|S| Teaching English @ Spring Hill School

IMG_20180424_163224

You may not believe it, but the past week we went through life as English teachers! On the platform of ‘wwoofing Vietnam’, we got in touch with Mr. Quang, the principal of Spring Hill School. It’s an ’organic farm school’, located 45 km outside of Hanoi. The school’s vision is to teach students in open air and in connection with nature. Education is more than building knowledge, it’s all about ‘life skills’. Spring Hill School invites wwoofers and volunteers to teach English while being outside in the garden with the kids. They also want to give their students, aged from 1,5 years up to 14 years old, the experience of a cultural exchange. This week, Belgium meets Vietnam and vice versa!

From the very first second we arrived at the school, the students wanted to know who we are, where we come from, why we are in Vietnam, what our favorite beetle is (!?) and so on and on and on! We immediately felt very welcomed and were surprised how open and communicative the students were in English. Coming from the overpopulated polluted big city Hanoi, our lungs were so happy with the fresh air here in Đông Xuân, Quốc Oai, a district of Hanoi. The school is literally located on a hill and has a big organic vegetable garden, a lot of chickens and gooses and fruit trees. All meals in the school were organic and that healthy food made us instantly happy!

We decided to make a ‘worm farm’ with the kids of group 6 and 7. The students were 8-9 years old and already had good basic English language skills. Making a worm farm was a fantastic way to learn about composting. The worms minimize food waste by turning organic kitchen waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer for plants and soils. Worms eat organic waste and turn it into liquid fertilizer and worm castings (worm manure). Both of these products can be used on the garden and on pot plants to keep them thriving. The worm liquid, we call it ‘worm tea’, can be used to replace fertilizer. So every lunch we collected the banana peels and vegetable peels to use in our worm farm. The students were super enthusiast to build this farm together with us and on top of this, they learned some new English vocabulary! Mission completed!

If you’re thinking about going to Vietnam and you’re looking for a local experience, go to Spring Hill School and challenge yourself to stand in the shoes of a teacher in Vietnam! You will surely enjoy the organic healthy food, fresh air and the amazing kids out there!