Recently, many children aged 7 - 11 from such countries and territories worldwide as Viet Nam, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan have enjoyed fascinating moments during their participation in the JCI Da Nang-organised International Kids Camp 2019.

The children participating in the International Kids Camp 2019 gained a lot of meaningful childhood memories

Themed ‘The Power of One’, this event which was held late last month, offered a good chance for children to get more cross- cultural experience and beautiful memories as they got actively involved in exchanging their knowledge, and their countries’ customs and habits during 4-day summer camp.

During the event, the participating children were very eager to act as farmers, chefs, ceramic artisans or dancers. Through such highly-practical activities, the children made friends with one another, and developed their mental skills in a multicultural environment.

Within the framework of the event, all campers were taken to the An Farm Hoi An organic vegetable growing area, located in Hoi An, Quang Nam Province.

The usual tranquil atmosphere of this vegetable growing area was pierced by the distant laughter and gossips of the children. These visitors were introduced by experienced farmers to different steps of tending to vegetables such as collecting seaweeds, hoeing the soil, sowing the seeds, and harvesting the vegetables.

They felt very excited with the chance to carry irrigation water with shoulder poles, to tend lush green vegetable beds, or to use hoes, an ancient and versatile agricultural and horticultural hand tool, to remove weeds, clear soil, and harvest root crops.

Some foreign kid participants said it was only after having done the job with their own hands that they could understand more about Viet Nam’s agricultural lifestyle, and its hardworking and friendly farmers.

Aside, the participants were excited to try their hands at various pottery crafts at Hoi An-based Thanh Ha pottery village.

At the welcome night party, the children got dressed in their countries’ traditional costumes and performed together. Breaking down the cultural and language barriers facing them, the children together enjoyed happy moments and headed towards building valuable friendships.

During the summer camp, the children together stayed at the popular Cocobay- Da Nang’s largest entertainment complex. Tran Hoai Nam, a boy from Ho Chi Minh City, said what impressed him most is a series of group game during the STEM Workshop programme that are effective to break the ice, increase team cohesion, generate ideas, develop critical thinking, and stimulate creativity.

Mr Pham Minh Man, who got involved in building up the STEM Workshop at this year’s international summer camp, said STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach.

Rather than teach these 4 disciplines as separate and discrete subjects, STEM integrates them into a cohesive learning paradigm based on real-world. Therefore, STEM learners can approach and solve problems better.