Author: sunwahAdmin

In November 2019, our Sunwah Global Young Leaders Network (Sunwah GYLN)- Vietnam Chapter members were invited to Macao to participate in the “Macau Sunwah GYLN International Summit 2019” organized by Sunwah Group at University of Macau. The trip not only leaves memorable experiences for all GYLN chapters from various countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Macao, China, Japan, UK, Canada, Cambodia and Vietnam but also creates valuable opportunity for us to strengthen our international outlook, friendship and leadership skills.

Innovation Network Seminar by Sunwah and Innovation Center of University of Macau

On the very first day (31 October) when we just arrived at Macau, we had a great opportunity to learn about the world’s latest innovations in various fields such as education, business, medicine, technology, etc. at the Innovation Center of University of Macau.

In the afternoon, several representatives of Sunwah-GYLN attended an Innovation Network Seminar organized by Sunwah Group and the Center, in which Sunwah’s key partners from Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China and Vietnam shared their experiences and achievement of working on innovation in their own regions; among all, Vietnam left a strong impression for all the attendees for not only its rapid integration, but also its dynamic startup ecosystem.

After the seminar, we were invited to a welcome dinner with all other GYLN members. It was a great honor to greet Ms. Betty Chan, Executive Director of Sunwah Foundation, Sunwah Group and many other professors, experts from Canada, US and China to join the dinner with us. During the dinner, we also have the chance to listen to inspiring sharings delivered by representatives of Canada Chapter,Vietnam Chapter and Japan Chapter. Even though the dinner was the very first time that we met each other,  we were so impressed by the enthusiasm and confidence of all GYLN members.

“Sunwah Group: From Macau to the World 62 Years” event

To celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC, the 20th Anniversary of the Return of Macau to Mainland China and the 5th Anniversary of Choi Kai Yau College in the University of Macau, Sunwah Group has organized the event “Sunwah Group: From Macau to the World 62 Years” at University of Macau.  On the 1st of November, all GYLN members were invited to join the International Conference “New Trend in Education and International Exchange”, one of the main activity of the “Sunwah: From Macau to the World 62 Years” event at Mr. and Mrs. Lau Chor Tak Lecture Theatre.

The conference started with the welcome remarks delivered by Dr Jonathan Choi, Chairman of Sunwah Group and Sunwah Foundation. His remarks was so inspiring and touching, allowing us to learn more about the connection of Sunwah Group with Macau as well as his committment to promoting educational and cultural development, as well as to facilitating the international exchanges among various countries and regions. During the Plenary Session, there were many speeches given by professors from prestigious educational institutions and universities around the world. The conference gave us a variety of new ideas and terminologies about education and innovation. Listening to these fruitful speeches kept us questioning ourselves how to keep up with the fast-moving world out there and how to be a global citizen as well as a leader in our own community.

In the afternoon, we attended the “Choi Kai Yau College 5th Anniversary Celebration’’ and the photo exhibition by the college students named  “The Hidden Beauty of Macau”, provoking our interest in beautiful antique streets to hustle Macau by night. It is widely known that Macau is “City of the Name of God, there is none more loyal’’, but after visiting the exhibition, we got to know the fact that Macau also had its own cultural identity with a long continuous history. The glamour of casinos and starred hotels was overshadowed with the unembellished beauty of the original people living outside the city centre.

Cultural Show

The Cultural Show evening brought various performances from China, Japan, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Vietnam under the theme of “Sunwah: From Macau to the World for 62 years”. The countries and regions represented in this show are places where Sunwah Group has established its business, education and culture networks. It is a precious opportunity for all GYLN members to learn about cultural diversity to broaden our horizons.

The China’s Dun Huang Dance performed by the Beijing Dance Academy brought us beautiful feelings about human’s passion and emotions; the Japanese’s traditional dance expressed Japanese elegance through the eternal property of their country; the Cambodian’s Apsara performances showed a classic dance for pleasing gods and humankind, to keep the harmony of the universe. The “Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen” was inspirationally performed by Ms Carol Lin via her powerful, light, and high voice to send a love message.

The Cultural Show ended with Vietnam Chapter performing their traditional song “Rice Drum” and a choir of all GYLN members singing the song  “Fly”. After only one day rehearsing together, we became friends and partners, shared every moment of joy, happiness and above all – unity. Everyone put all their heart and soul into the performance, sang along together and held each other’s hand tightly as friends. All of us will always keep in our mind the beauty of that night, the cheerful smiles of our friends, and the intimate friendship of GYLN.

Workshop of the dance groups from China, Cambodia, Japan and Hong Kong

With the aim of helping GYLN members have a good grasp of the meaning of the performances in the Cultural Show, Sunwah Group held this workshop on the following day at Choi Kai Yau College. It was the first time we had met such incredible people from different parts of the world working in performing arts and learned about their career as well as the hidden messages conveyed in every performance. Some were hard to comprehend but for us, all the performers had done an admirable job of not only preserving their traditional cultural values but also soothing other people’s souls through their elegant movements on the stage.

The Leadership training workshop by Peter Lougheed Leadership College, University of Alberta, Canada

The leadership training workshop prepared by Dr Stasia, Director of Instruction, Peter Lougheed Leadership College, University of Alberta, helped GYLN members learn a myriad of things relating to leadership. In detail, we learned about different leadership styles, formal versus informal authority, charismatic leadership, followership and how to build purpose statement. We were all interested in the teaching method of Dr Cristina Stasia and her teaching fellows. To us, they are more than a lecturer, they are also heartfelt inspirers. They motivated us to step outside our comfort zone, voice our opinions and learn from each other. Activities held during the workshop were extremely delightful, engaging all GYLN members to join energetically.

This not only enabled us to understand the lessons at a greater extent but also created a chance for us to build mutual understanding within the network. On the second day of the workshop, we were all touched when Panha – the Cambodian member carefully held our precious possession, attentively listened to us sharing our personal stories related to the thing and in the end, she burst into tears. That emotional moment made us feel much closer to each other.

We truly appreciate the opportunity of attending this wonderful workshop. Although it just lasted for a few days, it undeniably supported us to perform our leadership role more effectively in a long time.

Sightseeing in Macau

Since the day we arrived in Macau, we had been impressed by the beauty of this city. Despite having searched for the famous destinations in Macau beforehand, we still could not imagine how modern and gorgeous Macau actually is.

GYLN members in Macau Chapter took us to many places where we could explore the breathtaking scenes of European and Asian culture mingled in every corner of this city. We never forget the charming sunset when we climbed up the Museum of Macau and other impressive structures such as Eiffel Tower or the magnificent Venetian. Besides being the largest gambling center in the world, Macau took us by surprise with the ancient beauty of the China town and other historical and cultural heritages such as the Ruins of St. Paul’s and Monte Fort.

All members have been able to enjoy this trip so much with a lot of unforgettable memories thanks to Macau chapter. Despite being busy with their own jobs, Angel, Adam and Shakhawat of Macau Chapter still spent their time taking care of other members and introducing to us many beautiful places and various delicious dishes at local restaurants. 

This was an amazing chance for all members to learn more about the tradition and culture of Macau.

What we experienced from the first day until the last moment in Macau will always stay in our memory, motivating us to perform better and build the network stronger in the long term.

Sunwah GYLN Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Chapter

Hello there! My name is Candice Oliva and I am a representative of the Canada Peter Lougheed Leadership College Chapter. I am here to share my insights on the Macau events we all participated in as part of the Sunwah GYLN International Summit 2019! From presentations and cultural shows, to conference sessions and photo exhibitions, to leadership workshops and sightseeing– there was no shortage of activities to participate in throughout our stay in Macau. The most memorable part of our journey was that we got to experience it all together with our fellow GYLN members around the world. Thanks to Sunwah Foundation, we had the opportunity to connect with some of the most brilliant, whole-hearted people from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau and Vietnam.

