How Two Weeks in Đà Nẵng Became a Lifetime of Memories

Written by Janthina

Written on July 31, 2026

A Love Letter to Danang, and the 10 strangers who became home. 

“I had hoped to be posted to a project site… somewhere in the city… and one that has a beach.” Those were not my words. They belonged to a fellow Youth Volunteer (YV) from Laos.

For myself, I had been to Vietnam several times before. I visited the north and south, but never central Vietnam. When I found out I would be spending two weeks in Đà Nẵng with Catalyst for Change (C4C) under the Empower Youth Across ASEAN (eyAA) Cohort 6 Programme, I remember wondering, how different could it really be?

But, Đà Nẵng was in fact, very different. For many of my fellow YV, this was their first time in Vietnam. On 7 July 2026, we arrived carrying different passports, cultures and expectations. Yet somewhere between the many shared meals, activities and endless laughter, those differences slowly dissolved. Đà Nẵng felt different, not because of its beaches, cafes or the majestic Dragon Bridge that breathes fire into the night sky. It was different because, under one roof at C4C, ten strangers from across ASEAN somehow became my first and forever favourite memory in Danang. 

Volunteering at Catalyst for Change  

Besides fun, our days were always filled with purpose. Through C4C, we had the privilege of meeting so many strong, amazing women; many of whom were single mothers who had overcome immense personal challenges and started cafes, restaurants and small businesses that now supported not only their own families, but others in their communities. Rather than offering one-off assistance, C4C invests in people by providing training, mentorship, opportunities and a supportive community that allows women to build sustainable livelihoods with dignity. As we YVs visited their businesses and listened to their stories; we witnessed what happens when women are given the chance to flourish. As we could not speak Vietnamese, conversations were mostly navigated with smiles, gestures and Google Translate. Even then, resilience seemed to have a language of its own, felt in the quiet confidence with which these women welcomed us into their spaces. 

Back at the C4C Volunteer House, our work took many forms. Individually, we worked on competitor research notes, and reached out to other organisations to forge new partnerships that could create more opportunities for the women C4C supports. In project groups, we designed empowerment workshops for the community as well as prepared English lessons for children. Before we stepped into the classroom, Paul, a long-time C4C volunteer, patiently walked us through how to structure an engaging lesson plan. Despite being nervous about our language barrier, about our lesson plan, and about whether the students would enjoy our class, the eighteen children we eventually taught were among the most enthusiastic students I had ever met. They were curious, eager and impossibly quick to warm up to us. Our worries quickly washed away, as we journeyed through the lesson on “My House”.

Forty-eight hours in Hội An: The Weekend Market

Upon our arrival in Hoi An (only 40mins away from Danang), we checked into Villa Minh Ơi, a quaint accommodation run by the sweetest grandmother. For lunch, we shared a meal at Bếp Nhà Thu, a women-led restaurant. Then, we headed to Hoi An Ancient town to rent colourful áo dài to wear for the Weekend Market taking place the next day. 

What followed was perhaps one of the most humbling afternoons of the trip.

Armed with flyers and a spirit full of optimism, we split into pairs and dispersed under the hot afternoon sun, through the bustling streets of Hội An to invite passers-by to visit the Weekend Market. Many politely declined. Some, we had heartfelt exchanges with. Others thought we were scammers. We encouraged one another, and kept going, believing that perhaps the next conversation would make a difference. The next day, when a handful of those conversations turned into familiar faces at the market over the weekend, we were elated! After the Weekend Market ended, we headed back to Danang and watched the finals of the Đà Nẵng International Fireworks Festival that night. China and Portugal competed, guess who won? 

The following evening, we joined a small crowd gathered on the Dragon Bridge, near the Son Tra Night Market, to watch the dragon breathe fire before showering the crowd with water. As someone from Singapore, it was probably the closest I would come to experiencing Songkran. 

There never seemed to be a dull moment in Đà Nẵng.

Special, Ordinary Moments  

Even our day offs somehow became another shared adventure.

Some volunteers headed off to Bà Nà Hills, sending us picturesque postcards of misty mountains and cool weather. The rest of us had intentions of spending the day alone, yet we all eventually wandered back together, through a tiny second-hand store hidden on the third floor of a café where we spent 2 hours and a few million Vietnamese Dong combined, shopping. Perhaps these moments, are what I will remember most. Not the landmarks, but the ordinary moments in between: 

The kitchen ladies who prepared home-cooked meals every single day, and even occasionally slipped us sweets, making us feel like children again.

The 5 a.m. paddleboarding trip into the sunrise, where one YV dropped her phone into the sea, prompting a rescue mission involving a diver who somehow managed to retrieve it from the ocean floor.

The jokes that only the eleven of us will ever fully understand.

As I write this from Cà Phê Buổi Sáng, a café lovingly run by one of C4C’s beneficiaries, I find myself thinking about what Catalyst for Change has quietly built here. Beyond a collection of businesses or programmes, this was a community where women lift one another up, where livelihoods are restored with dignity and where hope quietly ripples from one family to another.

Beyond volunteering, this experience was about witnessing resilience that doesn’t always announce itself loudly. It was about learning that meaningful change is rarely created through grand gestures. Sometimes, it begins with a woman opening the doors to her cafe each morning; a single mother discovering confidence through a new skill; or a child finding the courage to speak a new language. Most importantly, it begins with a community choosing to invest in one another.

To my fellow YVs: Thank you for every shared meal, inside joke, work session, every conversation that challenged my perspectives and every memory that made these two short weeks feel impossibly full.