SL/CEL Project

Children’s Smile: UEFers actively spread the spirit of community service during the COVID 19 pandemic

07/07/2021

In the context of the complicated Covid-19 pandemic which has made many activities adjusted themselves, UEF students still actively made a huge contribution to community organizations with the Service-Learning project called the "Children's Smile" with many unique features. Through the story of Pham Duc Huy - A Student Coordinator of the project, let’s find out about the process of carrying out this innovative community project.

Before becoming a student of the UEF Faculty of Economics, Duc Huy was a dynamic student participating in numerous movements and voluntary activities. After being accustomed to the life of a freshman at UEF, Duc Huy continues to participate more in community activities and he is especially interested in Service-Learning projects.

Last March, Huy signed up to participate in the Creative Story-telling project organized by the Center of Service – Learning of the UEF with the desire to bring story-creating skills to children who have special circumstances. With knowledge from the training and practical experiences at the shelter, Huy realized his interest in voluntary activities. Since then, every Saturday afternoon at the “Truyen Tin” Shelter is the active session of Huy's group when carrying out many activities to help children stimulate creativity.

Pham Duc Huy, a freshman at the Faculty of Economics - Volunteer Coordinator of the Children’s Smile project

After a period of exciting activities, the Creative Story-telling project had to end earlier than expected due to the COVID 19 pandemic, this difficult situation created many more challenges not only for the students of the project but also for the limited resources of the shelter. The fact that children at the Shelter had to end their study not only put pressure of management on the staff (only 2 employees) but also seriously affected the children's acquisition of knowledge.

Facing with this situation, realizing the need of doing something to support the community, Duc Huy and a number of UEF students collaborated in the Creative Story-telling project (Bui Ngoc Bao Tran, Bui Khanh Ly, etc. ) and the Heart to Hand project (Ha Thien Bao) planned to launch the Children’s Smile project.

Communication activities and interviews to recruit students to participate in this project were professionally prepared, which attracted many students joining. Thereby, 18 suitable students were selected to take part in the project. From here, they will conduct the training about how to work with children, designing lessons with the participation and detailed planning of activities for the week. All activities take place online, including technical support activities with the management staff of Truyen Tin Shelter.

According to the plan, members of the project hold activities for children of the Shelter with diverse contents, such as: teaching drawing, cooking, English tutorial, learning Science, etc. in every morning from Monday to Saturday. The first sessions of getting to know the children through online interactions were quite challenging for them. However, with enthusiasm, from the third session, the results of activities were beyond the expectation. The children of the shelter gradually got familiar and eagerly looked forward to each lesson with the UEF students and actively practiced with the instructions. The activities are also variedly refined by the members in order to keep the children excited to participate.

Children of the Truyen Tin Shelter participated in activities with UEF students

After nearly 2 weeks of operation, Duc Huy shared: “I feel extremely happy when carrying out the project as a coordinator at this time. This new role helps me learn a lot of new skills: patient listening, problem analysis, risk management and proper delegation. Currently, although I am in the coordinating position, thanks to the management tools guided by the Center of Service- Learning along with my self-discipline and love for children, the project was well-organized. The assignment of responsibility for members in a team dóes not seem to exist. When an activity takes place, we all actively volunteer. The project is still in its early stages, but I'm sure I have received a lot, especially the bond and love from the children at the Truyen Tin Shelter."

On the side of the Truyen Tin Shelter, the Sister and the manager of the Shelter highly appreciated the timely support of UEF students, especially during the COVID 19 pandemic. Participating in advising Children’s Smile project’s members how to design activities, the Shelter managers clearly saw the enthusiasm and support from the young people of the UEF family when they enthusiastically accepted the suggestions.

Children interact with students on old laptops

Project’s activities are actively carried out every week but still facing some difficulties due to limitations in facilities. Currently, the Shelter only has one old laptop used by 2 groups of children and they will take turns interacting with UEF students. This affects the quality of the lessons and it takes a lot of time for UEF students to arrange and convey the content. The Truyen Tin Shelter is looking forward to receiving support from units/organizations so that the project members can be more motivated for this meaningful activity.