Know of Any Grassroots Organizations in Southeast Asia?

I will be heading back to Vietnam for the first time in since I was 5 years old. I am a 29 year old Vietnamese-American female. I was born in Binh Duong, Vietnam (near Saigon). I lived most of my life in the United States (received my education there). My last country of residence was Mongolia. I was a Community Youth Development United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Darkhan, Mongolia. I worked in a Japanese privately funded orphanage implementing vocational programs and seasonal projects. Oh, I also taught English and Life Skills.

From November-March I am heading to Southeast Asia (Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam; Laos; Chang Mai and Northern Thailand near the Burmese border; and Phnom Penh, Cambodia) to do short-term international work (about 2-3 weeks in each location) for local non-profits. My experience as an immigrant from South Vietnam combined with my recent exposure to international development at a grassroots level has strengthened my desire to focus on issues concerning Southeast Asia. I am applying for International Development graduate programs with a focus on Southeast Asia for the fall of 2010. The short-term international development experience is to witness first-hand the development issues that are affecting the local people. This will give me a better idea of what type of development projects I want to implement in the future.

I have two years of abroad international development experience at a grassroots level, three years experience working with vulnerable women and children including immigrant families, single-parent families, teenage prostitutes, street children, and orphans. Additionally, I have conducted trainings in resume writing, interview skills and applying to universities for admissions and scholarships to college students, livelihood skills training in sewing, cooking, and basic computer skills to former teen prostitutes, and Life Skills training in self-esteem and critical thinking to orphans.

If you have any suggestions of great non-profits that do hands-on grassroots work in anywhere in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand (outside of Bangkok) or Cambodia please let me know. I am looking especially a non-governmental, non-profit organization that deals primary with women and/or children but not a public or English teaching school (vocational schools are fine). For instance, orphanages and/or shelters that deals with trafficking, street children, prostitution, refugees, domestic violence or immigration.

At the moment, I am having a hard time finding organizations where I don’t have to pay to volunteer.

Help. 

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