Youths set for voluntary work in Vietnam

A group of teenagers from Cumberland are looking forward to a year volunteering in Vietnam, it has been reported.

Bernard Greaves, aged 19, will join 17-year-olds Declan Johnston, Jonathan Chan, Sebastian Duggan in south-east Asia next year helping to build an orphanage.

The youths, all of whom attended St Aloysius' College, are happy to be undertaking voluntary work in 2012 abroad ahead of university.

Sebastian told the Cumberland Courier that he had already spent a rewarding period with school in The Philippines, and was looking forward to another adventure.

He described his previous experience, helping to build houses in a cramped squatter community, as "an eye-opener".

Classmate Declan said he was looking to give his life "meaning" ahead of enrolling on a maths and science degree programme.

For Bernard, who left St Aloysius' College, this will be the third trip to Vietnam – a Communist country with high levels of poverty in rural areas.

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