RMIT Vietnam Buddies ‘Go Green’ on Can Gio Beach

RMIT Vietnam Buddies ‘Go Green’ on Can Gio Beach

A team of RMIT Vietnam international and local students recently spent a weekend in Can Gio cleaning up the beach with local high school students.

To help the University’s international exchange students get the most out of their time in Vietnam, RMIT Vietnam’s Student Life team has implemented a buddy program. This is an initiative aimed at encouraging both international and local students to try new things, share skills and make friends.

On the weekend of 13 August, a group of 25 local and international RMIT Vietnam students partnered with their “buddies” and led by International Student Support Co-ordinator Ms Doan My Ngoc, travelled to Can Gio Beach to “Go Green”.

The students, buddies and RMIT Student Life team gather on Can Gio beach. The students, buddies and RMIT Student Life team gather on Can Gio beach.

“The purpose of the trip was to introduce international students to the Can Gio mangrove reserve, engage with local students and do something meaningful for the community by cleaning the beach,” said Ngoc. 

“It was also a great chance to give local Vietnamese students a chance to practice their English speaking skills.”

“We cleaned the beach to raise local awareness about environmental protection and reinforce the importance of studying English as a means to improve future livelihoods.”

International and local students took part in "RMIT Goes Green" in Can Gio last month. International and local students took part in "RMIT Goes Green" in Can Gio last month.

Edward Crocker, an international student from Melbourne, Australia, took part in the clean up at Can Gio reserve.

“The Go Green event provided us with a great opportunity to explore the country and meet people that we might not otherwise run into,” Edward said.

“What I saw of Can Gio was great and the buddy team is awesome. They have helped so much with the small details of everyday life here and solved a lot of problems.”

Bachelor of Commerce student Phan Trong Quoc Anh was one of the local buddies taking part in the event.

“The eco-friendly trip to Can Gio was a good chance to make new friendships and contribute to the community,” he said.

“Can Gio is a small town with an amazing eco-system, and the trip made us more aware of the environmental issues there.

“As a leader of the Buddy Team, it was another good chance for us to maximise the benefits of our time at university, and do something positive.”

RMIT Vietnam students and buddies work together in Can Gio's monkey forest. RMIT Vietnam students and buddies work together in Can Gio's monkey forest.

In the first semester of 2016 RMIT Vietnam hosted a record 200 international students from 34 countries.

Story: Jon Aspin

12 September 2016

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