Our Rainbow Village project reached out to families who had, for generations, lived on a rubbish dump site where they worked by scavenging through the site. With partners Habitat for Humanity and the Catalyst Foundation, our volunteers took part in eight immersion trips to South Vietnam. We contributed $500,000 to this project and together we built a total of 257 homes over a five-year period.

With additional support from local government authorities and Vietnamese-based charities, we also supported the development of a school and vocational training centre in Rainbow Village, as well as provided micro loans to assist in the transition from the dumpsite and to build new sources of income for the community.

The purpose of the Rainbow Village project was to break the cycle of poverty that existed for these families, whose children previously spent their days scavenging amongst the tip. It built basic, permanent homes for 90 families and helped create a safer, healthier and more promising future. The incoming members of Rainbow Village were given official citizenship papers and have tenure to their houses and the right to transfer the property to other families who are classified as the poorest of the poor.