Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
Swarup Gurung and Mahisma Gurung were two of the 16 Hongkongers who visited Wuhan for a fully funded cultural immersion learning experience earlier this year.
It was the first time both students had visited mainland China. The four-day weekend was full of surprises.
Mahisma, 14, enjoyed visiting Wuhan’s famous Yellow Crane Tower. Swarup, 11, said he loved trying the different foods – which he found surprisingly spicy.
The group also visited the Bridge Museum, prepared herbal medicine, and rode in electric cars.
“Instead of staying in school [and learning] ‘Oh, this is how it happened’, you can go to the place and actually experience what happened,” said Swarup. He is a student at Jordan Road Government Primary School.
Mahisma, a Rosaryhill School student, added: “[It’s more than] seeing news or something on your mobile; we got to experience it. It was really good.”
Struggling in the system
The trip was organised by Integrated Brilliant Education Limited (IBEL). It is an NGO that helps around 280 ethnic minority pupils in Hong Kong with their education.
Manoj Dhar co-founded IBEL with his wife in 2015. Dhar explained that non-Chinese-speaking students struggle in the city’s school system. This is especially true if they cannot afford to attend international schools.
In addition to after-school Cantonese tutoring, IBEL also organises outings to get students excited about their city. “We take them to museums [or] the Hong Kong Sevens, or give them sporting activity exercises,” Dhar said.
Family experiences
Dhar believes in the importance of generational experiences. He encouraged students to bring family along on the trip to Wuhan.
Mahisma bonded with her elder brother on the trip. Swarup was lucky enough to be accompanied by his parents.
Swarup’s parents witnessed him give a bilingual speech in English and Cantonese at the end of the trip. He expressed his gratitude to a room full of dignitaries, including Hong Kong’s former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
“How could I not be nervous?” Swarup said. “My friends told me to make eye contact ... [but] I had to look at the paper.”
Still, he said he was proud of his speech. He was even more ecstatic when his father gave him a gift to congratulate him.
Suggested answers
Before you read: Answers may vary.
Stop and think: Dhar made sure to invite not only IBEL students but members of their families on the trip so they could learn together.
Consider: Swarup and Mahisma enjoyed the immersive experience of learning about Wuhan by seeing it in person rather than the distance created by learning about something through a textbook or computer screen.
