Henry Fok Pearl Jubilee College and Honor Collage Co-organized Service-Learning Program in Hainan Lingshui
Author： Fortuno Hong With the aim of providing voluntary services at rural areas in China, Henry Fok Pearl Jubilee College (HFPJC) and Honor Collage (HC) of University of Macau co-organized a service-learning program in Lingshui County of Hainan Province from 19 to 26 December 2018. Led by HFPJC Associate Master Dr. Vivian Jiang, Residential Fellow Dr. Andrew Lao, and HC administrative staff Ms. Eunice Cheang, 21 students (12 from HFPJC and 9 from HC) taught courses such as English for Fun, English Speech, Macau & UM, Sharing on Learning Experiences, Little Inventor workshops, Little Programmer workshops, Marshmallow Challenges, and DIY workshops for students at Lingshui Siyuan Experimental Junior Secondary School. The delegation motivated students through interesting learning and provided them with information on Macao culture. Macau students also visited local students’ families and village of ethnic minorities to know more about the socio-economic development of local society.
To provide better service for the local students, the preparation started two months prior the trip and several meetings of briefing and drilling were held. The students overcame the unexpected troubles and accomplished various tasks during the 8-day service period. The distance between hotel and campus is about 1km. As the result, all members had to get up very early in the morning, walk on foot to the campus and back under the blazing sunshine at noon through the low-latitude area. However, when we were received by extremely friendly and hospital teachers and students at the end of our journey it suffices to make all the hardship worthwhile. UM students have made good friendships with the locals, even during the short period of time. When we were leaving, they were very unwilling to say goodbye.
“To be honest, as I major in education, I thought the service learning program is just for enhancing my teaching skills and my career, at the beginning.” Cheryl Cheang form FED and HFPJC said, “However, from the voluntary teaching experience, I have recognized that education not only can be used to improve our society and country but also influence the student’s life locus fundamentally. Now, my dream is to become an impactful teacher who can also bring the exhilaration to my students.”
With the support from Hong Kong Yan Ai Foundation, HFPJC started service-learning programs for Si Yuan Schools in marginalized communities in Mainland China since 2014. Up to date, this program has served many Si Yuan Schools in various parts of China and has provided diverse creative courses to help the kids to discover their talent in art and creativity and build up their confidence. This is the first time that the HFPJC and HC collaboratively held the service learning program, which was completed successfully. |