Huatung Youth English Camp
Through Huatung Youth English Camp, Alliance hopes children will learn to use English as a communication tool to make friends, learn new things, and express themselves.
The first Alliance Huatung Youth English Camp was held in the summer of 2010. The volunteer team consisted of 7 members from the University of San Diego-based ETA4 (English Through Academics, Athletics, and Arts Abroad), along with 28 carefully selected soon-to-be doctors from MEH (Taiwan Medical Educators for Humanities). Together they helped 150 children develop their courage and confidence to speak English.
The seven ETA4 volunteers, all native English speakers who have never been to Taiwan, let alone Taitung, raised their own airfare through part-time jobs, fundraising, and private tutoring. They lived with the campers and forged close friendships with the children.
During the one-month “English village” style living, the volunteers designed a variety of activities in the area of music, fine arts, sports, games, creative arts, and tribal experience, and brought in aboriginal speakers to share their inspirational life stories and English learning experiences. The campers’ feedback continued to pour into the Alliance office long after the camp had ended. Some campers now aspire to go abroad one day, while others expressed increased confidence in conversing in English, even if their English is choppy at times. All of the feedback from campers showed pride in their growth and accomplishment, and their reactions fueled Alliance to make the 2011 Huatung English Summer Camp a reality.
Preparation for the 2011 camp, with the theme “To be a Host,” began in December 2010. Thirty university student volunteers were chosen, and they began intensive training in curriculum design and activity planning with the help of experts in the area. The final curriculum plan included basic English lessons as well as electives in tourism, music, dance, and the arts, all of which integrated Huatung’s local culture. In addition to ETA4 and MEH of Taiwan, National Chengchi University also sent a team of volunteers, and National Taitung University co-hosted the summer 2011 camp for the 200 campers from rural Huatung.
The campers went from being shy, homesick and teary-eyed on the first day to being excited about learning English, interacting with others with sparkles in their eyes. Many volunteers likened the experience to planting seeds, caring for the young plant, and watching it grow stronger each day. Artist You Xi-Fu of Amis tribe was invited to share his own experience in learning English. He encouraged the students to start speaking English as a means of making friends with the rest of the world.
The consensus amongst the volunteer was that they learned a lot about what it truly means to volunteer, and that they received valuable lessons in making commitments and taking on responsibilities. Many of these volunteers stayed in the Huatung area and did more volunteer work on their own initiative that summer.
The seven ETA4 volunteers, all native English speakers who have never been to Taiwan, let alone Taitung, raised their own airfare through part-time jobs, fundraising, and private tutoring. They lived with the campers and forged close friendships with the children.
During the one-month “English village” style living, the volunteers designed a variety of activities in the area of music, fine arts, sports, games, creative arts, and tribal experience, and brought in aboriginal speakers to share their inspirational life stories and English learning experiences. The campers’ feedback continued to pour into the Alliance office long after the camp had ended. Some campers now aspire to go abroad one day, while others expressed increased confidence in conversing in English, even if their English is choppy at times. All of the feedback from campers showed pride in their growth and accomplishment, and their reactions fueled Alliance to make the 2011 Huatung English Summer Camp a reality.
Preparation for the 2011 camp, with the theme “To be a Host,” began in December 2010. Thirty university student volunteers were chosen, and they began intensive training in curriculum design and activity planning with the help of experts in the area. The final curriculum plan included basic English lessons as well as electives in tourism, music, dance, and the arts, all of which integrated Huatung’s local culture. In addition to ETA4 and MEH of Taiwan, National Chengchi University also sent a team of volunteers, and National Taitung University co-hosted the summer 2011 camp for the 200 campers from rural Huatung.
The campers went from being shy, homesick and teary-eyed on the first day to being excited about learning English, interacting with others with sparkles in their eyes. Many volunteers likened the experience to planting seeds, caring for the young plant, and watching it grow stronger each day. Artist You Xi-Fu of Amis tribe was invited to share his own experience in learning English. He encouraged the students to start speaking English as a means of making friends with the rest of the world.
The consensus amongst the volunteer was that they learned a lot about what it truly means to volunteer, and that they received valuable lessons in making commitments and taking on responsibilities. Many of these volunteers stayed in the Huatung area and did more volunteer work on their own initiative that summer.
