C-Share 4: UEF-ers interact with international students to learn community activities practices

On November 18th, in collaboration with Karlshochschule International University – KIU (Germany), the UEF Center of Service Learning conducted the C-Share Workshop No. 4: Social transformation through student initiatives so that the students could exchange their learning experience by sharing community activities and Service-Learning projects initiated by them.

 The program helps UEF-ers to exchange and learn more new knowledge in community work
 

Attending the seminar was Ms Dinh Nguyen Thien An - Director of UEF Center of Service Learning, Ms Phan Lan Anh - Representative of Karlshochschule University (Karls), Ms Stella – Karls’ staff, and lecturers/ other staff who are participating in the coordination with more than 100 students of the two schools.

Ms Phan Lan Anh - Representative of Karls in Vietnam shared with the students joining the program

 In the 4th session of the C-Share seminar series, students from 4 projects (2 projects from UEF, 2 projects from KIU) shared their experience in social activities for learning and improving quality, and they also shared the process of developing themselves.

Lecturers and students participating in the C-Share 4 Workshop

The Sketchnote for Good project was initiated by 4 UEF students who love drawing and community activities. From the initial interest along with the advice from the UEF Centre of Service Learning, they gradually developd skills for Sketchnote and set up a project, along with other students at UEF, to learn how to contribute to society. Together with community partners which are organisations with activities for the elderly and people with cerebral palsy, the project members would apply these skills to create media and visualise meaningful messages to raise public awareness about these two special objects. 

Presentations from members of Sketchnote for Good 

The group's presentation received a lot of "Wow" from students from both schools owing to its very creative form. It's not composed of the usual slideshows but a video clip demonstrating sketchnote skills and fluent, confident English presentations by UEF students. 
Hakuna Matata is a prominent activity of Karls with a foundation based on the Ubuntu philosophy. The Ubuntu philosophy is best known for its "I am because we are" message that promotes solidarity, generosity, and compassion. Since then, the Hakuna Matata project has been developed by Karls students to create a safe multicultural space where people can express their inner selves and become the best versions of themselves. With Hakuna Matata, international students who come to study at the university will be supported by indigenous students to always feel welcome, to be able to create many opportunities to learn about the indigenous society, and to integrate effectively.

Introduction to Hakuna Matata project from Karls students 

Also, while the above two projects were presented, another was equally exciting with the sharing of the Digi Me Soc Trang project and the Voices@Karls. In more than 3 months of accompanying, learning, and designing the brand identity platforms of Soc Trang Centre For Social Science Engagement (SCSE for short), the students have learnt various valuable practical lessons about teamwork, community understanding, and how to work effectively with partners,...

UEF-ers’ presentation helps international students understand more about Vietnam, especially Soc Trang province with unique socio-economic and cultural characteristics 

If the special feature of the Digi Me Soc Trang project lies in the application of technology and social media in contributing to increasing its identity for the message to be spread to Soc Trang people, the Voices@Karls initiative has diverse activities to raise awareness of young people on issues such as LGBT, racism, gender inequality,... 

Voices@Karls is an initiative by Professor Ella Roininen since 2019 to change students' perceptions through educational events and promote social change 

The initiatives have also helped Karls students learn and develop themselves more effectively 

With 4 activities taking place in the past 3 months, the C-Share series of seminars not only brings a lot of social knowledge to students from both schools but also an opportunity for UEF students to spread their community activities to international friends. During the presentations, UEF students showed their strengths in English and gained more hands-on experience in creating social impact as well. This lays an important foundation for international Service-Learning initiatives and activities in the new context.
C-Share is a series of workshops between the UEF Community Connection Centre and Karlshochschule University (Germany). The goal of C-Share is to create opportunities for exchanging and sharing among students and experts when implementing activities to serve the community. Since then, students of the two universities have raised awareness of Social enterprises and Sustainable community development, in line with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (17 SDGs).

News and Photos: Centre of Service Learning