To mark the 2018 Lebanese Children’s Day, UNIFIL’s Chinese Battalion (CHINBATT) organized a cultural exchange event at Cadmous College in Tyre, South Lebanon, last week.
The 1 June event started with opening remarks and exchange of gifts by the Commander of CHINBATT, Colonel Shi Honghui, and the Principal of Cadmous College, Father Jean Younes.
Following this, the students were introduced to some characters from the Chinese alphabet and the UNIFIL peacekeepers performed traditional cultural activities from China including Kung Fu, calligraphy, painting, paper cutting and folk music.
Mohamad, an 11-year-old Cadmous student is a huge fan of Tai Chi, a traditional Kung Fu martial art. Before this event he never had the opportunity to learn Tai Chi, but left with a few basic movements taught to him by a UNIFIL Chinese peacekeeper.
“My son has the same age as Mohamad and loves Kung Fu too. I truly hope that all children in the world can live away from wars and grow up happily,” said Lt. Col. Sheng Wei, the Deputy Commander of CHINBATT.
To conclude the activities the students performed a traditional Chinese dance and delivered speeches. The Chinese peacekeepers also distributed toys and stationery to the students.
This cultural exchange with Cadmous College is the start of a series of similar events between CHINBATT and local schools. This month the Chinese peacekeepers will visit other locations and continue to deepen and promote cultural exchanges to higher levels.
Such activities are crucial in deepening the excellent relations between UNIFIL peacekeepers and local communities in furthering peace in south Lebanon.