Iby’iwacu Cultural Village: Poachers turned conservationists, teachers
Erica Chin and Kobie Li
(International Journalism, Year 4)

Iby’iwacu cultural village is one of the tourist attractions in Rwanda, a landlocked east-central African country, run by former local poachers who used to hunt animals in the Volcanoes National Park for food and sale.

The park in northwestern Rwanda, which borders the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is home to the endangered mountain gorilla.

After rescuing a baby gorilla abducted by poachers in 2004, Edwin Sabuhoro, a warden in the park, started setting up small farms in poaching communities in hopes of providing poachers an alternative to illegal hunting.

Mr Sabuhoro’s project grew into the Iby’iwacu Cultural Village, where former poachers and their children became dancers, musicians and guides to show the traditional Rwandan ways of living.

Barora Leonidas was a poacher for almost 50 years until he stopped in 2005.

Mr Leonidas, whose front teeth were kicked out by a buffalo, is now dancing and singing in the cultural village to showcase traditional village life.

“There is no poaching nowadays since all the ex-poachers understand the importance of conservation and the Volcanoes National Park as well as the development of tourism,” said Innocent Twagikimana, a second generation ex-poacher who works as a guide at the village.

More than 1,000 former poachers now work in a wide range of activities in different villages and districts in Rwanda.

Apart from introducing local poaching traditions in the cultural village, members also participate in farming projects, craft making as well as individual business like trading.

“They are working on something that is changing their life,” said Mr Twagikimana.

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Throughout the programme, students had to create advertising campaign pitches to promote Dubai in Hong Kong or Mainland China.

It was the first year that Canadian University Dubai (CUD) and the School collaborated on organizing a summer programme for the students of the School. Students had the opportunity to visit key attractions in Dubai, such as the Dubai Frame and the Burj Khalifa, and to experience the Ramadan. Throughout the programme, students had to create advertising campaign pitches to promote Dubai in Hong Kong or Mainland China.

Julia Ko
(Public Relations, Year 4)

My expectation about Dubai was that it would be a luxurious place with many skyscrapers and advanced technology, a place where people are rich with an indulgent lifestyle. It is partly true as I have discovered another side of Dubai during the trip.

In terms of architecture, there are indeed many skyscrapers with an aesthetic design that cannot be found in other places, such as the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Frame. Unlike Hong Kong, buildings in Dubai employ curvy structures and almost every building is uniquely designed. But apart from the modern architecture, there is the “Old Dubai” with its traditional architecture, including the Historical District near Al Fahidi Historical Neigbourhood and the Old Souk. To me, Dubai presents a picture of individual houses built with rough walls.

Dubai presents a picture of individual houses built with rough walls.

Shirley Chong
(PRA alumna, Class of 1993;
Former Director of Rankings and International Development, Canadian University Dubai)

During my term with CUD, as Director of Rankings and International Development at CUD, I was responsible for building networks and forging academic collaborations with universities in Asia.

HKBU was the first university that I brought into a CUD summer school programme for students of the School of Communication. Thirty-five students from the School came in June this year to experience Middle East culture and learn more about the media and PR industries in Dubai. As the Expo 2020 hosted in Dubai is coming up soon, students had a valuable opportunity to visit the Expo office and gained a good understanding of the planning and preparation for such a big event that the whole world is watching.

Wong Ka Wah
(Advertising, Year 2)

The most impressive experience for me was Ramadan because it allowed me to have a better understanding of cultural differences. Dubai is a multi-cultural city with people from different countries, cultures and religions. I learnt how to embrace and respect the differences between different cultures. During Ramadan, we could not eat or drink after sunrise or before sunset to respect the Muslims. I could not adapt to it at first, but I kept reminding myself to respect the Dubai culture because this part of the world belongs to them.

Yalin Zeng
(Year 1)

For our summer exchange programme organised by Canadian University Dubai this year, we had to create advertising campaign pitches to promote Dubai in Hong Kong or Mainland China.

The aim of our group advertising campaign was to persuade Chinese men and women aged 18-35 to travel to Dubai. The campaign objectives were to make Dubai a favourite destination for Chinese people to travel to, and to increase Chinese visitor arrivals and Chinese tourism spending.

Our advertising strategy was to promote living and travelling in Dubai — an easy, fun and diverse city — by showing the real-life experiences of Chinese people in Dubai through a live stream video platform andoutdoor advertising. Our tagline, “D bai is not complete without U”, showed the hospitality of Dubai people and enabled the audience to be highly engaged by making them feel that they are very much needed to complete Dubai. Our team made a serial video and a poster as a billboard to encourage people to take pictures to represent the “U” to support our ad campaign.

National Assembly and Barcelona City Council. After the trip, students’ news stories were uploaded to their practicum Facebook page and portal.

A group of journalism students visited Spain in the summer of 2018 for their reporting trip, mainly staying at Madrid and Barcelona. They visited the Royal Palace, Universidad Complutense, and the Catalan National Assembly etc. Students had different opportunities to interview different parties in Spain, e.g. the representatives of the Catalan National Assembly and Barcelona City Council. After the trip, students’ news stories were uploaded to their practicum Facebook page and portal.

Sharon Pun
(International Journalism, Year 3)

Hola from Spain! With a range of visits and exchanges in Madrid and Barcelona, the reporting trip was a valuable chance to expand our coverage beyond Hong Kong.

