Microfinance Tour Assistants

Bloom Microventures is looking for two part-time volunteers to work as Microfinance Tour Assistants.

Based in Hanoi, Bloom Microventures is an international non-governmental, non-profit social enterprise organization established in the UK in and has been operating in Vietnam for just over one year.

Bloom Microventures is pioneering an award-winning innovative model that combines pro-poor tourism and microcredit to provide opportunities for livelihood enhancement amongst rural and marginalized communities in Vietnam.

They offer a unique, socially responsible tour product, their Microfinance Day Tour, to rural communities whereby tourists learn about microfinance, agriculture and rural livelihoods, explore local attractions, and meet their pre-screened women borrowers. A significant portion of the tour fees directly finance a non-collateral, low-interest microloan to a woman our guests meet during their tour.

Responsibilities:

-      Field work:

o    Assist Bloom staff with preparing and running microfinance tours every Sunday to our project site in Hoa Binh province, including introducing our model to our tourists, facilitating conversations between our Vietnamese borrowers and our foreign tourists, and other tour logistics.

-      Office work:

o    Write up tour reports and update notes on our borrowers based on the information exchanged during each tour.

o    Assist with other post-tour duties, including liaising with our tourists.

For every tour day, lunch and a small stipend will be provided.

Requirements:

-      Fluent in English and Vietnamese
-      Willingness to work every Sunday
-      Strong sense of cultural sensitivity, being tactful and responsive to cross-cultural circumstances
-      Capable of engaging yourself and guests in conversations and activities during tours
-      Be positive, sociable, and energetic
-      Strong problem-solving skills
-      Minimal commitment period of 6 months
-      Previous tourism-related experience desirable but not required.

Interested applicants should send a CV and cover letter to Ly Tran at [email protected] before June 6, 2012.