Many people from different cultural backgrounds live in Hong Kong. If children are exposed to multiculturalism from a young age, it can help them develop empathy and increase their cultural intelligence, at the same time, they can also learn to understand and respect others. Social enterprise WEDO GLOBAL and St. Paul’s College Primary School jointly organized a Multicultural Learning Program to provide a series of multicultural experience activities for the junior primary students, including interactive drama, cultural sharing, South Asian cultural game experience and cultural art workshops. These activities are vibrant and interesting, with easy-to-understand explanations, allowing participants to experience and understand multiculturalism more deeply and develop empathy and good character for serving others.
"I like learning about different cultures since each culture has its characteristics.”
A Primary 2 participant.
“Meow Meow is Missing!” Interactive Drama ｜Learn Multiculturalism, Arouse Curiosity
In this session, the multicultural picture book published by WEDO GLOBAL - "Meow Meow is Missing!”, was presented in the form of an interactive drama, navigating the participants to ‘visit’ the Yau Ma Tei community, admiring different shops and culturally distinctive buildings. Throughout the story, participants communicated and interacted with our ethnic minority Cultural Ambassadors to spark their interest and curiosity in multiculturalism.
「“I want to help people in need, because sometimes we would also face challenges, needing others' help.” A Primary 3 participant.
Through listening to the growth experience of the cultural ambassadors, participants can learn their language and culture and ask questions in the process to further deepen their understanding of multiculturalism and eliminate racial discrimination and prejudice. With the interesting and vibrant interactive drama, participants learned multicultural knowledge and built the confidence to care for and help those in the community.
Game Workshop ｜ Develop Empathy
The game workshops were led by cultural ambassadors from different cultural backgrounds, combining cultural knowledge, five-sense experience, and South Asian cultural games. Participants can learn about people of different ethnicities in Hong Kong while playing cultural games. Through the experience of the five senses, they can learn about different cultures and customs in terms of clothing, food, and architecture . Thus, understanding the cultural differences and the difficulties faced by ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, developing empathy, and learning to accept and respect others.
“I am willing to care for the people of different ethnicities in society because they are also a part of my family.” A Primary 1 participant.
Arabic Calligraphy x Cultural Bookmark ｜ A Gift for Ethnic Minority members in the Community
Cultivating the mindset of sharing and serving others from a young age is very important. The cultural art workshop taught participants the cultural meaning of writing Arabic calligraphy and greetings. They designed two bookmarks, one for themselves as a souvenir. The other bookmark was given to WEDO GLOBAL to deliver to ethnic minority children in the community. Through the art creation process, participants can unleash their creativity and imagination, share their concepts, appreciate each other's works, and express their kindness to their community.
“I enjoyed making the bookmark the most because I can make a bookmark for myself and also gift one to others.” A Primary 2 participant.
Epilogue｜One small step towards an Inclusive Society
During the activity, we learned that the participants might have certain stereotypes or misconceptions about ethnic minorities due to their parents' past experiences or media reports. This brings out the importance of school education. Through a series of multicultural activities, the school can establish correct values for students, encourage students to try to get in touch with people of different ethnicities, serve others, contribute to society, and build an inclusive and caring community together.
“I really enjoyed today’s activity, because I was able to broaden my horizon.”
A Primary 3 Participant