PASCH Summer Camp 2016
Education, entertainment and environmentalism

Gruppenfoto

33 students between 15 and 17 participated in the PASCH youth summer camp in Huế in central Vietnam from June 3rd to 11th 2016. Many of the participants learn German at a PASCH partner school in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City which are supervised by Goethe-Institut. 

In the mornings, the students attended German classes in buildings of the university of Huế. The afternoons were filled with varied work on projects concerning the themes environmentalism and invention. The beautiful surroundings of the old imperial city were visited and explored during field trips.

Show us how creative you are

The students from Hanoi and HCMC learned German in smaller groups every day for five class units, each lasting 45 minutes. And for us, learning German means to actively experience and apply the language, in pairs or in a group, for example in role plays, with interviews or smaller projects. Speaking, hearing, reading, writing and grammar are thereby sensibly combined. For example, collages about „The perfect outfit” were being crafted and presented according to the main subject „Fashion and clothing“. Furthermore there was a catwalk, where participants could show off their walking talents in a humorous way and where they could rate their clothing respectively – in German, of course. The iPads were also used in a diverse manner in class, for example in order to create a creative collage according to the subject “hobbies”.
 
Working with digital media was also a prevalent activity next to group games in the afternoons. The students filmed short movies of different genres, from horror comedy to romance, during an excursion in the mountains of Bạch Mã. The writing of the storyboards, the filming and the editing process was great fun for them, as they could let their imagination flow freely and they could deepen their German skills. The flora and fauna of the old citadel of Huế was also captured in photos in the meantime of a visitation to be able to process them in an app later on in the evening.

Environmental protection with a fun factor

For all other activities stood the summer camp especially for awareness of the environment and sustainability. Eco gardens were set among the greenly planted hotel grounds, who delivered the vegetables for the hotel kitchen. The students even had the opportunity to take part in the farming themselves and in the meantime learned something about organic cultivation. In further projects, sun collectors were crafted who can cook with solar energy, and old plastic bottles and tetra packs were recycled to so called Hanging Gardens. The participants also learned how to re-style old t-shirts and how to process tetra packs to wallets during Do-it-yourself workshops. Finally, the students reflected on how they personally could create their schools more green and environmentally aware, which they documented in testimonials on paper and with photos.
 
The final evening was a joyful event: first, the movies filmed in Bach Ma were shown and the results of the DIY-workshops were showcased in an eco fashion show, at the end there was a disco full of dance and cheers. The goodbye the following day was not easy for most of the participants, as many friendships had formed over the course of time.
 
What stays is a strengthened awareness of environmental protection and incredible memories, as well as the hope to see each other again at the summer camp next year.