Recently, the children at Kyoto University village had the opportunity to enjoy an excursion together in the cool autumn on 27 October 2012. The aim of the excursion was to take photographs at various Kyoto attractions which would be used to make playing cards.

The children were divided into 3 groups and visited places such as the Shimogamo Shrine, Imperial Palace and the Kumano Shrine. Take a look at some of the photographs taken by the children!

Over at Mie, excitement filled the air on 27 October 2012 as the children had their first taste of the Pangaea Playing Cards activity. They were very engrossed indeed during the discussion on the type of contents to include in the playing cards!

On 13 October 2012, the new Pangaea activity site at the Urban Design Center Kashiwa-no-ha (UDCK) in Chiba held its second activity.

During the activity, the PangaeaNet was introduced to the children. PangaeaNet is a secure internet environment through which children across Pangaea sites in different countries can share their artwork such as drawings and animations. Through the platform, the children can also provide their comments on the artwork to one another using pictograms called Pictons, as well as send messages.

The children learnt quickly on how to use PangaeaNet and were soon having fun exploring the web features.

On 29 September 2012 as summer came to a close, an activity was conducted for the children at Kyoto University. Since the children had not seen each other for a while during the summer vacation, they were given some time to share with one another what they did in summer. From what they shared, it seemed that the children had an eventful summer!

In addition, the children also brainstormed on the ideas for the Pangaea playing cards which they would help to make. It was a very fruitful session indeed!

Hello everyone.

It will soon be the season where the cooling songs of the crickets will replace the singing of the cicadas. Just as we thought that it would finally be cooler, the Pangaea staff team had to head to Vietnam for two weeks. By the time you are reading this mail, we should already be perspiring in the Vinh Long province in the Mekong delta.

Please find below the newsletter for this month.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX
----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Activity Report for September 2012
+ Training for our volunteers
+ YMC Viet Project Update

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Activity Report for September 2012
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The first Pangaea activity was held on 2 September at Kashiwa-no-ha, Chiba Japan.

Here is a picture from the activity for the record!

http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2012/09/first_pangaea_a.html

For more details on how to participate, click on the link below.
http://www.pangaean.org/Download/UDCK_Pangaea2011.pdf

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Training for our volunteers
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Two facilitators' training sessions were conducted for our volunteers in September, one for entry-level facilitators and one for existing facilitators to upgrade their skills.

Find out what our volunteers learnt during the sessions and view pictures of the training sessions here.
http://www.pangaean.org/blog/english/archives/2012/09/training_for_ou.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------
YMC Viet Project Update
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2010, Pangaea started to support the agricultural industry in the Vietnamese province of Vinh Long in the Mekong delta by tapping on the potential of children under the Youth Mediated Communication Model. There are many farmers who are illiterate in the province. Many had gone to primary school for only a year. Even though agricultural knowledge transfer workshops were conducted for them, many were unable to grasp the information that was conveyed to them due to their illiteracy.

More than half the farmers do not have accurate knowledge of agriculture. As a result, they face many problems from various fronts, ranging from yield to environmental issues. The previous trip to Vietnam saw the YMC Model implemented with positive results. In spite of being implemented over only a short period, we saw the promising possibilities of the project. Therefore, Professor Ninomiya (Tokyo University), Professor Ishida (Kyoto University), Professor Kameoka (Mie University), Professor Ikeda (Tokyo University of Agriculture), Mr Takesaki (National Agriculture and Food Research Organization) and Vietnam's Ministry of Rural Development have embarked on this project again and are working towards its further development.

Vietnamese children about the same age as Pangaea will go to the project center once a week, conduct observation at their parents' farm twice a week and measure the temperature in the fields. The children will also observe the height of the leaves and the colour, and report any signs of pest infestation or plant disease on the mobile phones. The agricultural specialist team will address the problems based on the data collected and provide clarifications to the questions by the children through a Pangaea interface. The children will develop agricultural knowledge through the process and communicate it to their parents. The children could provide the necessary explanation to their parents after visiting the project center for an average of 15 minutes each time.

The children who had never shown interest in the work of their parents are now stepping foot into the farms. They are now helping to address the agricultural issues faced by their problems by being the bridge with the agricultural specialists. Through this project, the bonds between the children and their parents have also deepen. It seems that Pangaea's approach of seeing from the children's eyes and incorporating fun in activities involving children are setting the stage for many new beginnings.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ This newsletter is delivered to:
* Registered Pangaea support members
* Registered Pangaea volunteer staffs
* Other Pangaea supporters who are in contact with us

+ To unsubscribe or to change email address:
http://www.pangaean.org/common/english/newsletter/change.html

Published by: Non-Profit Organization PANGAEA

Website: http://www.pangaean.org
Email: info@pangaean.org
Tel: +81-(0)75-741-8877 | Fax: +81-(0)75-741-8876
Shijo Hirano Bldg. #402, 716-1 Shin Kamanzacho, Shimogyo-ku,
Kyoto 600-8471 Japan
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2012 NPO PANGAEA. All Rights Reserved.