NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS DEPARTMENT FACTORS AFFECTING SHORT-TERM INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS’ EXPERIENCES WHILE TAKING PART IN GLOBAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM AT CSDS Hanoi, May, 2020 NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS DEPARTMENT TRAN THI LY FACTORS AFFECTING SHORT-TERM INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS’ EXPERIENCES WHILE TAKING PART IN GLOBAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM AT CSDS Hanoi, May, 2020 Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B ACKNOWLEDGMENT First and foremost, I would like to give the biggest thank to my conscientious and thorough supervisor, Ms. Pham Thi Quynh Hoa, MA, Vice Dean of Department of English for Specific Purposes at National Economics University. If had not been for her enthusiastic support, patient guidance, useful recommendations and encouragement, my research would not have been successful because of my lack of knowledge and experiences. Furthermore, I would also like to send my best regards to lectures and students of Faculty of Foreign Languages, Department of Business English at National Economics University for their support, especially my two best friends, Truong Thi Dung and Vu Thi My.
I sincerely appreciate their cooperation in this challenging time. In addition, I also own more than a thank to CSDS and international volunteers for helping me to complete this survey. CSDS give me a chance to experience in the NGO working environment and have a wonderful experience as an intern in spite of lack of professional working experiences. Last but not least, I hope to show my appreciation to my beloved family.
They all always encourage me and give me an endless motivation in my life. My thesis would not have been possible without my dear family. Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B ABBREVIATIONS Center for Sustainable Development Studies CSDS Non-governmental organisation NGO Non-governmental organisations NGOs International volunteer IV International volunteers IVs Youth Empowerment Program YEP Global Exchange Program GEP Sustainable Development Goal SDG Sustainable Development Goals SDGs Question Answer il Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables Table 1: Suggestions to improve the quality of experiences in GEP. 29 Figures Figure 1: The number of individual IVs in GEPP.- se seeereseres 6 Figure 2: Short-term IVs’ volunteering period in CSDS.-- - --<<++ 17 Figure 3: The number of IVs in each project in GEP.-- «+5 s++++<s+ 18 Figure 4: The number of experiences as an IV before CSDS.- 19 Figure 5: IVs’ attitudes toward the importance of experiences as an IV.
20 Figure 6: The general quality of IVs’ experiences while taking part in GEP. 21 Figure 7: IVs’ experiences In GEP.ccccccesscecesseesenseeeeneeeeeeessseeessneeeseeeeesaes 23 Figure 8: Factors affecting IVs’ experiences In GEP .ccccceesseeeeseeeseteeeeenes 26 11 Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT.00000040060004 06 ii LIST OF TABLES AND EIGURES.- 0œ G55 5 S3 90500905 956665566 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. in g0 0iv INTRODUCTTON. Scope of the SỈ.
Research Metho(OÌOEØY. The design of the SUV,.9 89993 099950 60089880995608960996 2 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ABOUT CSDS. Overview about CSDS. sọ cọ HH ch.
The main Areas Of (CÍÄVỈÍHGS. The main programs in CSDS. Youth Empowerment Program (YEP). Global Exchange Program (GŒE'P).
Current problems of the 0rga'nÏSafÏOH.7 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. Responsibilities Of VOÏHLH€GT. ng me gge 9 2. Expectations Of VOÏHLHIECPF.
Challenges of VOÏHIHECCF. Roles of International Volunteer. Definitions Of €XDTCTICÔ. cm ng 13 iv Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B 2.
Significance Of CXPCTICNCE. Global Exchange Program (GEP). Gains associated with participating GEP. Issues surrounding participation in GEPP.
<< << <e 15 CHAPTER II: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS. General information about the paricipants. Short-term IVs’ volunteering period in CSDS,. The number of IVs in each project in GEP.
The number of experiences as an IV before CSDS. The short-term international volunteers’ experiences in GEP. IVs’ attitudes toward the importance of experiences as an IV. The general quality of IVs’ experiences while taking part in GEP.
IVS’ experiences i (ŒEP. Factors affecting IVs’ ©XD€FÏICS. Suggestions to improve the quality of experiences in GEP. 28 CHAPTER IV: RECOMMENDA TIONS.
Recommendations for ÍTVSS. TH TT cọ 0 33 4. Recommendations for the host organisation (CSDS). Accommodation And fACILitieS.
Information about CSDS and GE:P. Connection between IVs and CSDS’S DAFÍH€FS.ccsscssscsssscsscsssscsscesscccsscesscessecssccesssssscsssscescssssesescsssseeesees 38 APPENDICES Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B INTRODUCTION The part shortly presents rationale, purposes, research questions, scope, research methodology and the design of research. Rationale Obviously, the company always tries to find the way in order to advance their products and services. It is also undoubted that the customer is an extremely important factor affecting the development and survival of the company because the customer is the consumer of products and services.
Only by surveying and elevating customer experiences and the level of customer satisfaction of provided products and services does the company have a more objective view of its products and services and understand the needs of the customer. As a result, the company can improve its products and services and meet customer needs. In the internship time in Global Exchange Program which is a service provided by The Centre for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS), the author has realized that about 350 — 450 international volunteers participate in Global Exchange Program each year and have a lot of experiences when working with CSDS. Although CSDS still always tries to make the international volunteers’ experiences best, CSDS has not seriously investigated their ones yet.
