Making it happen in THEIR community!

From left: Taryn, Zu, Caitlin, Steph, Kristine, and La

One of the strengths with working in Lao Chai village is the community of local Hmong guides who call Lao Chai home.

As children, girls like Lyly, Chai, Zu, Za, and La followed groups of tourists as they trekked through their village and onto the neighbouring village of Tavan. The afternoons would have been spent befriending some of those trekkers from all over the world. A product of those friendships was an uncanny knack for picking up different languages including English. The ability to speak English along with their local knowledge made them the perfect candidates to become tour guides.

Lyly and Zu leading a community mapping workshop.

Today this community of guides, most of them girls, are famous for their friendly, charismatic and cheeky approach to guiding. They make up the greater majority of guides in the Sapa region, and have moved on to leading and managing tours throughout Vietnam.

Za teaching her mother and sister-in-law how to cook pancakes for breakfast.

Over the past week we have had five of these guides join our CBT Vietnam team. With little direction Lyly, Chai, Zu, Za and La have transformed from translators – both from Hmong to Vietnamese and Hmong to English – to community based tourism experts. They are leading community discussions, acting as homestay consultants, and delivering training to THEIR communities, neighbours, friends and family.

Lyly, Chai, Zu, Za, and La, from the entire CBT Vietnam team from Capilano University and Hanoi Open University, thank you for your support. Your enthusiasm and spirit have been instrumental over the past week.