base was in the Central Pennsylvania farmlands about six miles from VISIONS’s Newport office. Harry recalls, “That summer was full of growth and life-changing inspiration for me.  My counselors and fellow campers were of an especially high caliber.  I remember one counselor named Timo (I think his real name was Tim, but we called him by his Spanish name, “Timo”), who had recently returned from the Peace Corps in Central America – his tales of service and adventure abroad forever changed my definition of the opportunities that I considered to be available to me.”

Harry remembers that circle meetings every week particularly affected him.  “These facilitated a much greater understanding of