Day 1, October 31st, the Canadian chapter safely landed in Macau right around noon. After nearly 24 hours of travel time, we went from a smattering of snow on the ground in Edmonton to a heavy humidity in the air in sunny Macau. I arrived in Macau with two fellow PLLC (Peter Lougheed Leadership College) Canada chapter representatives, Christy and Reshma, and with Evan from the China Institute at the University of Alberta (CIUA).

The welcome dinner soon came with warm reunions, fresh introductions and presentations from a few chapters about their projects. Christy, Reshma and I were first to share the environmental advocacy project that the PLLC Canada chapter has been working on: highlighting the negative effects of single use products on the earth to encourage producers to be more responsible about using recyclable materials. We also heard from Tom (Vietnam chapter) about building a stronger alumni network for GYLN and then Ayano (Japan chapter) prompted us to rethink our pre-existing perspectives on education.

After dinner, we shuttled to University of Macau Hall to rehearse for the next evening’s Cultural Show. From chatting with Japan chapter on the bus, I learned about the time, effort and perseverance it took to not only learn a dance for the Cultural Show but also create and put their costumes together. We also learned more about the Vietnam chapter’s traditional Rice Drum song—although the music and choreography are quite playful and joyful, the lyrics actually convey a love story. These little previews made me excited to see all the performances for the Cultural Show! Even more so knowing that we’ll be closing the show with a group number. Much thanks to Jocelyn for helping us put that together!

Day 2, November 1st, was our first full day in Macau and we had a packed itinerary. In the morning, we attended the International Conference on “New Trends in International Education and Exchanges”. Dr. Jonathan Choi welcomed everyone warmly to celebrate “Sunwah Group: From Macau to the World for 62 Years.”. Invited speakers then followed suit to share their knowledge, research and insight into topics such as adaptive leadership, remote medical education, innovation and business, art and culture education. It was humbling and exciting to hear from leaders about their specific fields. They all spoke different languages from Chinese to French and English, so we had headsets to listen in to live translations!

Then in the afternoon, we saw the photo exhibition organized by students of Choi Kai Yau College. Their photographs provided a wonderfully quaint and honest insight into Macau – its people and its culture, the food and the architecture. The exhibition described a different side of Macau, apart from the luxury hotels and casinos we had seen so far from our windows.

Finally, in the evening, we participated in the Cultural Show that brought together traditional performances from China, Japan, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Vietnam. At the end, GYLN members performed a song together. “Fly”, by Avril Lavigne, is an empowering song about overcoming obstacles together through courage and inner strength. It’s an apt song choice considering that as youth and as GYLN members, we regularly have to deal with different challenges regarding our chapter/project, but what matters is that we rise up and overcome them altogether. Suffice to say, I think this evening was truly a testament that music, dance, arts and culture have immense power to bring people together!

Day 3, November 2nd, was the start of our workshops. In the morning, Ms. Betty Chan, Director of International Relations, Executive Director of Sunwah Foundation, invited the guest performers and teachers from the Cultural Show to come and provide a bit more background about the history and relevance of their performances. It was truly a unique opportunity! We already got to see the beauty and intricacy of each performance last night. That morning, we got to learn more in-depth about Japan’s Nihon Buyo dance, China’s Dun Huang dance, Cambodia’s Apsara dance and Ms. Carol Lin’s mezzo-soprano opera.

Then, in the afternoon, we began our leadership training with Dr. Cristina Stasia, Ms. Ren and Mr. White from the Peter Lougheed Leadership College. In the spirit of true experiential learning, we first delved into the different styles of leadership: traditional, transactional, charismatic and organic, then taught each one back to each other through snapshots. 

Day 4, November 3rd, was our one full day of leadership training. The teachers kept us engaged throughout the day with activities and games in between discussions and reflections. We learned about the importance of followership through the plank activity and this video. 

We then got to work on our public speaking. We warmed up with an exercise to practice controlling our volume, pitch, and pace. Then we moved on to delivering Greta Thunberg’s “How Dare You” speech. I volunteered to go first in our small group, because this is a topic I’m passionate about. I’ve attended climate strikes in Edmonton and I’ve watched Greta Thunberg speak several times before on social media. This exercise was so self-empowering, but it was also so inspiring to watch everyone else break out of their shell and capture the room with their heartfelt speech.

To end the evening, we each expressed our gratitude towards each other and formed a web of connections to physically show the relationships we have built with each other within just the past few days. We have sung together, worked together, trusted each other and experienced Macau together—it was absolutely amazing to see that represented. 

Day 5, November 4th, was our last day together. For the last leadership workshop, the highlights for me were the last two activities where we each created then shared our life purpose statements as well as drawings of our Macau experience. My drawing is the one that says: “I am filled with hope for a brighter future.” 

That day, after watching everyone bravely share their dream for the world and their learnings from this GYLN summit, I felt very bright and hopeful. I am so proud of everyone. I believe that we have all grown a lot even in such a short time together. We have watched each other be loud and impassioned, be brave in vulnerability, be fabulous and take ownership over our fabulousness. And from the bottom of my heart, I wish everyone the best. I have no doubt each and everyone in that room will achieve great things. They are an inspiration to me and I hope to see them again soon!

Day 6, November 5th, was the Canada chapter’s last day in Macau. Our hearts are so full that so many people dropped by saying goodbye. Thank you, last but not least, to all the diligent organizers of this GYLN in Macau event—especially Angel, Tom, Shuvoraj and Hana. Congratulations on such a successful, impactful and memorable event!

Sunwah – GYLN Canada PLLC Chapter

From March 16^th to 24^th 2019, our Canada Chapter continued the Education Project, “Our Continent from North to South” in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with the aim to provide healthy environmental learning for underprivileged children in rural and isolated communities. We returned to the Boca de Tomatlan school, where our first visit took place. We followed up with progress and continued the refurbishment work of the library space. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Yelapa School Community, we began the second part of our project, focusing on the environmental health aspect, in the Primaria and Secundaria schools, located in a small village at Yelapa, Jalisco. We aimed to provide the essential hygienic supplies. The schools also had a huge need on general school supplies. Overall, we brought over 200 interactive English books, abundant school supplies and feature-rich laptops for the schools in Boca and Yelapa.

Since we were back from our visit from Boca de Tomatlan School in Puerto Vallarta last year, we have realized how big an influence we are capable of making in the children’s lives just by simply providing essential supplies and materials, as well as having the warm interactions with them. It was eye-opening to see the children‘s level of enthusiasm and how appreciative and grateful they were for our presence there. This confirmed the importance of visiting the local communities directly and showing the children love and care. This year, once again, we partnered with Isa Mundo Foundation (isamundo.org), a well-established non-profit organization based in Vancouver and Ottawa. After the last trip, our influence created exposure of GYLN’s work and received appreciation from the local community. Nearby schools located in Yelapa, a small fishing village southwest of Puerto Vallarta, would like to have us visit and support. The school community needs similar refurbishment work as the Boca school, and they are desperately in need of general school supplies. So, we decided to extend our project to support the schools in Yelapa.

Three months prior to the trip, we started planning with the local school teachers, Cynthia from Boca and Kelley from Yelapa. Between us, there were a lot of communications through emails such as discussing the direction of our project, estimating the budget, and organizing the logistics for the trip. We went all around Vancouver to gather donations of English books and purchase school supplies. In the end, we managed to gather five suitcases of books, school supplies and refurbished laptops to the schools.

1. Boca de Tomatlan School

We were excited to be back at the Boca de Tomatlan School to continue the work on the library space from last year.

This year, we provided an air conditioner for the school library, as there has always been a strong need for this here. During summertime in Mexico, the heat and humidity become really intense and cause computers to break down on operating easily; which is complicated to fix later on. This has been a major problem that the school has to face. The new air conditioner resolves this issue and we can ensure that the laptops we brought will last longer.

We also funded a projector used for lessons and a printer for preparing handouts and notes for the students. We also provided brand new chairs and a medium sized chalkboard, as well as an extra bookshelf and a cabinet for books and supplies. Moreover, we brought over an English world map and Atlas for the classroom so Cynthia can incorporate them in her lessons.

