What is Open Day? It's kind of h=
ard to explain …. …
As you consider the community of =
the Divine Word Campus, you could think of Open Day as like a village fa=
ir or town festival.
How do you turn this:=
Into this? =
With lots and lots of hard work!
Open Day =
is a time for the students to show off their work, their subject, explai=
n what they are learning, and take some pride in their Departments and p=
rograms. Open Day is also a time for the off-campus community to be inv=
ited in to see what we do here.
As said, it takes a lot of hard work.
There is a lot of planning involved, palm fronds to be woven, bamb=
oo to be cut and lashed, walkways to be swept and in some cases painted,=
buildings to be washed, hedges to be pruned and weeded. But shared wor=
k also builds community.
And the students are all in this toget=
her. What amazes us the most is how motivated most of the students are =
and how little supervision is given. Students arrive on campus as 1st Y=
ears (freshmen) and they are trained by the upper class students. By th=
e time they are 3rd Years (juniors) or 4th Years (seniors), they have qu=
ite naturally taken the younger classes following them under wing. And =
the process repeats.
Truly, the staff and l=
ecturers did almost nothing to make all of this happen!=
Okay, so more of these pictures are about the Mathemat=
ics and Computing Science students. But I do want to try to show the ca=
mpus-wide effect of all the departments and programs.
<= br/>
As I said, planning. Everyone had at least one banner.=
The programs (or majors) are offered by Departments, and the students =
work together as a Department. Four or five Departments together make u=
p a Faculty (or school). We in the Mathematics and Computing Science De=
partment belong to the Faculty of Business and Informatics.
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/a>
=
One of th=
e computer labs was transformed into a series of displays and posters. =
Various aspects of the study of computing and mathematics were explained=
by posters and students were on hand to answer questions.
<= br/>
A set of=
students erected a dugout outrigger canoe on an elevated stand, so that=
the canoe's mast could serve as the flag pole for the Papua New Gui=
nea national flag. The flag itself was hand made for Open Day.
=
The Communications Arts Department featured th=
e programs they operate in television, radio and newspaper production.
=
<= br/>
The Department of Tourism and Hospitality studen=
ts built and operated a restaurant, including serving lunch from the cen=
ter of the midway.
Other Tourism students dressed in traditiona=
l tribal attire, and we visited a mock hotel lobby and concierge desk.
<=
img alt=3D'' src=3D'http://files.myopera.com/bcupp/albums/14221832/thumb=
s/facutly_of_health.jpg_thumb.jpg' /> <=
/a>
The Community Health students =
had a series of booths with public health information. They also dug a =
well and installed an operating pump as part of a display on ground wate=
r hygiene. Also they had an entire toilet and plumbing system assembled=
and on display.
The Rural Health students had displays and pos=
ters on nutrition, preventative health care, and related topics.
ded rehabilitative therapy can be carried out in village life settings.<=
br/>
All in all, it was a long day involving hours =
of work. But when it's said and done, it is most impressive to see =
the obvious pride the students here are taking in their studies and the =
affinity they attach to their academic departments.
I've sa=
id it already but I will repeat: the utterly amazing part is that all of=
this was done by students! When you come to understand that, you will =
get a sense of the community spirit and sense of purpose that exists aro=
und this