Serena, volunteer and newly appointed vice president of GTV, spent last year conducting her thesis research with GTV in Xin Man district in northern Vietnam. Her research focused on the ISABEL project, which aims to contribute to improving school inclusion and the well-being of children with disabilities in the Xin Man District.
We are pleased to share her experience, an important testimony to the significance of investing in inclusive education in rural contexts like those where GTV operates.

"From August to November 2024, I was in Vietnam conducting my thesis research on the actors involved in the growth, education, and care of children with disabilities in Xin Man district. This choice came from my desire to return to Vietnam after spending a semester at Hanoi University in 2023 and to deepen my knowledge of GTV’s projects directly in the field. My research activities were connected to the ISABEL project, which started halfway through my stay in Vietnam.
In the initial phase, I interviewed 18 families across the four communes involved in the project: 3 in Ban Diu, 5 in Trung Thing, Quang Nguyen, and Na Chi. In total, the children with disabilities reached were 22, as some families had siblings with disabilities. The interviews mainly focused on the support families can rely on in raising children with disabilities and the impact this has on their lives, highlighting the strengths of local communities, such as mutual collaboration and a strong sense of belonging, but also the needs of the families themselves. 
Indeed, it emerged that although most families accept and care deeply for their child, they often lack the means and knowledge to adequately face the daily challenges related to disability. This highlighted the need for more structured and accessible support, both in terms of educational and health services and training opportunities for parents, so that they can feel more competent and less isolated in their journey.
Afterwards, I participated in school visits in Ban Diu alongside professional educators from the Thuy An Rehabilitation Centre, a facility for people with disabilities near Hanoi. During these visits, the educators evaluated the situation of students with disabilities in their daily school life, offering advice to teachers on how to better engage their students with special needs

Unfortunately, due to the timing of the project and my research, it was not possible to attend other activities, but overall, this was an important experience for me, both personally and academically.
I had the opportunity to deepen my understanding of the challenges faced by families with children with disabilities in a rural and culturally distant context from my own and to observe firsthand the dynamics of cooperation between local communities, schools, and government institutions.
This experience also allowed me to reflect on the value of listening, field presence, and participatory approaches in research and in designing inclusive interventions".

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