If CSDS identifies the situation of the experiences of international volunteers in Global Exchange Program and find out the factors having influence on their experiences, CSDS may meet their expectations and there will be more international volunteers choosing CSDS as a host organisation. Therefore, the author has decided to do a study with the subject: “Factors affecting short-term international volunteers’ experiences while taking part in Global Exchange Program at CSDS” to clarify this issue and offer some suggestions to CSDS. Purposes To achieve the desired outcomes of the research, the following research objectives were identified: - Investigating short-term international volunteers’ experiences during taking part in Global Exchange Program at CSDS. - Finding the factors impacting on short-term international volunteers’ experiences.
- Suggesting the solutions to improve this situation. Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B 3. Research questions This study was conducted and analyzed to answer the following questions: - What are the experiences of short-term international volunteers working with CSDS in Global Exchange Program? - What are the factors affecting the experiences of short-term international volunteers in Global Exchange Program at CSDS? - What should be done to improve this situation? 4. Scope of the study On the ground that the limitation of time and technical quality, the author have decided to choose short-term international volunteers in Global Exchange Program at CSDS so as to conduct the research about this issue.
Research Methodology With the purpose of finding out and researching on the experiences of international volunteers, the author used two methods, which were questionnaire and interview. These were both primary research methods. - Questionnaires: The questionnaires were transferred to eighty short-term international volunteers at CSDS. In addition to this, the questions were based on the mentioned aims.
Prior to carrying out the questionnaires, the author gave the samples to ten international volunteers in CSDS in order to get their feedbacks before delivering to the target subjects. - Interviews: The researcher interviewed 10 international volunteers privately in GEP. Moreover, the main aim of this interview was about the recommendations to solve this problem. - Participants: 80 IVs participating in the questionnaire, as well as 10 IVs were chosen accidentally to take part in the interview procedures.
All were short-term IVs who have joined in GEP from 2 weeks to 12 weeks. In addition to this, they have been members in 3 projects: Childcare project (57.5%) and Teaching project (30%). The design of the study The research is divided into four main chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction about CSDS gives the overview about CSDS. Chapter 2: Literature review aims at the theoretical background being relevant to the purposes of the study.
Chapter 3: Data analysis and findings gained from the questionnaires and interview. Chapter 4: Recommendations for international volunteers and CSDS offer some solution to improve this situation. Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ABOUT CSDS This chapter briefly shows overview about CSDS and current problems of the organisation. Overview about CSDS 1.
Background The Centre for Sustainable Development Studies is a Vietnamese non- governmental organization and is also known with an abbreviation name as CSDS. Founded and legally registered in 2009, the organisation is located at No 63, Pham Than Duat street, Mai Dich, Cau Giay district, Hanoi, Vietnam. In addition, its phone number is +84 - 24 6027 8323. The readers can get more information through the company website www.vn and Facebook page: CSDS VN or contact with CSDS via email info@csds.
The slogan of CSDS is “Learn & Inspire”. Missions Being a non-profit organisation, CSDS holds all activities with the purpose of contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The organisation promotes youth and community development as well as international volunteer exchange. In more detail, youth programs focus on Vietnamese youth citizens in different areas in order to help them act more responsibly and contribute to the sustainable development of their community.
On the other hand, through volunteerism, the organisation also encourages the intercultural exchange. The main areas of activities With the above missions, CSDS is making an effort to deal with development issues in Vietnam, particularly focusing on protecting the environment, empowering women and supporting children through social inclusion as well as encouraging youth development through international exchange and non-formal education. - Climate Change/ Environment - Women Empowerment/ Micro Finance - Children Support/ Social Inclusion - Youth Development and Volunteer Exchange Tran Thi Ly - 11163259 - Business English 56B 1. The main programs in CSDS In order to achieve above goals, besides cooperation with the other organisations such as Sao Bien, Durian and New Horizon which impact directly on community, CSDS has two main programs: Youth Empowerment Program and Global Exchange Program.
Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) In this program, CSDS focuses on youth development in difference areas in Vietnam. CSDS holds training courses, contests as well as projects in order to encourage the young to self-develop their skills and knowledge and raise their awareness of social and environmental issues. As a result, the young people will make effective use of their abilities to take action with the aim of contributing to their community. Indeed, YEP includes four big projects and each project is divided into some small ideas: - 2030 Youth Force for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): This project will cooperate with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in order to build the network of young leaders in Asia-Pacific.
Currently, there are eight national networks including Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and India. The young expressing strong desires to countribute to the community will assemble in this regional youth-led network. Using SDG 16 as an entry point, this project aims to inspire youth to participate in activities to achieve 17 SDGs and motivate youth to create optimistic changes in order to promote the peaceful society. - Youth Drives for Change: This one is a comprehensive youth development program which is funded by Irish Aid.
The project comprises of some smaller project such as I Commit, NGO Traineeship and Small Grant. The project strengthens the capacity of core youth-lead. - Gender Dialogue: This project empowers the young and youth’s groups whose ideas help to raise awareness of gender equality and solve the gender issues. The participants can receive a small contribution from the organisation to perform their community level project by themselves.