Our volunteers Elena and Serena have chosen to venture to Vietnam for a three-month research period as part of their thesis. In this article, we recount their experience so far.

Elena is in her final year of the master's program in European and International Studies at the University of Trento. She first got involved with GTV in 2020, starting as an intern. During her internship, she gained a deeper understanding of the organization, primarily collaborating on the communication and dissemination of the "Water for All" project, which she chose as a case study for her undergraduate thesis. In 2022, she received the G. Lorenzin association's thesis award for her work on the human right to water, which allowed her to travel to Vietnam for the first time in 2023. In 2024, Elena joined the GTV board and chose to further explore one of the organization's projects for her master's research.

Her research focuses on development economics. Elena will examine the impacts and potential replicability of POEMA: Project for Opposing Early Marriages. The main goal of POEMA was to reduce early marriage and raise awareness of children's rights, gender equality, and reproductive health in communities of several villages in Ha Giang province between 2023 and 2024.

Elena arrived in Hanoi in mid-July. During her first weeks in Vietnam, she traveled to the Xin Man district to monitor GTV's projects and begin her field research, meeting local authorities and visiting the POEMA target schools. She then returned to Hanoi, where, with the support of GTV’s representative for Vietnam, Kien Vu Duy, she began planning the main part of her thesis research in more detail: administering a standardized questionnaire to all students in schools involved in the POEMA project and another school outside the project.

Serena, on the other hand, arrived in Hanoi just a couple of weeks ago. This is also her second experience in Vietnam; last year, she spent a semester studying at the University of Hanoi. She is pursuing an undergraduate degree in International Studies at the University of Trento and learned about our association through a lecture given during the International Cooperation Institutions course by Prof. Sicurelli. During the five months she has already spent in Vietnam, she volunteered for GTV, translating letters from children sponsored through the program and writing articles for our website.

Her research aims to interview those involved in the care, upbringing, and education of children with disabilities in Xin Man, including the families and teachers of these children, who will later take part in the ISABEL project – School Inclusion and Support for Children with Special Educational Needs – as well as representatives from local authorities and the community. Her research will be ecological in nature, focusing on the life experiences, dynamics, and interactions between the actors involved and the surrounding environment, while considering the social, cultural, and environmental context.

Elena and Serena will depart for Xin Man in a few days to begin their field research activities. We wish them all the best!