Supervisor: Dr Cheng Yi En
What is your team’s project about?
1. We are working with a community in Tra Vinh, Vietnam, with the goal of introducing a sexuality education curriculum for the children in the village.
2. We are working with Eco Vietnam Group (EVG), an NGO whose mission is to provide quality and accessible education to children in rural vietnam.
3. We are currently working on a storybook to teach children about sexuality education in an approachable way, and we are covering topics such as consent, harassment, and human anatomy.
What does your team enjoy most about the IEx project?
Being able to understand the community's needs through our visits and make a difference, no matter how big or small:)
What are some challenges that you think are unique to the project?
The logistical challenges of writing, illustrating and publishing a storybook - from considering what kind of tone/language to use in the content, to liaising with an external illustrator to bring our characters to life, and considering copyright statements/registering for ISBN. While these are all part and parcel of the project, we did not expect how complicated printing a storybook can be behind the scenes, but we believe that the final product will make it all worth it!
Any specific tips about working with your team’s community?
For the specific community we worked in (Tra Vinh), the population was largely of Khmer ethnicity, which is a minority group in Vietnam that has had a history of oppression. So, we needed to be cognisant that they have a history and culture of their own, and hence unique needs that stem from it. For our storybook especially, we tried to consider this aspect by showing more representations of Khmer culture in the form of the characters' clothings and speech. So our advice would be to understand where the community is coming from, and make them feel "seen" in whatever project you engage in.
Any fun stories to share with your juniors?
We had many meaningful experiences when our group visited the community twice and interacted with the children and locals. No particular fun story to share, but we hope that our juniors can enjoy every step of the way and make the most out of this module too!