To allow students access to experience the organic farming, the County government launched the “International Rural Village Summer Experience Camp” at Zhudong’s Ruan-Qiao Community and invited students from Czech Republic, Switzerland, Indonesia, America, Russia, Malaysia and Thailand to join the exchange activity. Starting from August 5 to 7, the Summer Camp intends to offer a chance for students to step into the lives of rural village through the combination of environmental and agricultural education. Through the all-English immersion environment created during the camp, students are encouraged to practice expressing their ideas and communicating with each other in English, thus further improving their English proficiency. On August 5, Magistrate Chiu hosted the opening ceremony, and announced that he looked forward to seeing students gain a better grasp of the natural and friendly spirits of organic agriculture and expand their international visions via the camp.
“I am glad to attend this summer camp, and everyone here has been good and friendly to me. Since papayas are not grown in Switzerland, the camp has offered me a rather intriguing experience,” stated Adrian, an international student from Switzerland. 40 students rolled up their pant legs and started digging holes with shovels and planting seeds of Red Lady Papaya offered by Agriculture Department and Hsinchu County Farmers’ Association in the fields. Through the interaction during the camp, Taiwanese students were allowed the English immersion environment to put the vocabularies and grammars they had learned to practical uses, which was quite a precious experience.
The County government has been actively promoting the refined agriculture as one of the five perspectives in industrial development, Magistrate Chiu remarked. Chiu added that the relationship between the earth and human beings has been interdependent, so the organic farming plays a pivotal role in imparting the ideas of “co-existing peacefully with mother nature” and “respect and care for earth” to future generations. Meanwhile, with the advance of agricultural production techniques, the grafting of Shinko Pear scion and the recently-cultivated Red Lady Papaya both embody the sustainability of Hsinchu County’s development in refined agriculture.
Magistrate Chiu, Director-general of Agriculture Department, Secretary-general of Hsinchu County Farmers’ Association Wen Bi-Cheng, Principal of St. Aloysius Technical School Tang Zhi-Long and owner of Zhudong’s Green Farm Chen Li-Long attended the opening ceremony. The Principal Tang emphasized that many talents have been cultivated since the foundation of St. Aloysius Technical School in 1954, and the summer camp will encourage their students and international students to get engaged in brainstorming for creativity and developing the refined agriculture by putting their skills to good use.
Source: St. Aloysius Technical School (03-5882520)
Writer: Chen Chang-Shun