Hanoi Kids guide tourists for free
05/11/07 (GMT+7)
Hanoi Kids guide tourists, while searching the Internet for information on Vietnam, you are likely to stumble across postings by the Hanoi-based student group, Hanoi Kids.
A volunteer travel group, they proudly claim their passion for Hanoi and assert they know every corner of their home town. And while pessimists may scoff at the idea of a free travel guide, this group of students is ready and willing to show you everything the city has to offer.
So if you’re an adventurous visitor wishing to discover more about Vietnamese culture and its people, Hanoi Kids is the way to go.
The volunteer group consists of college students from Hanoi’s many universities, and began as nothing more than a few young people interested in cultural activities wanting to improve their English language skills through outdoor activities.
"All we want is to make friends with foreigners and introduce our city to all of you. We do it absolutely free, just as a friend who loves their history, culture and people, shows his friends the city where he lives," says Nguyen Nam Trung, one of the group’s early founders.
While university volunteer groups normally work during the summers, Hanoi Kids’ young cultural interpreters have tried their best to set up a serious long-term plan through the semester’s ups and downs.
"Our motto is to bring strangers closer to each other and create a sharing and loving environment. Therefore, we work to show friends from around the world our beautiful Hanoi. We give them background knowledge on the city’s unique personality, helping visitors and club members develop love for Hanoi. Such activities are free of charge and we refuse to receive any tips at all. Moreover, we are also set on considerably improving our English through practice," said Nguyen Thi Mien, a third year student of Ha Noi University of Technology and another leader of Hanoi Kids.
In the beginning, the group approached foreigners by handing out flyers in tourist-dense areas, but the work was unsuccessful. Not ready to give up, the group posted advertisements on international travel websites and forums such as www.travellerspoint.com and the Thorn Tree forum. Things went from bad to worse. Some forums like the Thorn Tree banned their posts because they didn’t trust the idea of a free tour.
But as this happened, the group also began receiving praise from friends across the world.
"Be assured you have many friends and supporters here who enjoyed your posts for the enthusiasm, selflessness and friendliness evident in all your writings. Many such supporters are long-term travellers like me, who realise one of the highlights of any journey is meeting friendly, helpful and curious local kids such as you," wrote Bob Cunning, a Scottish frequent user of the Thorn Tree forum after the group’s posts had been removed and they were technically banned.
Since those difficult early days, things have changed greatly. The group has successfully organised 64 tours for more than 300 tourists from all corners of the world. Their story has made the headlines of many Vietnamese newspapers, and they have been guests on youth television channels such as VTV6 or VTC1.
"We have now received a lot of encouragement from tourists. Young students have already found our activities compelling and worth spending their time on. Most importantly, we’re proud to have become one important representative of Hanoi’s youth," Mien said.
The group often leads visitors around the city to requested venues, and the Kids fully understand that whether travellers feel welcome, want to stay longer or decide to come back depends largely on them.
So ensure the quality of their tours and improve their English, the tour guides sit together every Sunday afternoon for a self-training course.
"On the first Sunday of every month, our current 32 key members take turns making a short presentation about research they’ve done, which equips us with greater knowledge about city sites. Then on the following Sunday, we often have field trips to those places. On the last Sunday of the month, we review the team’s work," said Hoang Dieu Linh, another Hanoi Kids member.
Mathew Lee, an English reporter and traveller, just made his first visit to Vietnam, and desperately needed a helping hand to show him around. After hanging out with Hanoi Kids, Mathew found that Vietnamese students were experienced amateur local guides and making friends with them was the quickest way to learn about both the country and its people.
"I’ll write an article to introduce Hanoi Kids to my friends," he wrote.
John and Pauline, an elderly couple, expressed appreciation for the group’s delightful companionship and praised their freelance positions as mini-ambassadors of Vietnam.
"We learned so much from you and hope you learned a little from us. The lunch with Hanoi Kids will stay long in our memories," wrote John in his thank-you letter.
Since May 2006, the group has clearly come a long way, and yet despite their achievements, there are still many lingering problems.
According to Mien, the fact that Hanoi Kids is a volunteer group for young students inevitably poses problems. "The very first difficulty is that most of us are students, who are usually busy with studying, or part-time jobs. Therefore, the number of members is generally unstable and sometimes hurts the development of our group," she commented.
But in spite of those obstacles, the enthusiastic young tour guides have sped up their promotional campaign and continue to work on becoming a reliable source on Hanoi culture and history.
"We’re looking for co-operation with other groups, restaurants, travel agents or international organisations, to make this dream come true," Mien said.
(Source: Viet Nam News)
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