Bermudian in Vietnam ushers change through football
A Bermudian living in Vietnam is hoping to raise money for a school and charity that he started in the country.
Aiyetoro Hinds, 29, is the head of extracurricular activities at UPP Global, a football academy and charity school focused on teaching pupils from all socio-economic backgrounds.
He said he hoped to raise $27,000 help children of all ages and backgrounds learn how to get an education and football training.
Mr Hinds, who left for Vietnam on Thursday, said: “My major goal right now is to increase the development of young people in Vietnam, both kids who are not in school and who are in school.”
He said that, through his role at UPP Global, he teaches children life skills, physical education and football, while co-ordinating field trips and “anything that’s outside of the classroom”.
UPP Global is split into three parts — the football academy, which helped low-income students; English classes for children attending school; and a charity school, St Joseph’s Catholic School.
Mr Hinds said St Joseph’s helped out children who were “very poor”. The institution has been the primary focus of his funding efforts.
He told The Royal Gazette: “They come from mostly Cambodia and Laos or very rural areas of Vietnam, and they’re in situations where their parents are not working, they’re displaced citizens because of natural disasters and this school gives them free education.
“When I raise money, it’s mostly for them, because their situation is very serious.
“Their living conditions are terrible. Some of these kids are 10 but they haven’t been in school since kindergarten.
“In some cases, some of them are 15 years old and they haven’t been in school since they were 7.
“So you have kids who are 15 that are in grade 2, or kids that are 13 who are in grade 4.”
Mr Hinds said that, between his free classes and paid services, he was able to unite privately educated students and unschooled children on the same team.
He added: “It’s honestly amazing to see them come from two completely different worlds, yet they’re brought together on one football team with a shared goal, with shared passion.”
Aiyetoro Hinds said that he moved to Vietnam in 2020 to gain experience teaching in other countries.
He explained that, as a master’s degree holder in international law and international relations, he wanted to get experience working overseas in developing countries.
Mr Hinds said: “I knew I wanted to go to Asia and I was looking at countries in different parts in Southeast Asia.
“Vietnam, I didn’t know much about, other than the past conflicts with the US and I saw that it’s a good country and it’s developing fast.
“I thought ‘I want to go there’, because even though it’s developed very well, there are parts of the country that are in need.
“I wanted to use my experiences to go help young people in that country.”
He initially taught English as a second language while taking part in sports-related charity projects.
Mr Hinds said he only planned to be in Vietnam for six months, but the Covid-19 pandemic stranded him in the country.
“I actually got quite lucky,” Mr Hinds said, “because after Covid, a lot of people left the country, meaning once the ban was lifted there were a lot of opportunities for teachers.
“I actually had a choice of where to go after that.”
He added: “When I first got there, I was loving the new culture, I was loving being part of a new community and eating the food.
“It wasn’t until after Covid and I started working full-time that I started really missing home.
“I realised ‘this is too busy, this is too crazy, there are bikes everywhere, no one speaks the same language as me’.”
Mr Hinds added that, because Covid-19 got into the country through visitors, there was some xenophobia in Vietnam that he faced as a foreigner.
He added: “Everyone was staring — everyone was constantly staring at me.
“Even just being Black as well, that was a big thing. [There were] people asking to take pictures of me, people asking me questions constantly, people videotaping me.
“Now that’s not your every day, but it happened quite a lot, especially when you got into the more rural areas of the country.”
Despite the difficulties, Mr Hinds said he chose to stay because he saw the difference that he was making.
Mr Hinds began working in Vietnam in 2020 as an English teacher and fell in love with the country and his work.
He said that he started the charity after noticing that many of the youngsters that lived in the area of his preferred football pitch did not train there.
He explained: “I asked the owner of the field ‘why don’t the kids who are from this area use the pitch?’ She said they can’t afford it.
“That got me quite upset because, growing up, football wasn’t really only done for money. It was done because you loved the game and it was a sport that anyone could play.
“I grew up in a place where we could go to a field and just play football.”
He added: “I asked her, ‘if I paid for this field, can you get the kids to come join my classes?’
“She said, ‘Toro, if you do that then you can use the field for free’.”
Mr Hinds said that, as he taught the children how to play football, he realised some of them were not in school and came from “very difficult families”.
Through his classes, he said, Mr Hinds offered them English lessons through another organisation.
Mr Hinds added that, as time went on, he started offering basic academic classes to provide an education that many of his pupils severely lacked.
He said that UPP Global oversees 130 students across the academic and football classes.
He added that, by uniting them, the children have learnt life skills from each other.
Mr Hinds said: “The kids that come from wealthy families now understand how lucky they are.
“At first it was a challenge because some of my other kids were rude — they’d curse, they’d shout, they couldn’t control their emotions or their temper — but from them seeing the kids that are more well-behaved, they influence each other in positive ways.”
He added that football was a great medium to unite these children because they had to work together towards a shared goal.
Mr Hinds said: “I think these kids as well as myself have passion for football and even though we come from different backgrounds, we all love football, so that brings us together.”
He added: “I think sports, not just football, is a way to bring people together.
“Whether you are enemies in a political or a cultural sense, bringing people on a football field can really bring people together.
“Some of these kids would never speak to each other, they wouldn’t even maybe cross paths in life, but the sport has allowed them to not only cross paths but become friends and that for me is really beautiful.”
Mr Hinds said he hoped to raise $10,000 by this December.
He added that the $27,000 would cover schooling for 100 students, and teachers’ salaries for a year.
Mr Hinds said: “As a Bermudian, I understand that we have our own problems and our own issues, and a long-term goal is for me to come home and help within my own community.”
He added: “Coming from Bermuda, that [$27,000] is not a lot of money — out there that’s 100 children’s education covered.
“Anyone who wants to support poor children in Vietnam through a Bermudian, please help and support any way that you can.”
• For more information, visit UPP Global’swebsite
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