On May 13, 2019, 09 students and 01 lecturer from Vancouver Island University (VIU) – Canada took part in an cultural and academic exchange with students of the School of Engineering and Technology at Tra Vinh University (TVU) .
The exchange program takes place in 3 weeks, from May 13 to June 02, 2019. 09 VIU students with 09 TVU students are divided into 3 working groups. They are arranged in the same room to learn from each other in all living and learning activities as well as to exchange language, cultural and academic experiences.
Dr. Nguyen Minh Hoa, Head of Engineering and Technology FacultySchool said: “All activities of the program have been prepared in detail by both parties. The goal is to help students “learn to play, play to learn” through academic and cultural exchange activities in the form of experiential learning. All entertainment activities are also integrated into academic activities and vice versa”.
At first activities of the program, the students are introduced about Tra Vinh Province, Tra Vinh University and Vancouver Island University. They introduce together through an exciting game, namely Ice Breaking. Each VIU – TVU student get to know each other, then each person draws his or her friend on paper and introduced to the group. This game helps students understand each other and stays friendly to create a connecting bridge for future activities.
The students have participated in other activities such as visiting beautiful and famous places in Tra Vinh, visiting Tra Vinh University, taking part in cooking contest, studying on Labor Safety, visiting the historical site of President Ho Chi Minh Temple at Tra Vinh City, and Con Phung in Ben Tre province.
Visiting Hang Pagoda and Tra Vinh Khmer cultural museum help the students understand more about Khmer people such as living culture, temple architecture, culture of paddy cultivation,embroidery, knitting, mat weaving, mask making, painting on glass and leaves…
Cooking is integrated into the program. The groups of students go to the market together and prepared materials to cook Vietnamese dishes such as: egg rolls, spring rolls, .. and learn about spices and traditional characteristic materials. From that, the students understand more about living characteristic as well as the idyllic and sincere personality of Vietnamese people.
The visit to Con Phung in Ben Tre provides the students knowledge on culture and lifestyle of the people in Southern and Western of Viet Nam. Especially, the students also got a chance tolearn how to keep bees to get honey, to be deposited in Ca Co melodies and to learn about the process of making coconut candy…
VIU and TVU students also attend a running tournament for community by Tra Vinh Sacombank Bank. VIU student Nickolas said: “In Canada, we also often do exercise. Jogging is the most popular. This is the first time I take part in such an exciting tournament in Vietnam. If I have opportunity, I will continue to participate in the activities, like this in Vietnam”.
According to Dr. Brian, VIU lecturer: “During the program, the students of two countries are going to join experiential activities from community-based activities to technical activities such as designing toys for children from recycling things, repairing electricity for poor households … ”
The cultural and academic exchange program will continue until June 2, 2019. In the upcoming days, the students of two universities are very excited with technical activities which are useful for the community.
MN