Besides, we have brought over 100 English books as well as some Spanish books for the school during this visit. It was wonderful to see the storage cabinets we bought last year filled up with a variety of school supplies.

We were very excited to see the students in the classroom filled with energy and full of smiles. We split the students into small groups for conversations and activities to reinforce their English writing and speaking skills. Although the students were all at beginner’s level, they were extremely friendly and welcoming. It was a heart-warming experience for both the students and us to reunite after one year.

We wanted to create something meaningful and long-lasting at the school and so we decided to start a wall mural activity with the students. After some discussions with the teacher, we agreed to create an environmental-themed mural, symbolizing everyone’s role in shaping and protecting our environment. The children were very enthusiastic about the activity and all took turns contributing to the painting. They loved to work with paint and showed their creativity in designing the mural. In the end, we were very proud of the mural. It added a warm and beautiful touch to the classroom.

We had a few physical outdoor activities with the students and played soccer on their playground.

Through the experience of the games, we noticed a few things with the outdoor space needed to be improved. The playground is elevated from the ground. Since there was no fencing on the side, the soccer ball kept falling off the playground and the children would jump off constantly to catch the ball. It is dangerous as the height from the ground was quite high. Students might accidentally fall off from the playground while playing and injure themselves. Many of the outdoor spaces were made of huge loosen rocks and the students were constantly jumping around. We suggested that in the future, a project can be done to build a flat surface over the rocks, so the students have a safer space to go about.

2. Yelapa School Community

Yelapa is a small fishing village by Puerto Vallarta, and it is only accessible by water taxi or private boats. The school community has four divisions: Kindergarten, Primaria, Secundaria and Prepa. Because of limited space, Secundaria and Prepa students share the same classrooms. We visited two campuses: Primaria and Secundaria/Prepa. The main objective was to improve the environmental health aspect of these two schools. For this visit, we began with providing basic hygienic supplies. We installed soap dispensers and toilet paper dispensers in the washrooms at both campuses. The students would be introduced to proper hand washing technique and habits to maintain personal hygiene. We also provided garbage cans for each classroom. Also, the water pump at the Primaria campus was broken down so there was no running water at the school. We planned to provide them the funding and resources to fix the pump. On the side, the printer at Secundaria school was not functioning and we started to look for a new printer for the school with supplies of paper and ink. The schools were also in need of books and general school supplies. We brought over 100 English books and many school supplies, including notebooks, pencils, markers, chalkboard erasers, crayons and much more.

When we arrived at the pier, Kelley was there to meet us. The roads in Yelapa were not well-developed and there were no cars for transportation. People got around by riding ATVs, horses or mules. We carried the luggage to Kelley’s English school called “Mi Escuilita”, and arranged an ATV to transport the luggage to the Secundaria school.

We participated in the spring festival organized by the Primaria students on the beach. They were dressed up as different forest animals and insects, celebrating the coming of spring.

We visited the Secundaria/Prepa school first. It was located deep in the village and we had a long walk up to the school. When we arrived at the school, we greeted the principal and she gave us a tour of the school. We went to the washrooms and checked our newly installed soap dispensers. We also discussed with the school principal and the teachers about their needs and potential future plans for the classrooms. 

There were three classes in total in Secundaria. For each class, we interacted with the students and explained the goal of GYLN and the work we did. They were curious about our involvement and some even wanted to join. We had a great time interacting with them, it was a nice experience to exchange ideas and experiences. Then, we distributed the books to individual students, and they were so happy to own an English book.

One of the challenges we faced was the uneven roads in the village, where it is difficult to drag and carry the luggage. On arrival, we introduced ourselves to the teachers and discussed the conditions and future plans for the school. Then, we started to assess the condition of the campus.

We visited the classrooms and the dining room, including a little kitchen for the teachers to cook. The teachers also washed their clothes in the same room and hung them outside to dry because there was not enough room in their small living space.

We checked the washrooms and set up the soap dispensers.

For this school, we saw a lot of safety issues that should be addressed immediately. We were shocked to find that because the space was so limited two teachers were living inside a very small room whose ceiling was falling apart and may collapse at any moment. The living environment was dangerous and unpleasant, and thus the turnover rate of the teachers was quite high.

The pathway in front of the bathrooms of the school was elevated from the ground, without any safety protection. The teachers informed us that a lot of students got injured by accidentally falling offs. Ledges should be installed to ensure the safety of the students. Safety should always come first before education, so this is a high priority for the school. 

3. Casa Connor

Casa Connor is a facility for the program called Pasitos de Luz (pasitosdeluz.org), a non-profit charity that provides care for children with disabilities from low income families in Banderas Bay, Mexico.

We volunteered at Casa Connor again, and we were happy to see all the children and staff again. This time, we also got to meet Peter and Teena, the founder of Casa Connor. From discussion with the owners and local staff, we knew that they were trying hard to fundraise for the program, because they provided the service for families for free and the cost to maintain the facilities was high. Hence, they were finding ways to lower the cost such as growing their own garden to self-sustain their food supply. Together with Isa Mundo Foundation, we donated a Vitamix Blender to the facility.

We helped feed the children.

Although this project trip went smoothly, we faced a few challenges. When we were planning the visit for Yelapa, there were many concerns regarding to the logistics: whether we could bring the heavy suitcases on the boat, how to get the suitcase on and off the boat at the pier, and the prices to include the suitcases. We made sure the suitcases were packed appropriately. In the end, we managed to bring three heavy suitcases filled with books and school supplies to Yelapa. It was also physically challenging to visit schools in Yelapa as some roads were very inclined and there was a lot of walking under the hot weather.

Overall, this was a productive and fulfilling experience for us. For Boca de Tomatlan School, we were amazed at how the library space was transformed from an unused storage space by the support of GYLN. For Yelapa, it was a wonderful experience to explore the village and visit the schools and the wonderful teachers and students. There is still so much work to do in Yelapa School Community. The washrooms need to be refurbished completely since plumbing does not work. There are safety issues at the Primaria school and installments of safety fences are required for some areas. The condition of the teachers’ homes is desperately in need to be improved. Most of all, they are always looking for donations of books and school supplies for the students. We will keep in contact with Kelley to continue our support for the schools.

We are so grateful to have the opportunity to provide a healthy learning environment for the students. The most inspiring moments were when the children showed us so much love. They were appreciative and thankful for everything. This showed us the importance of going back to connect with the local communities to show our love and support for the students.

We would like to thank all the donors who donated books and school supplies for this project, and also Cynthia and Kelley, the teachers in Boca and Yelapa for all their efforts in organizing and planning this trip with us. We also appreciate the sponsorship of flight ticket discount and checked baggage exemption from Air Transat. 

Once again, it was a successful partnership with Isa Mundo Foundation, and we look forward to continuing our collaborations to serve the communities more.

In the middle of August 2018, two members of GYLN HCMC Chapter, Yen – Vice Chairwoman of HCMC Chapter – and I had an interesting trip to Canada to participate in the “Canada International GYLN Summit 2018” organized by Sunwah Foundation.

The preparatory work had started several months before the Summit and I learned a lot from the way Sunwah Foundation organized the summit. Experiencing and working towards the summit made me eager to share my experiences with the HCMC Chapter and all my friends.

We were thoroughly informed about the other members, any changes or updates in the itinerary, and what should be prepared before the trip

This trip provided us with an opportunity to experience the international environment and expand our network with all GYLN chapters from Hong Kong, Macau, China, Japan, UK and Canada.

Moreover, we also had a great chance to understand various cultures, to see the Canadian perspective regarding diversity and to listen to the world’s leading entrepreneurs, academics and economists discussing a new global and regional business model.

