A Year in the “Motherland”: How Volunteering Became a Journey of Identity

When Ngoc Anh decided to do a voluntary service in Vietnam in 2011, it wasn’t a straightforward choice. She had already started university – mainly because that’s what everyone else was doing. But orientation was missing. Unlike many of her fellow students, she felt she was one of the few who hadn’t spent time abroad. Then a new idea took shape: “Why not Vietnam – the place where my roots are? I wanted to travel independently of my family, do something social, and at the same time live abroad.”

Ngoc Anh grew up in Saxony. Her parents had come to East Germany as contract workers from Vietnam. Vietnam, to her, was little more than childhood stories and family holidays. Now she wanted to dive deeper, on her own terms. More than just work or an internship, volunteering meant for her: arriving – in a country that felt familiar through family, yet never truly her own.

At first, the plan was a short, self-funded stay: six months in Vietnam, the land of her parents, a country she had long kept at a distance. But soon it was clear: she wanted to stay longer. She lived with Vietnamese students, learned the language, got involved in everyday life, and connected with local volunteers. While others complained about missing structures or homesickness, Ngoc Anh felt she was exactly where she belonged: “I didn’t feel homesick – rather the opposite: I finally felt like I had found a place where I could discover myself in new ways. It really did me good to be far away from my old environment.”

At first glance, locals saw her as one of their own – not, like white volunteers, approached with curiosity. But she says in hindsight: “Instead, I built entirely different, deeper friendships.” From six months, the stay turned into a full year.

Most formative was her confrontation with her family history. Through conversations with Vietnamese people, she realized: “I learned an incredible amount for my own identity development.” Suddenly she understood traits, communication styles, and values she had once associated only with her parents – and often judged negatively. Distance from Germany, from old expectations and roles, helped her to see herself anew.

Even after returning, Vietnam remained close. Ngoc Anh went back several times, visited friends, stayed in touch with future volunteers and her placement, and once even brought her sister along. “Volunteering was the trigger for me wanting to keep coming back.”

Today, she is active in Vietnamese–German networks, expresses her identity artistically, and works as a musician and performer. Her song Motherland, born from her experiences, was filmed in Vietnam in 2022 with a Viet–German crew – exactly ten years after her service. A “full-circle moment,” as she calls it.

What sets Ngoc Anh apart from other volunteers? Her year in Vietnam was not a stopgap – but a turning point. Not a filler between school and university, but the beginning of a lifelong engagement with origin, identity, and responsibility.

That’s why she doesn’t hesitate for a second when asked what advice she would give to young people with a similar background: “If you have the chance to go to the ‘Motherland’ – do it. Living there independently is a completely different experience than traveling with family. I’m so grateful I got to do this in my early twenties.”