Theory of Change


Objective & Mission

Tea Talk is a social venture with the mission of enhancing the well-being of the Vietnamese by making counseling and psycho-educational services accessible through the use of interactive drama and other innovative, culturally appropriate platforms.

The Vietnamese enjoy a good cup of tea and coffee in cafés. It is at such cozy settings that they socialize, have conversations and reflections.

Through creative means like interactive drama, Tea Talk seeks to create awareness of social issues among its customers in a non-intrusive and entertaining way.

Tea Talk has identified several leading social problems in Vietnam, namely mental health, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and family life issues.

Tea Talk Model

Tea Talk will employ social workers at the café to engage in efforts to fight stigma through education and dissemination of information on specific social issues. Patrons will be engaged in discussions after dramatic presentations on the subject matter.

At the heart of Tea Talk’s work is authentic participation via skilled facilitation of interactive drama and other innovative platforms, leading to ownership of change and the empowerment to act on it. By developing nonthreatening relationships with patrons, Tea Talk staff can provide quality professional social work assistance to address patrons’ needs. In short, the objectives of raising public awareness of social issues and the availability of quality counseling and psycho-educational services, and increasing the public’s receptivity to these services are what shape the rudimentary service model of Tea Talk.

An endorsement of Tea Talk

“I really like this idea for its originality and the likelihood it can be effective. In its stigmatization of individuals with mental and emotional problems, Vietnam is like many other countries in Asia and around the world. The result is that people who need help are not helped, and families experience problems that might have been avoidable. The answer is education, of course, but how? That’s why I like this idea–it takes the information to the people, where the people are already spending their time. The choice of cafes as the milieu also presents the social issues and the discussion of them in a friendly, positive, non threatening atmosphere. Every society has to start somewhere in addressing needs of this kind; this friendly, disarming approach is a great way to do it.”

by Mrs. Mary Wertsch, Author of the book, Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress

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