Sunwah GYLN members and members of Peter Lougheed Leadership College of the University of Alberta had a good time exploring Edmonton

On August 19th, all GYLN members arrived in Edmonton. We started the first workday by presenting the annual GYLN Chapter’s report and sharing innovative ideas on tourism in our own country’s popular travel destinations. Ms Betty Chan, Executive Director of Sunwah Foundation, opened the first day with an inspiring message: “If you can’t do it, practice until you can do it. If you can do it, then practice until you can do it perfectly. If you can do it perfectly, then practice until you can do it perfectly every time” (Yuzuru Hanyu, two-time Olympic champion in Figure Skating). I just keep thinking about that quote and the way Ms Betty used it in order to encourage us to spend more efforts on our work.

Afterwards, we gradually listened to interesting and innovation ideas on developing tourism from different chapters. There were some chapters which used a mobile application to introduce and enhance the tourism experience. Personally, I was most impressed by the Japanese Chapter’s idea. They used an Anime Character as a cultural symbol to attract people’s attention and create a chance to introduce Japan. The idea is simple but practical!

Hong Kong Chapter and Japan Chapter presented their Innovative Ideas on Tourism projects

HCMC Chapter presented their idea about Son Doong – the largest natural cave in the world and the idea how we could improve tourism in the whole Caves-eco system (Quang Binh province), not just focus on the largest cave.

Yen (above) introduced interesting activities and training model of the GYLN HCMC Chapter through last year and Tuan (bottom) presented the Son Doong tourism project

In the afternoon there was time for cultural exchange activities. We visited to the Art Gallery of Alberta. They were exhibiting the oil paintings of a Canadian artist named James Wilson Morrice, from the 19^th century along with several artworks from the local people.

On August 20^th, all GYLN members joined in the Opening Ceremony of the Jonathan KS Choi Cultural Centre of Canada at Telus Centre. It was one of the most important events of our trip, marking the cooperation between Sunwah Group and the University of Alberta. More than 200 seats in the conference room were filled up during the Forum: “New Models for Building Global and Regional Business”.

Dr Choi delivered his keynote speech at the International Forum “New Models for Building Global and Regional Business – China & Beyond”

In this session, Dr Jonathan Choi, Chairman of Sunwah Group and Sunwah Foundation, mentioned of building a wall or roads in human history which aimed to mention about the consequence of the trade war that resulted from the United States versus global cooperation in general and cooperation between China and Canada in particular. In the end, there was a signing ceremony held for the collaboration between Sunwah Foundation and Peter Lougheed Leadership College for the College to be the Consultant Partner of GYLN.

University of Alberta President David H. Turpin, Chinese Consul General of Calgary Lu Xu and Dr Choi at the Opening Ceremony of the Jonathan KS Choi Cultural Centre of Canada

After the Opening Ceremony of the Jonathan KS Choi Cultural Centre of Canada, GYLN members and the visitors had some free time to explore the building as well as the Art Exhibition “Mountains and Water: Visions of the Land in Canada and China”. GYLN and the members of PLLC also had a chance to interact with Dr. Choi about leadership and the vision on developing a Canada Chapter. He emphasized that mutual understanding is the key to success in international exchange and collaboration in the global context.

Dr. Jonathan Choi talking to the GYLN members after the Opening Ceremony

The GYLN member from Hanoi Chapter listening to the story of Chinese painting

In the afternoon, we took part in the first part of a 3-day leadership training course organized by Peter Lougheed Leadership College (PLLC), an open discussion was held with all members about the topic of the International Forum in the morning.

GLYN members had a great time joining the Leadership training course by the PLLC

On August 21^st, the second day of the training course came with a question of: “What is leadership?” and “what are characteristics of leadership?” For the answer of both questions, Dr Cristina Stasia, Director of Instruction, Peter Lougheed Leadership College used some photos for illustration. For me, the photo of Princess Diana shaking the hands of an AIDS patient said a lot of things. At that time, people had strong biases with that disease and when Diana shook the hand of an identified AIDS patient, she used her public platform to challenge that irrational fear. I learnt that a typical leader should be the pioneer to change the mindset of others, as well as to create a bridge to connect disadvantaged people to the community.

What I liked most during the afternoon class was a simulator discussion for hosting the Winter Olympics. We had to play a role as a national representative, and joined the negotiation table for hosting the Winter Olympic. Each person had a different purpose and had to argue for their own benefits. I strongly admired Tanisha, one of the PLLC students when she used her knowledge about Calgary to persuade the committee to vote for her country. To sum up, I think that leadership in the globalization era requires not only solid knowledge but also soft skills for penetrating cross-cultures, thereby creating understanding, sympathy and advantages in working with international partners.

Many interesting activities gave us a lot of chances to share ideas, emotions, perspectives and to know each other

On August 22^nd, at the last class in PPLC training course, we studied how to find ideas for social projects and to run them effectively through 2 sample projects. One of them was a project aimed at funding leftover food from grocery stores to poor people run by UoA students. They developed a mobile application to help people to find food-donation stores easily. With that solution, the students could scale up their project faster and helped more people; it also made a positive impact on local people about the food waste issue. I realized that applying technology to social projects would raise the effectiveness of the operation and save a lot of time.

Afterwards, GYLN members were divided into 7 teams to plan a social project, which was then presented within 2 mins. Within the limited time, each team had tried to keep their ideas brief and express them clearly and understandably. Teachers would give feedbacks later and all members asked critical questions about those projects. It is a really good way to practice your presenting skills under high pressure. I also suppose that handling critical questions could point out drawbacks of the project and help to improve and complete it.

The course was completed when awards were given to the top 3 members with outstanding leadership qualities who were Tomohiro, Sharon and Liam. Later, Jocelyn was proposed by members to get the fourth award. In the afternoon, GYLN members experienced a local festival in downtown Edmonton and enjoyed a stand-up comedy show.

After 3 busy days training and studying in Edmonton, all GYLN members departed to Banff to observe the way Canadian people operate their tourism business and had some time to relax. The natural mountain atmosphere plus the stunning views there boosted us and gave us a shot of energy. Conquering the Tunnel mountain, going to restaurants with local cuisine and treating the body to the hot springs were such unique experience.

All members enjoyed the hiking very much

The next day, we visited Lake Louise, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This beautiful lake is surrounded by soaring mountain peaks which create majestic scenes similar to what you see in movies. I took a short adventure to the end of the lake, closed my eyes for a few minutes to immerse myself in nature. I felt that the country is peaceful and lovely.

All members of GYLN Vietnam Chapter (Hanoi and HCMC) and the international GYLN members at Lake Louise. The amazing beautiful landscape already took our breath away.

Time flew so fast and we had to say goodbye to each other. Many thanks to Sunwah Foundation for organizing and providing support during this trip. Thanks to the PLLC teachers for teaching us a lot of interesting lessons and thank all the GYLN members. I’ve learnt many amazing things from you all. See you again soon!

 

By Tuan Nguyen, Sunwah GYLN Ho Chi Minh City Chapter

_______________________________________

Letter from Alberta, Canada

Best place to find leadership and friendship

Following the last International Summit in Fukuoka 2016, GYLN members from all over the world gathered again in Alberta, Canada, from 18^th to 25^th of August.

There are 2 parts of learnings in this program.

1. Innovative Ideas on Tourism

Each chapter has brought an innovative idea about tourism (HK, Macau, China, UK, Canada, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Japan). Here are some examples from the presentation.

Cave Tour in Vietnam

The world’s biggest cave is located in the central part of Vietnam. That area with many caves was created 250 million years ago, and since then it has witnessed the long history of Vietnam.

In the ancient times, it was used as a holy place of Buddhism, but in 1960s, used as a military hospital in the Vietnam war. Now, the area is a symbol of peace and development.

Although that area was used by humans for centuries, the world’s largest cave was discovered by the locals in 1991. If you open the Lonely Planet of Vietnam, it should be found in the front page with beautiful pictures.

However, if you want to go inside that cave, you need to wait till 2020, and pay around $3000 for 5 days. Why so popular ? Why so limited ? Those questions are quite natural to be asked.

Our Vietnam chapter tried to answer that in the presentation.

