In 2008, the UN reported approximately 290,000 people in Vietnam living with HIV/AIDS. The number of patients doubled between 2000 and 2005, drug injection reported to be the main cause. Another cause is sexual transmission. That makes sex workers one of the professional communities most vulnerable to infection in Vietnam.

The local organisation Supporting Community Development Initiatives (SCDI) aims to enhance the life and working conditions of sex workers in Vietnam´s capital Hanoi. Their objective is to integrate this group into society through research and promoting community development models. SCDI provides support for the first self-help groups of sex workers in Hanoi, in an attempt to reduce the risk of HIV infection, drug use and violence.

Interns will focus their work with the organisation on developing trainings for the communities based on their needs. The main objective is to empower individuals by providing useful knowledge and vocational skills that may lead to job opportunities. Also they should enhance their self-confidence in order to make them trainers for their own communities.

Involving the members of the sex workers´ communities in the process of making choices of the vocational training modules will be important for the interns. They will need to build trustful relationships with them in order to assess their needs. There´s a strong desire to learn English within the community, so interns can, for example, develop an English training module. Interns will also edit English texts, assist in researching topics related to counselling and psychological support and offer ideas for the nationwide HIV/AIDS magazine.

Teaching/training experience, especially in English, is necessary for this internship,. Experience working with vulnerable groups or self-help groups is profitable as well as research skills and knowledge about HIV/AIDS, gender issues and reproductive health. Experience with working with sex working communities is very welcome.

The scheduled time for the internship is July to September 2012.Training and preparation seminars prior to the internship will be held in English. The tandem will be formed by a Czech participant and a German/Swiss participant.