Recap on Peace Camp 2024

by Chair DS Regan Ho and Vice-Chair IPDRR Wayne Lai

A collaboration across the Rotary community, with 15 Rotary Clubs sponsoring over 80 Interactors joining this meaningful initiative, supported by 20 Rotarians and Rotaractors as Organising Team / Facilitators.

With our on-going commitment in promoting peace to the younger generation, Rotary International District 3450 Peace Committee partnered with Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong (LPCUWC) for the 4th time, to co-organise our renowned Peace Camp to our Interactors and secondary school students.

Peace Camp 2024 was successfully held on the 9th-10th of March. This year’s theme was “Peace and Communication”. Stepping into the fourth year of this collaboration, it was our first attempt at an overnight camp to enhance participants’ learning and experience. We share the highlights of this camp as follows.

Peace Camp was attended by almost 120 students, including 80+ students (Interactors) sponsored by 15 Rotary Clubs. This was a valuable opportunity to learn and interact with peers from 20+ countries, join student-led games & discussions, hear from experts in peacebuilding, and perform in a unique diversity show. The entire programme was created and/or driven by LPCUWC students. We emphasized the importance of youth empowerment and capacity-building through experience. Our event staff also included a strong team of Rotarians and Rotaractors, who partnered with LPCUWC student organizers to add balance and experience to event management.

09 March 2024 (Saturday)

Kick-off

A brief opening ceremony featured speeches and ground rules from Chair DS Regan Ho and LPCUWC Staff Supervisor Adrian Kwong.

Ice-breaking games (Activity 1) : “Sheriff” & “Privilege”

Students then split into their groups for an initial round of activities. Groups were allocated to achieve a mixture of student age, school and language proficiency. While there were opportunities to engage with different peers, participants were also able to create synergy through meeting the same few groups in different activities.

The first ice-breakers were quickfire games. “Sheriff” helped participants learn the names of their groupmates, while “Privilege” simulated how restrictions to communication can exacerbate inequities and affect the maintenance of peace.

Activity 2: “Bingo with Peace”

After lunch, students participated in the second activity. Teams raced to complete tasks and fill the bingo board, with emphasis on team building through communication of game strategy.

Speaker Session 1: Devi Novianti

Devi Novianti from the Equal Opportunities Commission returned for her third Peace Camp involvement. As an experienced and accomplished public speaker, Devi demonstrated how to communicate in an engaging way. Students were introduced to sociological theories and gained some tips on how to prevent miscommunication. There was also an interactive exercise where students practised respectful communication in the style of professional coaching.

Activity 3: “Creating an Ideal Society”

In the third group activity, multiple groups came together to simulate a budding society. The society had to debate and select five core values for their new society. In each conversation, multiple individuals were restricted from joining in. After this simulation, students reflected on how communication – and its restriction – affects collective decision-making.

Activity 4: “Toss n Cross”

This was perhaps the most popular activity among students. Split into two teams, players needed to throw the ball directly to a “receiver” standing beyond the opposite team. For every clean receive, the thrower would go to the other side and become an additional receiver. The goal was for the entire team to become receivers. Throughout the rounds, different communicative restrictions were imposed, challenging students to devise ways to overcome these barriers.

Overnight Arrangement: CYMCA Wu Kai Sha Youth Village

The overnight segment was highly anticipated among participants. Many looked forward to mingle and spend time with friends after an eventful day. Thank you to the Rotarians and Rotaractors who filled in as House Wardens!

10 March 2024 (Sunday)

Activity 5: “Gesture the Word”

Day 2 began with our fifth activity, which was a modified version of Charades. Teams had to guess increasingly abstract words with a variety of communicative barriers, including both physical and verbal restrictions.

Speaker Session 2: Curtis Lam

We invited Mr. Curtis Lam to share some pointers on how to shape our communication style for peace. Having researched the intersection between education and peacebuilding, Curtis raised an interesting dualism: communication is often the reason behind conflict, yet communication is also the only way to resolve conflict. With some engaging demonstrations and interactions, participants were able to understand the key message: communicating for peace is a choice.

Activity 6: World Domination

In the final student-led activity, participants joined a modified version of the board game “Risk”. The hypothetical setting was a worldwide territorial standoff; would this escalate into invasion and conquest, or would teams be able to maintain diplomacy? The result depended on how teams collectively chose to apply their communication styles.

Cultural Performance & Closing Ceremony

The showpiece of this camp involved participants sharing the results of their cultural exchange. Throughout the camp, every group had been learning at least one dance from an international student at LPCUWC. The Closing Ceremony saw a showcase of all these dances representing various cultures around the world.

The Ceremony also featured addresses from District Governor Andy Li, LPCUWC Principal Spencer Fowler, PDG Peter Pang and LPCUWC event supervisor Adrian Kwong. It was important to recognize the role of all parties in bringing about Peace Camp, and to give everyone the opportunity to memorialize the event with photos, souvenirs and certificates. All sponsors received a special student-made Peace Camp ornament, while facilitators received a certificate and small badge for recognition. All 120 participants were awarded a certificate of completion.

Please stay tuned for our recap video on the District’s social media (@Rotary3450)!

Thank you again to all our sponsors. This Camp would not have been possible without your support – to sponsor and nominate Interactors to join this meaningful event.

Platinum Sponsors:

The Rotary Foundation
Rotary Club of Harmony and Prosperity Hong Kong
Rotary Club of Hong Kong Financial Centre

Gold Sponsors:

PP Mark Tong (Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour)
Rotary Club of Hong Kong Harbour
Rotary Club of Kai Tak
Rotary Club of New Territories
Rotary Club of Wanchai

Last but not least – Kudos to our Core Team and Rotary / Rotaract Facilitators who contributed and spent their time with students. Giving is receiving for all of us.

Peace Camp 2024 Organising Committee

Advisors

DG Andy Li (Rotary Club of Kwai Chung)
District Peace Committee Chair, PDG Peter Pang (Rotary Club of New Territories)

Chair

DS Regan Ho (Rotary Club of Harmony and Prosperity Hong Kong)

Vice-Chair

DAG Paul Lau (Rotary Club of Hong Kong North-east)
Rotarian Byron Wong (Rotary Club of Harmony and Prosperity Hong Kong)
IPDRR Wayne Lai (Rotaract Club of Victoria)
Sarah Tam (Founder Member of RAGFP HK & Macau Chapter)

Peace Camp 2024 Facilitators

DDS Amy Cho (Rotary Club of Green Hong Kong)
DDS Josephine Leung (Rotary Club of Kowloon North)
DDS Boris Lo (Rotary Club of Island Green)
DDS Derrick Tan (Rotary Club of Peninsula East)
DDS Angela Wong (Rotary Club of Peninsula East)
P Felicity Yeung (Rotary Club of Happy Valley)
P Wilson Shum (Rotary Club of Hong Kong Northeast)
P Maggie Yuen (Rotaract Club of Hong Kong Financial Centre)
CP Rita Cheung (Rotaract Club of Harmony & Prosperity Hong Kong)
IPP Linda Poon (Rotaract Club of Harmony & Prosperity Hong Kong)
IPP Angie Tsang (Rotaract Club of Shaw College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong)
IPP Freya Siu (Rotaract Club of Caritas Institute of Higher Education)
Rotarian Grace Ng (Rotary Club of Hong Kong Northeast)
Rotaractor Akina Wong (Rotaract Club of Harmony & Prosperity Hong Kong)
Rotaractor Eugene Lai (Rotaract Club of Lee Woo Sing College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong)