Chinese-American Summer Camp
By Li Chia-wen, secretary, Tzu Chi University
(Translated by Lillian Peng
and Una Fan, Northern California)
In order to let children of Tzu Chi members
abroad return to their "spiritual home" and learn
more about Chinese culture and the Tzu Chi spirit, the foundation
conducted a "Tzu Chi All-American Youth Humanitarian
Education Camp" in Hualien, Taiwan, from July 31 to August
11. All together, 96 students from the United States, aged
9 to 12, joined 50 local school students at the Tzu Chi Middle
School in Hualien.
In 1997, worried that their children weren't
getting any Chinese education, Tzu Chi commissioners in the
United States began to establish Tzu Chi academies to teach
Chinese language, traditional cultural and the Still Thoughts
education. So far, five Tzu Chi academies have been established
in areas with a high population of Chinese residents, including
San Jose, San Mateo, Cupertino, Seattle, and Chicago. On weekends,
children learn Chinese language, calligraphy, abacus, and
even traditional Chinese games. Parents hope that as their
children grow up in a foreign country, they may still appreciate
the culture of their Chinese ancestors.
At the summer camp, participants included
students and teachers from the American Tzu Chi academies
and students from Tzu Chi Middle School. The staff of the
middle school worked very hard to organize courses in local
culture in which students could learn from hands-on lessons
instead of just lectures. A few of the courses included tea
ceremony, flower ceremony, Chinese calligraphy and art, and
traditional Chinese architecture in the rural areas, so that
participants could appreciate the wonder of Chinese culture.
Lessons in the Chinese language emphasized pronunciation and
fluency. There were also lessons in the Tzu Chi humanities
and Still Thoughts education.
To give students a deeper experience of
modern life in Taiwan, Tzu Chi arranged for them to stay with
local families on August 4 and 5. Teachers and staff of the
Tzu Chi schools and commissioners from the Hualien and Ilan
areas hosted the students.
For more information about Tzu Chi camps,
please contact any
Tzu Chi office in the United States.