Local Characters in Japan

Thinking of tourism, it is very easy to imagine great sceneries, mamusement parks or historical places. So what if your hometown needs tourists, with no such resources?

Japan chapter proved that those resources are not always necessary, using the example of tourism using local characters. 47 prefectures in Japan have their own unique characters. Also, some cities or even towns have their own.

Some of the characters are so famous that tourists are coming in order to take picture of the characters or buy some goods of them.

The popularity of local characters has come from a city. Japan chapter explained why a character of that city became famous from the interview with the city government.

One of the reasons is that characters are loved by every generation. Tourism is not only business, but also entertainment. If you think of tourism ideas, you should care about people.

The other reason is that cities and towns have cooperated together to attract more people to the character of each other. Sometimes they hold festivals to make local characters known to public.

We have found that touching people’s hearts is important for tourism.

2. Leadership

We have learned about leadership in the program. There are many styles of leadership, but they can be divided into 2.

The first one is leadership with authority. It is quite easy to think what leaders with authority are like. They have social status, or economic power to lead other people. In this case, you have to be elected or promoted inside communities.

The second one is leadership without authority. This kind of leadership is open to everyone. You do not need to wait to be elected or promoted. You have a chance to be a leader in everyday life.

However, it is not very easy to be a leader. Sometimes you need more courage to act like that. In our surroundings, there are many social problems which a lot of people are missing and which are waiting to be found.

Once you recognize the problem, knowing and acting are different. You may become nervous considering whether you should stick to it. Ignoring what you saw and just walking away look very comfortable. With your full courage, you can go one step forward to solve the problem.

In this situation, the existence of second leader is very important. If the second leader appears and he or she help you to act on it, then your activity can become a social movement and will attract more people.

We learned about leadership and followership through a lot of activities. Lastly, each chapters has come up with ideas and plans for the social service back in our hometowns.

Sunwah GYLN members’ visit to Banff National Park, Alberta

Overall, Canada is the best place to learn friendship also. Friendship is the foundation to be a leader or a follower. Classes in the daytime and communication with a glass of drinks in the nighttime were strongly connected inside our mind to become an international leader.

Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity. See you soon somewhere on earth.

 

By Tomohiro Matsushima, GYLN Japan Chapter

From March 21st to 27th 2018, our Canada Chapter has collaborated with the Boca de Tomatlan School in Mexico to provide a healthy learning environment for the underprivileged students. We have transformed an unused storage facility into a library by renovating the entire room with new painted walls, desks and bookshelves, and brought over 200 interactive books, feature-rich laptops, and abundant school supplies.

Our chapter had been brainstorming ideas on how we could support underprivileged children and communities. In November 2017, we made some connections with the founder of a well-established Canadian non-profit organization for children and youth around the world, named Isa Mundo (http://isamundo.org/). This organization has been supporting schools and communities in developing countries for more than 10 years and partnering with Canadian scouts group, Engineers Without Borders, Rotary International, etc. We – members of the GYLN Canada Chapter – were very much interested in assisting some of its projects in Mexico supporting schools in teaching, reconstruction, cultural sharing event. After discussions and with Sunwah Foundation’s sponsorship, this would be a great opportunity for us to extend the scope of helping local communities in Mexico, where resources were relatively less abundant than in Canada.

We were very glad that the Founder of Isa Mundo, Mr Paul Lorilla was willing to guide us. His experience in working with school education projects and communicating with local people has provided us a lot of learning opportunities. He suggested that the Boca de Tomatlan school in Puerto Vallarta – the only school in that area – needed a lot of resources and reconstruction for the establishment of a library. This was for the children to enhance their English literacy and explore the world through books. Thus, we decided to take this project and focus on interacting with the students so as to set up a library for the Boca school. We named it “Our Continent from North to South”, with a slogan of “Lending a hand, one step at a time” aiming at uniting people around us and helping the communities. The project has been carried out from March 21^st to 27^th, 2018.

The initial preparation of this project was not easy. We had quite a few meetings and email discussions with Paul and Cynthia for 2 months for planning the materials we needed for the library, as well as calculating the budget and organizing our accommodation and transportation. We also went around Vancouver City to gather children’s English books and school supplies together with refurbished laptops from Isa Mundo for the school.

Books and school supplies gathered by GYLN Canada Chapter for the Boca de Tomatlan School

When we checked-in at the airport, we had four large luggage pieces full of donated materials which exceeded the weight limit allowed. So we had to take out some of the books. In the end, we managed to bring more than 200 books and hundreds of school supplies.

Flashcards we made for teaching English vocabularies for the Boca de Tomatlan School’s children

Upon arriving at the school, we first went to see the room planned to be the library. Many essential items of a library such as adequate number of tables, bookshelves, books, fans, etc. were missing. Some of the chairs were also broken and woodchips were sticking out that could potentially hurt the passers-by. We also noticed that the lights were cracked, and the windows were not secured. The door was unable to close as it was not properly built. As we planned to bring laptops into this environment, one of our first tasks was to ensure that this room could be secured.

The room at the Boca de Tomatlan School planned to be the library

There would be a lot of work to renovate this area but we believed that this time we could at least achieve part of it.

Then we started moving the materials we purchased, and built the security cabinet for the laptops. It took quite a long time to do it.

GYLN Canada Chapter members built the security cabinet for the library

One book shelf was prepared and we put the books we brought on.

Then, we installed the tables we bought, the laptops we prepared and the chairs for the children in the library.

Sunwah GYLN Canada Chapter members were setting up tables, chairs and laptops for the library

We were very glad to have chances to interact with the children and it was a heart-warming experience. We visited the elementary students first, introducing ourselves and showing them pictures of us in Canada – where we were from. The children were excited and listened attentively to our stories.

Interaction session between Sunwah GYLN Canada Chapter members with the school’s children

Most of the children could communicate in English with limited vocabulary. We then separated them into groups for playing interactive games and teaching them some English words. We also got to know some of them at a closer level.

Additionally, we met the secondary school students who just learnt the concept of time in English and we played the game “What time is it, Mr Wolf?” to reinforce the words.

We made hand-prints on the banner

After arranging most of the books and laptops in the library, the children were very excited. They came in to read the books and try to use the computers.

After the work in Boca, we also visited Casa Connor (Pasitos de Luz, http://www.pasitosdeluz.org/) – a non-profit child-care center for disabled children from low-income families in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The children often suffered from acute physical and psychological illnesses and many were unable to access to the mainstream education system. The conditions of some children were quite severe that they could not move or eat by themselves. However, they were happy to see visitors and liked to take pictures. We talked to them and helped feeding them at lunch.

Sunwah GYLN Canada Chapter visited the children at the Casa Connor child-care center

The staff there also gave us a tour around the center and discussed what needs to be improved.

On behalf of GYLN Canada Chapter, we also made donations to Dasitos de Luz Child Sponsorship Fund for the children’s food and clothes.

All project participants together with the center’s staff and children

After this trip, we realized that our assistance could make a big difference to the schools and local communities. However, that was not enough. The library still needs more books and laptops as the school has about 100 children who would like to use the resources. We visited only one class and the laptops were not enough for the children. The library now contains valuable laptops and needs to be secured. Cynthia has been a volunteer for the school and she wishes that the school would be able to hire a part-time Spanish teacher to lead and manage the school program on their own. There is many more works that can be done to provide support for  the children so that they can continue with their educational goals.

Under Sunwah Foundation’s sponsorship, this was our first project in Mexico and we would like to thank Isa Mundo for the collaboration and guidance on this. The partnership went very well and we believe that we can continue to work together in the future to serve the communities better.

Kelvin Au (Canada Chapter)

Description: The Dream Garden Project is the winner of last year’s internal project debate contest to become the main-SCA project of the HCMC chapter in 2017. The project aims at nurturing children’s mindset of loving and protecting the natural environment, at the same time, educating them about the ecosystem, biological system and gaining knowledge through hands-on experiencing sessions of tree planting and natural science experiments in the garden. Children also learn how to grow vegetables and later use them to improve their healthy diet.

