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VCIL CARAVAN 2026: A PILGRIMAGE THROUGH VIETNAM - RISING FROM MEMORY
🗓️ Dates: 31/08 – 08/09/2026
📍 Places: Quảng Ngãi – Đà Nẵng – Huế – Quảng Trị
🔗 Registration link: https://luma.com/n7nbnnfm
Some pages of history only truly open when we stand where they were written.
It might be an early morning in front of a memorial. It might be the moment we hear a letter written decades ago. It might be when a local person tells us about their life, about what that land has been through, and about how they are preserving, healing or building the place they live in today.
In those moments, history stops being a timeline. It has sound, the smell of earth after rain, silence, faces, and questions that are not easy to answer.
Over the past hundred years Vietnam has gone through many great transformations. In 1945 the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born, opening the chapter of an independent nation. In 1975 the country was reunified and began the work of rebuilding. The Đổi Mới reforms from 1986 opened a period of deep economic and social change and international integration. These milestones helped shape the Vietnam of today.
But to understand a country, knowing the milestones is not enough. We also need to listen to the lives that were lived inside that history; to see the traces still left on the land; and to recognise that peace, independence, and the chance to study, work, love and choose one's own life have never been a given.
That is the starting point of “Vcil Caravan 2026: A Pilgrimage through Vietnam - Rising from Memory”.
This is not simply a study trip about history, nor a journey of “ticking off as many places as possible”. The Caravan is a pilgrimage to honour those who fell for the independence and freedom of the country; to connect with our shared history with respect and empathy; and to reflect together on the value of peace in our lives today.
Along the way we will travel with letters left behind by soldiers, prayers for peace, old film footage, songs and poems. We will meet specific places and people - not to find a single answer about history, but to learn how to listen to memories with care, humility and a spirit of dialogue.
Every stop will be an open classroom. Instead of only listening to a guide, participants have time to observe, ask questions, talk in small groups, write down what they feel and reflect together. The trip uses place-based, contemplative and peer learning: learning from places, from the people who live and work there, and from your fellow travellers.
But the Caravan does not stop in the past.
From memory we move to the Vietnam of today - a country that rose from the ashes of war more than half a century ago, that is developing fast and, at the same time, facing many new questions. We will meet organisations, individuals, businesses and communities that every day help heal the legacy of landmines and chemical agents; preserve culture and nature; create sustainable livelihoods; and promote education, the arts and responsible business models.
These encounters make a “rising Vietnam” more concrete. Because rising is not only about growth rates or technological achievements. It is also about how we treat memory, the vulnerable, nature, labour, and one another.
As Vietnam pushes forward with science, technology, innovation, digital transformation and green growth, the Caravan creates a space to meet and talk with the people driving innovation, creativity and green development in Central Vietnam. It is also a chance for participants to better understand the changes, opportunities and challenges Vietnam faces in this new era.
The trip will also take you to initiatives and models within the Vcil community network and ecosystem (our Members), to understand more about what Vcil Community is co-creating in order to contribute to a prosperous and resilient Vietnam in its era of rising.
After each day, the group will return to dialogue circles, hours of journaling, storytelling and the silence we need. Because what matters is not only what we have seen, but what stays with us after seeing it.
We hope that after the Caravan each person will bring home a deeper understanding of the link between history, peace and contemporary Vietnam; companions from many generations and fields; and a question, a choice or a commitment clear enough to keep living and working more responsibly.
We hope you will join us on this journey!
Welcome to our very first caravan: “Vcil Caravan 2026: A Pilgrimage through Vietnam - Rising from Memory”.
The programme is reserved for Vcil Members who want to understand Vietnam more deeply through first-hand experience, and who want to connect the way they live, study or work with the bigger questions of the country.
If you are not yet a Member, you can sign up to take part in the programme. Register here.
About Vcil Membership: this is a community and social-innovation ecosystem for people who want to learn, connect and contribute to co-creating positive change in society. The Vcil Caravan is a journey of learning, connection and companionship for Members. Members will help shape this Caravan.
This is a non-profit programme. The basic contribution is 5,000,000 VND per person, used to run the programme; it covers transport during the journey, learning materials, entrance tickets to the sites and local contributions.
Food and accommodation are paid by participants themselves. The estimated total budget for the whole journey is around 7,000,000 - 10,000,000 VND per person, depending on your choice of accommodation and personal spending.
Participants may also make an additional gift contribution towards Vcil Community's coordination, organisation and programme design costs.
Day 31.08:
Morning: Đà Nẵng: Connecting, exchanging and presenting projects among community members
Afternoon: Đà Nẵng: Orientation and programme overview
- Getting to know one another, connecting and orientation for the whole programme.
- An overview of Vietnamese history from the past to the present, as a shared foundation for the days ahead.
Day 01.09: The legacy of war - 50 years after reunification
Film screening and discussion on the theme of war
Đà Nẵng Museum
02/09 · Huế: Engaged Buddhism and social movements in wartime
- Travel to Huế; visit Từ Hiếu Pagoda and Thiên Mụ Pagoda
- Learn about the social movements of the time
- Film screening on the Quảng Trị Citadel, in preparation for the trip to Quảng Trị the next day.
03/09 · Quảng Trị: The Red Summer - battlefield memories and the journey of healing
- Travel from Huế to Quảng Trị.
- Visit the Quảng Trị Citadel and the Thạch Hãn River.
- Visit Hiền Lương Bridge - Bến Hải River, the Trường Sơn National Martyrs' Cemetery and the Vịnh Mốc tunnels.
- Return to Huế.
04/09 · Huế: Culture, the arts, heritage and urban development
- Meet social-innovation projects working through art and culture.
- Visit View Café: a green & recycling café, a homeschooling practice and the story of a Vcil Member.
- On the way from Huế back to Đà Nẵng, visit the Agent Orange centre.
05/09 · Đà Nẵng: Vietnam rising - Innovation, economy and creativity
- Learn about Đà Nẵng's role in regional development.
- Discussion on Vietnam in the new era.
- End-of-day reflection.
- Travel to Bàu Cá Cái, Quảng Ngãi.
06/09 · Quảng Ngãi: Rural Vietnam in globalisation and the choices of young people
- Visit the Bàu Cá Cái wetland and mangrove forest.
- Visit the Dung Quất industrial zone.
- Learn the story of the river, the role of sargassum seaweed and the relationship between industrial development and the local ecosystem.
- Discussion: community-based learning tourism at Bàu Cá Cái; rural areas in globalisation and the choices of young people.
- Return to Đà Nẵng.
07/09 · Hội An: Community learning tourism and the cooperative economy
- An introduction to community-based learning tourism through a visit and conversation with the Kim Bồng Cooperative.
- Sharing and dialogue on cooperatives, local livelihoods and related support policies.
08/09 · Đà Nẵng: Programme wrap-up
- Visit government-led initiatives that promote the start-up and innovation ecosystem.
- Closing reflection and sharing.
- Programme wrap-up.
☘️CONTACT:
- Email: vcil.group@gmail.com
- Hotline/Zalo: 0836 243 541 (Huy) · 0918 580 257 (Trinh)
Vcil Caravan 2026 looks forward to travelling with those who want to move through Vietnam not only to look, but to understand the place they belong to; to cherish peace; and to find a way to contribute to our shared future.
#VcilCaravan2026 #ChuyenHanhHuongVietNam #VuonMinhTuKyUc #VcilCommunity
