Skip to content

Nottingham Business School international student volunteers in quarantine facility during coronavirus crisis

Inspirational MSc International Business student Hai Dinh Ngo assisted international arrivals to his home country of Vietnam

    Hai Dinh Ngo
    MSc International Business student Hai Dinh Ngo

    Hai Dinh Ngo travelled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in March as the Vietnamese government began to implement lockdown measures. New arrivals to the country were asked to move into quarantine facilities in order to limit the spread of the virus.

    Hai used his language ability and interpersonal skills to translate for people from around 13 different countries. The language barriers between staff and visitors in what was a difficult situation meant that good communication was vital to ease the worry of foreign visitors. Hai said: "From the first night I basically became an unofficial translator for people from around 13 different countries, including the USA, Brazil, China and Bangladesh. There were quite a few Bangladeshi migrant workers coming over too who couldn't speak either language so I called a friend in Nottingham from Bangladesh and got him to translate."

    Hai also decided to set up an organisation ‘PACK’, working with local restaurants to provide meals to staff and visitors at the quarantine facilities. He said: “I felt that no one I knew really understood how much hard work is being done by those at the front line to keep us all safe. So I wanted to give thanks and appreciation to our medical workers and the military, and show my support.” His work has so far delivered over 5000 meals to quarantine facilities around the city.

    Hai Dinh Ngo 2
    Hai Dinh Ngo interviewing an Italian citizen at the camp along with a local broadcast company.

    The MSc International Business course has allowed Hai to gain key transferable skills, which he has used to help his community. “I was able to apply all of the business knowledge from NTU and my experiences in my undergraduate degree to develop a long-term vision and tactics for the future growth of my organisation.”

    “The aspect I enjoy the most about the MSc International Business course is to be able to widen my perspective of the world to be able to get access to many opportunities that I simply didn’t know existed before. The resources provided by the Employability team and Library staff have been extremely helpful to improve different skills such as time management or academic writing.”

    “Events such as Professional Networking and Language Café in Tandem organised by the Global Lounge created an opportunity for me to develop a better global network and by debating with different cultural views, I have been able to become a much more well-adjusted individual and a truly global citizen.”

    Dr Ofelia A. Palermo, programme leader for MSc International Business said: "At Nottingham Business School we are proud of our international community and it is our mission to create globally responsible citizens. It is our passion and what we work for. Hai is a testimony of what a student can do with the synergy between knowledge, will and passion."

    Published on 17 June 2020
    • Subject area: Business, management and marketing
    • Category: Business; Nottingham Business School