Duration: The project has been implemented in 2.5 months (10 weeks), from late July 2017 to Mid-October 2017

Location:  Vinh Son Child Center, Binh Thanh District, HCMC, Vietnam

Target group: 35 children from 8 to 12 year old

Activities

Week 1:

– Every child chose a nickname and participated in activities.

– Show kids how to use terrestrial globe. Learning about solar system forming

– Kids play game “carnivore and herbivore”
Week 2-3:

– Learn about the food chain

– Get to know all kinds of climate and related habitats

– Learn about water cycle and energy

Week 4-5:

– Decorate bottles for planting

– Learning how to grow plants

Week 6-7:

– Kids divided into 3 groups to plant seeds and put the soil into the designed bottles and wheels.

– Dye the flower to know how the root and the trunk for a tree, stem for flowers work.

Week 8-9:

– Do gardening together

– Clean the rooms and school yard

Week 10:

– Visit Vegi – an organic farm

– Play at Kiz citi – give gifts and notebooks with all wishes to the children.

Inspired by an idea of helping children learn about nature, “Dream Garden” project was planned and implemented by the GYLN HCMC Chapter. This social project aims at bringing opportunities for disadvantaged children to learn more about the ecosystem, environment and planting technique.

During the project, many challenges arose. The first challenge was that most orphanages in Ho Chi Minh City lack needed space for running the program, including teaching and practicing space. We had to spend more than 3 weeks on looking for the most suitable place. The chosen place was Vinh Son Orphanage located in the city suburbs. That is the charity school providing free education for more than 100 children aged from 7 to 12 who have not had opportunities to go to public school.

On the first day of the project, despite careful preparation, we had to confront some difficulties. We found it hard to deal with hyperactivity and the lack of general knowledge in most of those children. At that time, patience was the key we had to have. In the first two weeks, we tried to teach them some basic knowledge about biology combined with interesting learning activities in order to make the lessons easily understood. Our little students started to show more curiosity after each lesson, many questions were raised concentrating on knowledge such as the growth of the plants, food chains in nature, the energy cycle and so on. We also motivated them to engage in lessons by giving little gifts for hardworking individuals and preparing lunch for them every week.

With the vision to raise their awareness about the environment, we used recyclable and eco-friendly materials during the project. In practice time, children were encouraged to design their own pots from recyclable bottles. They showed their enthusiasm and great creativity when practicing. We divided the garden into two parts. One part was cultivated for vegetables planting. The other was used to plant bonsai trees. The previous abandoned land now became a colorful and lush garden built with love, dreams and hope of all participants.

The last lesson was not held at school as usual. We took the children to an organic farm in Tan Binh District to provide them with an opportunity to learn outdoors and engage with nature. They were instructed to distinguish various kinds of vegetables, seeding, using organic fertilizers, watching nursery garden, observing sprinkler system. In the afternoon, we went to Kiz Citi – an entertainment center associated with vocational education for youngsters. They enjoyed the games available in the center. Then, the project team summarized the whole program, complemented those who had good improvement, gave presents and took a lot of photos.

The project was implemented in two months, including 16 lessons relating to the ecosystem, environment and planting techniques and 8 planting activities. The garden was created with 6 various kinds of vegetables and 12 kinds of bonsai. During the project, we received many positive feedback from the headmaster and children at the orphanage as well as the teaching staff. Especially, there is one autistic child who participated in our project. His parents shared that they took their child to many hospitals and disabled centers in town, but his condition did not improve. After participating in the Dream Garden project, he showed signs of being open with his family members and being more sociable and friendly to make friends.

We will attach the importance of improving so that our lessons will provoke the curiosity of children more and more. In the next stage, the target is to bring this project to more 250 kids in HCMC. Moreover, we hope that our dedication will contribute a better future to a young generation.

Photos

Teaching

Painting bottles

Gardening

Field trip

Anh Tuan [HCMC Chapter]

About OneSky

Half the Sky (now OneSky) was founded by Jenny Bowen in 1998 to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects for orphaned children in China. Today, Half the Sky has become OneSky, a global NGO that has transformed the lives of many thousands of marginalized children and helped a nation to rethink its entire child welfare system. OneSky has directly transformed the lives of more than 138,000 orphaned and abandoned children and trained over 19,000 caregivers. After 18 years of working to understand the best way to give orphaned and abandoned children a second chance during their childhood, OneSky is taking what they have learned and expanded their mission to help children of factory workers in Vietnam.

About OneSky Early Learning Center

OneSky Early Learning Center Danang is a new and sustainable model center which aims at approximately 250 at-risk children who live in the Hoa Khanh Industrial Zone in Da Nang to provide a safe place to play and learn for small children. The center is designed to transform the lives of vulnerable children near factory zones whose parents labor in factories. This model can be scaled to serve more and more children across the entire country.

Date: 9 September 2017

Venue:  OneSky Early Learning Center, Le Cong Kieu Street, Hoa Khanh Bac Commune, Lien Chieu District, Danang, Vietnam

Participants: Government officials, representatives from local authority, parents who labor in factories and children

Rundown

7:45am: Registration & Welcome performance

8:15am: Ceremony starts

8:25am: Speech by a representative from the People’s Committee of Danang

8:35am: Speech by a representative from the Department of Education and Training of Danang

8:50am: Speech by the Global Chairman of Half the Sky Foundation

9:00am: Speech by the Consul General of the United States Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City

9:10am: Speech by a representative from factories

9:20am: Ribbon-cutting ceremony

9:35am: Lion dance performance

10:30am: Opening of OneSky Early Learning Center Danang

10:40am: Guests visiting the Center

Thoughts by Phan Tuong Yen and Tran Thi Thanh Huong, representatives of Sunwah GYLN – HCMC and Hanoi Chapters

On 9 September 2017, Ms Katie Nguyen, Assistant to Sunwah Chairman, and two representatives of Sunwah GYLN Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Chapters, Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Huong and Ms. Phan Tuong Yen, attended the Opening Ceremony of OneSky Early Learning Center in Danang.

The Ceremony was conducted in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Attendees were strongly impressed by the choir of nurses/ teachers and children of the center. Everyone was so excited to see this wonderful place providing early learning and care for vulnerable young children of the poor factory workers.

After the ceremony, the GYLN representatives paid a visit to the center which is effectively designed to utilize natural lights and maximize the space usage for facilities and leave sufficient room for a children’s playground. Children at the Center were very nice and so adorable; they behaved very well and always greeted teachers and adults with smiles.

Mrs. Mary Tarnowka, United States Consul General in HCMC, delivered a speech

There, we had a chance to meet and talk with Ms. Carol Kemble, Chief of Global Partnerships of Half the Sky Foundation. Ms. Carol Kemble was so impressed and excited to listen to our sharing about Sunwah GYLN and its 9 chapters at all corners of the world, especially the HCMC and Hanoi Chapters, with the projects that have been conducted such as Social Services Days in 2013 and 2015, the Photo Contest & Exhibition for students across Vietnam in 2015, GYLN-HCMC Chapter’s latest project namely “Dream Garden”, and especially the project to build kindergarten in mountainous areas done by Sunwah some years ago. Ms. Carol Kemble also shared many wonderful thoughts and stories about creating positive values and spreading those values to the community, about the responsibility of everyone in the society. We were really inspired by this spirit.

The Guests of Honor and the children of the OneSky Early Learning Center performed “We are the world” song

Not only talking with Ms. Carol Kemble, the Sunwah team also had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Guy Russo, Global Chairman of Half the Sky Foundation and Ms. Natalie Campion, Chief Development Officer of Half the Sky Foundation. Mr. Guy Russo was interested in and very impressed at the projects on children and youth that Sunwah GYLN has done over the years. He shared the reason why OneSky has developed and implemented nurture and education programs that help to change the lives of vulnerable children. The Sunwah GYLN representatives also talked about its mission to exercise community activities and suggested the possibility of collaborating with OneSky on future projects, especially those involving children and youth. The conversation was extremely interesting and opened opportunities for potential cooperation between the two sides.

