Hello everyone, we are Van Khang, Minh Nguyet and Ai Nhan. We represented for International Economics Faculty - Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City to attend #WeCAN International Boot Camp and Research Colloquium on Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovations
This boot camp was held in Philippines by De La Salle University from September 9th to September 18th, 2019. It brought together over 100+ local and international delegates composed of faculty members, students, and advocates from 22 academic institutions in ASEAN+3 (Korea, Japan, and China). The program also aimed to create a network of universities that will promote social innovations and social entrepreneurship in the region.
Now we will tell you about our 11 memorable days of the camp!
[DAY 09 - 16/09/2019] LAUNCH PAD OF DREAMS
The new day started with the sharing of launch pad of Mr. Gian, founder of YOUTeacH. Consequently, we were divided into groups, sharing about our dreams and how to make dreams come true. Seeing so many children with disabilities in remote areas who are not enrolled in school, we all share the same dream of helping all Vietnamese children get access to good education. After defining the problems that we had to face, we analyzed the strengths of each team member and listed potential partners that we can connect for our social entrepreneurship projects.
In the afternoon, Mr. Carlos - Social Innovations Manager of Make_sense accompanied us to write down our dreams. Writing down some descriptions, core values and activities to be implemented for social entrepreneurship project is the main activity of the afternoon. Our group, composed of students of the National Economics University and Banking University, planned an e-learning project for people with disabilities, and then presented this idea to a group of students from Malaysia. Their comments are really helpful for us to adjust and finalize the project.
Besides, integrity in business is another interesting topic that we listened to and discussed with the speakers. The school day ended with the sharing of participants. Hopefully, with our talent, youth and enthusiasm for the community, we would realize our long-cherished dream.
Social Innovations Manager of Make_sense
Mr. Gian - Founder of YOUTeacH
[DAY 10 - 17/09/2019] PROJECT PRESENTATION
It's already our 10th day in the Philippines, time flies so fast. On that day, we were instructed by Ms. Marian - Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst of UNDP on how to monitor and evaluate a project. In teamwork, each group had to prepare and present a social entrepreneurship project to other groups. Our project called "Lotus fashion" has received many compliments as well as valuable suggestions from other groups from Myanmar, Cambodia and Philippines.
The afternoon was the time for networking. Everyone talked together while sharing contact information. We hope that after this boot camp, we could keep in touch with each other, support each other in social entrepreneurship projects, and especially keep memories about WeCAN.
Project presentation with groups from Philippines and Cambodia
Project presentation with groups from Myanmar
[DAY 11 - 09/18/2019] GOODBYE, MANILA!
Today is the last day of the program. Unfortunately, we did not have much time to say goodbye to all of my friends attending the boot camp, because our flight took off while the culminating ceremony was in progress.
After all, we feel very lucky to participate in the program. During the time of studying and interacting with students and lecturers in 10 Asian countries, we learned a lot of useful things. The accumulated knowledge in the past 10 days (for example, design thinking, bridging leadership, monitoring and evaluation…) is very helpful for us to plan the project we have long been cherishing. Especially, we have made new friends. Those friends told us many interesting things about their country's culture. We have learned some greetings in their languages and played some popular games in their countries.
Ten days is short but it left us many beautiful memories. We would like to thank to International Economics Faculty for giving us the opportunity to take part in this boot camp. Thanks De La Salle University for organizing a meaningful and rewarding program. Thanks our new friends for accompanying us on the #WeCAN journey. Thanks everyone.
As Mr. Gary Mendoza said, "If you never never go, you'll never never know", maybe if we don't sign up to attend the camp in Philippines, we won't be able to have such meaningful experiences.
Mr. Gary Mendoza - Người thầy, người cha và người bạn đáng kính của chúng tôi – Our respected teacher, father and friend
#WeCAN family
Tác giả (Authors): Vân Khang, Minh Nguyệt, Ái Nhân