Global Education Experiences (GlobEEs) is going back offline! This year, GlobEEs was conducted in Taiwan from May 7 – 20, 2023 with Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU) as the host institution and Indonesian participants coming from Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana (UKDW) and Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (UKSW).
GlobEEs is an institutional cooperation between CJCU, UKSW, and UKDW that aims to provide international education experiences where participants can interact with other participants from different countries both in academic and cultural settings. Upon completing the program, participants are expected to be familiar with and develop cross-cultural understanding as well as communication skills.
UKDW has been collaborating with CJCU and UKSW in conducting the GlobEEs program since 2018. Last year, the program was conducted online because of the unfavorable situation concerning the Covid-19 pandemic. As the situation has shown a significant improvement and countries around the world had reopened their borders, the three universities were very excited to hold GlobEEs 2023 onsite in Taiwan. Six students from UKDW were selected to join GlobEEs 2023. They are Elke Santa Amesa (Product Design), Haniif Ahmad Candraputra (Informatics), Loverisa Michelle Rachmadi (Management), Matthew Alexander Sujanto (Informatics), Rendy Ananta Kristanto (Informatics, Ruth Beviane Tiara Titahena (Architecture). The delegations from UKDW were led by Dr. phil. Lucia Dwi Krisnawati (Director of the Office of Partnerships and Public Relations) and Dianti Resti Risanti (Staf of the Office of Partnerships and Public Relations). Together with eight students from UKSW and seven student buddies from CJCU, they were ready to immerse in the two-week program. The welcoming ceremony was conducted on May 8, 2023, in CJCU Hall. The President of CJCU Dr. Lee Yung Lung extended his warm welcome to all participants.
During the program, participants were engaged in fascinating cultural courses such as Aboriginal Culture in Taiwan, Mandarin Language and Taiwanese Culture Experiences, Calligraphy and Painting, and Taiwanese Culinary. The courses also included engaging and fun activities where students not only learned from the experts but also got the chance to unleash their creativity. For instance, students were invited to make flower crowns in the Aboriginal Culture Class. Using artificial flowers, they were free to combine colors, shapes, and sizes, then turn them into beautiful forms of art. In another class, students made Taiwanese snacks from sweet potato, one of them was the infamous boba pearl. Talking about sweet potatoes, an interesting fact is, if we take a look at the shape of the main island of Taiwan, it resembles sweet potato. Thus, sweet potato has deep roots and holds special meaning to Taiwanese people.
Interacting with local students has helped participants to understand the local culture better. The chance for sharing and discussion also came during the fellowship campaign with the students from Bachelor Degree Program in Southeast Asian Cultures and Industries (SACI) as well as during the USR trips. University Social Responsibility or USR is a social responsibility model where universities exercise their ability and commitment to encourage students, and the academic staff to provide social services to their local communities. Throughout the GlobEEs program, participants learned about daily life in Taiwan, some issues and challenges faced by the people in this country, and how the USR programs are involved in tackling those issues. Specifically, GlobEEs 2023 aimed to touch five Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), i.e. #1 No Poverty, #4 Quality Education, #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, #9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities.
GlobEEs 2023 explored some of CJCU’s USR programs, which are located in Xinhua, Liugui, and Datan. The USR program in Xinhua aims to address the challenges in Xinhua historical block in Tainan City, such as economic stagnation, lack of industrial development, declining youth population, and threat to cultural heritage. The project focuses on promoting creative innovation within social enterprises in the historical district, connecting local industries to generate economic activity, and catalyzing social innovation.
Meanwhile, during the USR trip to Liugui, GlobEEs participants visited Lung Xing Elementary School. They organized cultural sharing activities and introduce Indonesian games to the elementary school students. The children happily join the games and received one stamp each time they completed a game. At the end of the cultural sharing event, there were performances from UKDW, UKSW, and elementary school students. UKDW students performed a traditional game and song called “Ampar-Ampar Pisang”, and invited the audience to join the performance on stage.
The efforts to improve the environmental quality were shown in the USR lecture in Datan. Participants visited the International Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Eco-Center in CJCU, Datan USR Office, CJCU recycling center, Erren River, and the water treatment plant. The programs promote green energy, root-and-shoot action education, sustainable ecological environment, and circular economy.
After learning about Taiwan, its culture, and the USR program, the students shared their experiences in the Final Presentation. They also reflected what they have learned and what has been and can be done in Indonesia. Concluding GlobEEs program, participants also got the chance to explore Nantou region and Taipei. [drr]