Mr. Guy Russo, OneSky Foundation Board Chair, delivered a speech

After the Danang trip, we were very impressed at the organization of the Opening Ceremony which was simple but effective and touching. We found out that the OneSky organization has many projects on early education and education for children with special needs. Moreover, they have a quick approach to arrive at projects providing daycare for children of workers in industrial zones – which is in high demand but not yet much in existence in Vietnam. Additionally, we were inspired and learnt a lot how they turned their ideas into a project and implemented it effectively. We will share our experience with our fellows in Sunwah GYLN.

Guests at Honor at the Ribbon-cutting Ceremony

The OneSky Early Learning Center

Tran Thi Thanh Huong (GYLN Hanoi) & Phan Tuong Yen (GYLN HCMC)

 

 

 

 

FIELD VISIT TO THE ASSOCIATION 

Background of the association

“Blood-selling” was one of the main causes to the Anhui Province HIV epidemic among underprivileged agricultural workers in the end of last century. Facing the challenge of little prevention, undereducation and restricted access to antiretroviral treatment, the outbreak brought a high prevalence of mother-to-child transmission, as well as death, to the Province.

The Fuyang Aids Orphan Salvation Association (AOS) began its work by providing HIV-positive children with physical examinations in Beijing and securing pediatric anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment. In the course of one year, over 100 children looked to AOS for support, and now support is given to over 600 children and their relatives and families. The total scope of the support extends to over 6,000 people. Of the 600 children affected by HIV/AIDS, around 25 children are infected with HIV/AIDS. The majority of AOS children do not have HIV/AIDS, but are “affected” by HIV/AIDS, meaning they come from families where either one or both parents are infected by HIV/AIDS. The AOS children come from 300 separate families and over 40 different villages throughout Fuyang and Henan province.

This research aims to understand the challenges and services needs of the children receiving support from the AOS along their growth.

Details of the field visit

The two-days visit was co-organized by the Beijing Chapter, Hong Kong Chapter and United Kingdom Chapter of the Sunwah Global Young Leaders Networks (GYLN).

Day One (27th May 2017)

After our arrival to Fuyang in the morning, we paid a visit to AOS’s Director Zhang Ying’s house. Director Zhang is currently taking care of 5 AIDS orphans. One of them was sent to Beijing for medication at the time of our visit. During the visit, we had an enjoyable conversation with the children, and gained understandings on their lives.

We also visited the office site of AOS and met the workers there. A meeting was held afterwards to prepare the events and investigations on Day Two.

Day Two (28th May 2017)

We spent the morning in center to play games with the children and understand their background. Since some of them are living in the villages away from the city center, it took some hours for them to travel to the AOS center. To build trust and relationship with the children, we had prepared group activities and drawings together with the children. Following the group activities, the scheduled survey was conducted with the children.

In the afternoon, we paid two home visits to the orphans living in Lixin County. Firstly, we went to the home of boy Dai. Dai is living with his grandma and little sister, while his parents are both out of work. The second family we visited was the Wu. In the evening, we caught up with Gao, one of the kids staying in Director Zhang’s house, in the train station, and returned to Beijing afterwards.

Ice-breaking games with the HIV affected children and group photo with the HIV affected children

METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS OF THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS 

Interviews with workers in the association

Director Zhang is the founding director and person-in-charge of the AOS. In the previous decade, she has devoted herself to sponsor the children affected by the HIV epidemic in Anhui.

Currently, there are 7 staff working in the AOS. They are responsible for the disease control and prevention among those affected children and adolescents. Wang, one of the previous service recipient in AOS, is now working in AOS as fulltime staff. Her parents died because of HIV infection when she and her 2 siblings were young. Fortunately, three of them are free of the virus. From her sharing, we understood that the children would gather and do homework in AOS office during weekends. She also shared with us the situations of the children. One of the service-receiving children, who is now 16, was a drop-out from school since primary one. Some other children were reported to have dropped out from school due to financial difficulties. From this information, we learn that the HIV status poses more harm to children’s education in grassroot, which require more support and service.

Scheduled survey with the HIV affected children

Home visits and interviews with the HIV affected children

Lixin County is 2-hours ride away from Fuyang, where the AOS office is in. We paid visit to two of the HIV affected families there.

Dai is a 16-year-old boy living in the County, who is living with his grandmother and little sisters. He and his family live in an old, 2-floor house built in concrete. The hygiene environment was unfavorable and there were flies around. His little sister, instead of staying indoor, was playing on the muddy floor. His parents were infected with HIV through ‘blood selling’ in the early 2000, and were not diagnosed until giving birth to the two children. Two of the three children were infected with HIV from their mother, while the youngest daughter, although was not HIV positive, was diagnosed with meningitis and therefore cognitively impaired. The scarce farmland in the village makes it impossible to rely on income from agriculture. To earn more income, the parents are working in the city and could not afford to meet once a year. Despite all the hard work of the adults, the financial burden of the family still put strains on the next generation. As a result, Dai only managed to finish his primary school study.

Another girl, Wu, is living with her mother in the house nearby. Her mother was infected by HIV a decade before from ‘blood selling’, and transmitted the virus to her daughter. Since the diagnoses of the Wu’ HIV status, the father of Wu divorced with his wife and left the family. The elder brother of Wu, therefore, chose to work in Nanjing and beared the family responsibilities. Currently, the family could barely make a living with the financial subsidy from the Government, and AOS, and the payment from part- time jobs. However, the family is now in debt for the house renovation in preparation for the elder brother’s wedding. The financial burden is heavily bothering their lives and poses damage to their quality of life. Also, the limited promotion on anti- stigmatization, little education and mental support to the children living with HIV, make Wu an introverted girl, worrying of her HIV status being exposed.

 Home visit 

METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS FOR THE SURVEY

Twenty-three responses from the HIV infected children were collected from the AOS. Among them, 14 (60.9%) of them were female. The mean age was 14.3 years old, with an expected education level to secondary 4; however, their average education level was only up to primary 4. Six of them (26.1%) lived with both of their parents, 10 of them were living in single parent family (43.5%), while the others are living with other family members (N=3, 13.0%) and with Director Zhang (N=4, 17.4%). 14 children (60.9%) were not given any pocket money.

In terms of medication seeking, only 4 of the interviewees (17.4%) found problem with access to medication. However, 13 children (56.5%) felt to be stigmatized during hospital visit. Their mental health was assessed with The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). From the results, 7 children (30.4%) reported to have depressive mood, while 3 (13.0%) had higher tendency of having minor depression.

The results indicate that more support should be put on the anti-stigmatization in healthcare institute and the mental support on children living with HIV.

INSIGHTS 

Since 2003, AOS has been providing medication to the children living with HIV. However, as informed by our study findings, we realize that the services needs of HIV affected children are now for education, and mental support.

With reference to our study findings, we made the following suggestions:

1. Classify the level of emergency to support services as if:

Level of emergency to support services	Criteria
Level I	○ HIV positive children and adolescent ○ Children who discontinue their study ○ Children who are affected by the financial burden of their family due to the HIV epidemic, regardless of their own HIV status
Level II	○ Children who are not infected by HIV, however, are suffering from physical or mental disabilities ○ Children who are not infected by HIV, however, are not empowered with life- sustaining skills or abilities

Regarding the above classification system, GYLN members will form support groups and design care plan for these children enlisted in Level I. For instance, in supporting the children living with HIV, counselling and emotional support will be provided with the aid from professional consultants; while for children who are suitable for education, assistance could be provided to support their continuation of education.

For the children classified to be in Level II, support should be given on one-on-one or one-on-several scale. For the adolescent who have discontinue to go to school, support should be given in order to support their study in technical schools.

