My name is Hiroki Suyama and in January 2015 I took part in the Bloom Microventures program in Vietnam. I began my trip on the 10th of January two days before the beginning of the program. First stop, Singapore! Entering the mustard coloured interior of the budget airline, Scoot, is what I think marks the…

Hi my name is Daniel. I was a participant in BUiLD Abroad’s 2015 Summer program in Vietnam with Bloom Microfinance, which assists female farmers in rural areas in northern Vietnam, by providing microloans to help fund entrepreneurial activities. This was my first experience on a BUiLD Abroad trip. The core of the trip involved two…

From riding shotgun with talkative cab drivers, playing volleyball with the village locals to reminiscing over my journey 63 floors above Hanoi, my Summer BUiLD Program was one not to be forgotten. There have been too many experiences to recount on my 21-day journey but before I formally begin my reflection, I’d like to first…

I had no idea of what to expect from Vietnam. As a child born into a family of Vietnamese immigrants, the stories I have heard were punctuated by laughter that masked the dark aftermath of war. My knowledge of Vietnamese culture was knowing that nước mắm was delicious despite its smell; my grasp of the…

“Cảm ơn” This became my favourite saying traveling around Hanoi. It is the Vietnamese word for Thank you. Traveling with 12 other UTS students around Hanoi with Bloom Microventures was an adventure I’ll never forget. Learning about the use of microcredit loans and exploring around both urban and rural areas around Vietnam was an equally…