Some students did stories about bullfighting in Madrid by watching one of the races at Plaza de Toros. Some spent their time at a protest organised by H&M factory workers. Our team chose to immerse ourselves in Barcelona’s artistic buildings by working on a feature story about “God’s architect”, Antoni Gaudí.

Though we were only in Spain for a week, the experience was definitely helpful for us to gain new insights by comparing things in Hong Kong and Spain. It was also a golden opportunity for us to practise our journalistic skills in a place that we were not used to within a limited time.

Sally Cheung
(Chinese Journalism, Year 3)

The most memorable experience of our Spain reporting trip was visiting a major independent party, the Catalan National Assembly. During the visit, Christopher Bostyn, the CNA International Relations Officer, talked about the party’s development, the difficulties it’s facing and its future vision and so on.

This reporting trip allowed journalism students to experience how foreign media organisations function, as well as to learn and apply new reporting techniques to enhance their own reporting.

Ivy Wang
(Data & Media Communication, Year 2)

Smart City Barcelona has developed into a citizen and environmental-friendly metropolis. It spares the centre of city blocks for pedestrians rather than for vehicles – these blocks are called Superblocks. The Urban Mobility Plan demonstrates that this city values civil rights the most.

Ghibli Museum and Panasonic Centre in Tokyo, enabling students to understand the development of advertising in Japan, as well as gaining hands-on and multi-sensory experiences with animation and new technologies.

In January 2018, a team of PRA students participated in this study tour to Tokyo. The tour was cultural as well as educational. Following some sightseeing overlooking Mount Fuji and visiting tourist spots, such as the Cup Noodles Museum and Oshino Hakkai, the team attended the highlights of this tour – The Advertising Museum Tokyo, the Ghibli Museum and Panasonic Centre in Tokyo, enabling students to understand the development of advertising in Japan, as well as gaining hands-on and multi-sensory experiences with animation and new technologies.

Sampson Siu
(Advertising, Year 3)

Advertising Museum Tokyo is the most memorable place among all the other places that we visited. As an advertising student, I always have to consider the means of presentation in terms of product promotion. As I learned about the advertising techniques used in the different eras in Japan, I was inspired by the creativity and elasticity of the Japanese. For instance, in one of the eras, the Japanese even used a horror story to promote a pillow, which led me to understand that successful advertising can come in many forms.

in one of the eras, the Japanese even used a horror story to promote a pillow, which led me to understand that successful advertising can come in many forms.

graduation show. They had the opportunity to hear from the renowned Taiwanese director, Wang Toon on the trends of the film industry in Taiwan and storytelling techniques, and the famous Taiwanese theatre show performer, Chiasui Chen on her experience and tips for acting, promoting meaningful cultural exchange.

Film students visited various shooting venues at Hengdian Studios and Hangzhou, and interviewed several film veterans, gaining hands-on filming experience.
Students also visited Taipei National University of the Arts by attending their classes and the graduation show. They had the opportunity to hear from the renowned Taiwanese director, Wang Toon on the trends of the film industry in Taiwan and storytelling techniques, and the famous Taiwanese theatre show performer, Chiasui Chen on her experience and tips for acting, promoting meaningful cultural exchange.

More about the study tour to Hengdian Studios

More about the study tour to Taipei National University of the Arts

Film Festivals Participated in 2017-18

• Fantasia International Film Festival, Montreal, Canada
• Sitges International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
• Busan International Film Festival, Busan, Korea
• Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Bucheon, Korea
• Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada
• Far East International Film Festival, Udine, Italy

Oceanne Lee
(Film, Year 3)

Apart from film appreciation at the Far East International Film Festival in Udine, Italy, another precious experience of mine was attending a seminar featuring famous film director, Mr Roger Garcia.

The question posed by Mr. Garcia really got me thinking about my role as a filmmaker. He asked the audience, “Are you guys filmmakers?” I answered, “We are film students.” Then I thought about my answer. Yes, we are film students, but we are also filmmakers. We should treasure our identity as a “filmmaker”. This experience also reminded me of what our teacher, Mr Joel Lam, said during my interview with the Academy of Film before my admission into the programme, “You are now Hong Kong film students. After graduation, you will be Hong Kong filmmakers.”

take two academic courses while learning about Canadian practices and culture.

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The UBC Vancouver Summer Program is a four-week academic program offered by various faculties at UBC for international undergraduate students from cooperating universities, including HKBU. The program provides the opportunity for students to take two academic courses while learning about Canadian practices and culture.

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Andy Miu
(Public Relations, Year 3)

Studying at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, for one summer term was an amazing experience — the campus is attractive, with a variety of facilities that can be used by the Vancouver Summer Program (VSP) students, such as the swimming pool in the Aquatic Centre, the gym room in the UBC Life Building and the skating rink in the Thunderbird Arena.

In the VSP, I attended two courses — international marketing and international business. The reason I decided to study in an unfamiliar field was because I wanted to equip myself with knowledge in other areas. I was impressed with lecturer Mr Rui Silva’s teaching. He was very talkative and knowledgeable, as he shared his experiences with us without even looking at the screen. Moreover, he elaborated on all the marketing terms with examples, making the learning process for us as interesting as he could. Last but not least, he always encouraged students to raise any questions they had. The learning atmosphere made me feel comfortable to express my opinions and trained me to be open-minded towards new ideas.