2. Explore future opportunity to work with AOS and provide necessary support to the functioning of the Currently, AOS is working with Smart Education to provide training on drawing to the service receiving children, so as to support the future development of the children.

3. Sunwah Foundation may consider establishing a fund to support the children affected by the HIV epidemic in China.

Chang Shuai [China Chapter]

On 30^th July, 2017, Sunwah GYLN Cambodia Chapter had visited to Tropiang Krosang Community Pre-school in Kompong Speu Province, about 65km from Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. This community pre-school is providing the pre-school education to around sixty 4~6-year-old children in Tropiang Krosang village by a 60-year-old teacher.

In the early morning, eight of Sunwah GYLN Cambodia Chapter members and volunteers had departed from Phnom Penh, and spent nearly three hours to reach the community school, since the access road to that village was in bad condition in this rainy season.

When we arrived the school, those children were very happy, and warmly welcomed us. Our team started playing many games with them, like coloring the pictures, counting numbers/consonants/vowels reversely, jigsaw puzzle etc., we felt so impressed with their ability that is almost as strong as the ability of grade one or grade two primary school students. After interacting with them about two hours, we finished our event by delivering them some studying materials and snacks, and taking many group pictures happily. Finally, the authority, teacher, and students had expressed their gratitude to our team and Sunwah Foundation for organizing this event, and they also invited us to visit them next time.

Through this event, GYLN members and volunteers understood more about the studying situation of these children, and we could see their smile and happiness when our members were playing with them and providing them many materials. We hope we could have another chance to visit them again, and we hope Sunwah GYLN can do more meaningful events for other disadvantaged groups. Meanwhile, we will try to build up our GYLN Cambodia Chapter team with creative and committed youths.

Nita Lon [Cambodia Chapter]

Date & Time: 16:00 – 18:00, 30^th July 2017 (World Day against Trafficking in Persons)

Venue: 1^st floor, ULIS – Jonathan KS Choi Culture Center, 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi

Human trafficking is one of the acute issues that many countries have been coping with. Considerably, Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial, sexual exploitation and forced labor. In order to fight against this inhuman behavior, it is urgent that everyone jointly take action, especially the young people who are communication ambassadors, contribute and play a far more important role than others.

Core team members of “Broken Puzzles”

Awareness of this issue motivated Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter members to launch a project regarding human trafficking. To exactly reflect the situation of this matter, Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter co-operated with Hagar Vietnam to run an interactive puppet theatre performance which aimed at raising awareness of anti-human trafficking. The performance was named “Broken Puzzles”, held on the 30^th July 2017 – precisely on the World Day against trafficking in persons.

Hagar, an international non-government organization, established in 1994 and registered in Switzerland, provides individualized and long-term support to women and children survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual abuse. In Vietnam, Hagar’s important partners are government agencies such as the National Child Helpline under the Department of Childcare and Protection, Social Work Centers in the provincial Departments of Social Protection (under the Ministry of Labor-Invalids and Social Affairs); non-government organizations and social enterprises including Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, Tea Talk & CoRE, REACH, etc. In particular, Hagar Vietnam is a long-time partner of Vietnam Women’s Union, a government body that operates throughout Vietnam at four administrative levels including central, provincial, district and commune ones with a total membership of above 13 million women and is mandated to protect women’s legitimate rights and strive for gender equality. At present, Hagar is partnering with the Yen Bai provincial Women’s Union on a project to provide support to survivors of human trafficking, violence and abuse.

The first day of training session about the basics of human trafficking

All core team members of this project came from the Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter. They were provided with two days of training by Hagar Vietnam to gain human trafficking basics and understand more about behavior change communication. The trainings took place at the meeting room on the third floor of the ULIS-Jonathan KS Choi Cultural Centre. During these trainings, there were various activities designed such as situation analysis, problem solving, team work and presentation about all issues related to human trafficking.

Small group discussion on the second training day about behavior change communication

“Anyone of us could be a victim or accidentally become part of human trafficking” is the message that Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter would like to send to everyone through the project named “Broken Puzzles”. It was conveyed via an interactive puppet theater to provide an insight into the human trafficking to the audience in a new approach, hence raising awareness of preventing human trafficking, as well as strengthening the role of the arts in propaganda. All of the core team members of Broken Puzzles were trained and guided on the technical requirements of controlling the puppets by Ms Pham Trang My Linh, an artist who graduated with Bachelor of Arts Theatre and Film making at Sarah Lawrence College.

The rehearsal of the puppet theatre

The puppets of “Broken Puzzles”

During two months of running Broken Puzzles, in order to spread out the information about this project, as well as raise awareness of human trafficking for everyone via social media, all of the Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter members actively made a creative and detailed communication plan through various activities such as making a video about the Vietnamese students’ knowledge of human trafficking, drawing a picture diary telling a story of a human trafficking survivor, collecting internet infographics and videos regarding this issue, etc.

“Where is the exit for the broken puzzles?” was drawn by a core team member of “Broken Puzzles”

After two months of hard work, the interactive puppet theatre’s program was officially launched at the Conference hall on the first floor of the ULIS-Jonathan KS Choi Cultural Centre on the occasion of celebrating the World Day against human trafficking, 30^th July 2017. The performance attracted lots of audience from various universities, organizations and local community. It also honorably welcomed the attendance of Mr. Tim Galvin, Immigration Liaison Manager of Migration Section in British Embassy in Vietnam.

The audience of the interactive puppet theatre “Broken Puzzles”

At the beginning of “Broken Puzzles”, in order to help the audiences shape a view of this event, the representatives of Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter and Hagar Vietnam delivered brief introductions about their own organizations and the objectives of this project, as well as the outline of “Broken Puzzles”. In particular, Hagar Vietnam emphasized the importance of the contribution of young people in fighting human trafficking and highly recognized the passion, commitment, creativity and proactivity of core team members of Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter in this project.

The representatives of Hagar Vietnam (left) & Sunwah GYLN Hanoi (right) delivered their speeches

Following the speeches of the representatives of Hagar Vietnam and Sunwah GYLN Hanoi Chapter was the main part of the event: the interactive puppet theatre performance.

The official performance of “Broken Puzzles”

As the name suggests, the story in the performance was open-ended to get the audiences to involve themselves in an interacting session in which they could use their knowledge of human trafficking and use the puppets to complete the unfinished story and give it a creative end.

The interactive session of “Broken Puzzles”

On top of that, the audiences attending the event were in high spirit to listen to true stories shared by Ms Nguyen Thu Huong, an insider of Hagar Vietnam who has been working directly with human trafficking survivors, and to watch a video showing the current status of human trafficking in the world. They also got a chance to express their perspectives and raise questions to discuss with her. “Broken Puzzles” provided an optimal opportunity for the audience to gain useful knowledge about human trafficking in order to protect themselves and the people around them.

The Discussion session between the audience and the insider of Hagar Vietnam

Noticeably, the project captured the attention of various Vietnamese social media channels and was broadcasted on various TV channels such as VTV1, VTV3, VTV4, VTV6, Vietnam news, QPVN. Following are the links of the news for more details:

1. VTV1 (24 hours Movement) – Vietnamese: https://youtu.be/TmoswpGPZCA
2. VTV3 (Morning coffee with VTV3) – Vietnamese: https://www.facebook.com/cafesangvoivtv3/videos/1992801440954570/?fref=mentions
3. VTV4 (News at 9pm) – Vietnamese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPiSDEOq7k&feature=youtu.be&t=14m17s
4. VTV6 (Dòng thời cuộc) – Vietnamese: http://vtv.vn/video/dong-thoi-cuoc-01-8-2017-237425.htm (15:00 – 15:16)
5. Vietnam news (Domestic news) – Vietnamese: http://vnews.gov.vn/nhung-manh-vo-kich-roi-tuong-tac-ve-phong-chong-mua-ban-nguoi
6. QPVN (National Defense News) – Vietnamese: https://youtu.be/RChSvGPCJus

Joy Nguyen (Hanoi Chapter)