Over two weeks in December last year, four of our Senior students ventured to Vietnam with Round Square Co-ordinator and Teacher Mrs Jodie Symons.
For Audrey P, Neve W, Jaime P and Will J it was an experience that put the indulgence and relaxation of their traditional Christmas holidays in perspective, as they had the opportunity to make a real difference in rural Mai Chau as part of the Vietnam Round Square International Service Project.
Together with 35 students from other Round Square schools worldwide, our Flinders team built a dam and installed solar-powered lights, connecting two villages and leaving a lasting impact on the local farming community.
The students moved 20 tonnes of rocks, installed 110 solar lights and transported hundreds of barrows of concrete to build a dam in Vietnam; not your average school holiday activity!
For Round Square Co-ordinator and Teacher Mrs Jodie Symons it was her first time joining a Round Square International Service Project.
As a certified Round Square School, Flinders connects and collaborates with the 250+ like-minded schools across 50 countries in the Round Square network, all offering world-class exchange, service learning and leadership programs.
Reflecting on this life changing experience in Vietnam, Mrs Symons shared:
“Our students were amazing. We installed 110 solar lights which involved digging 110 holes and then moving the poles to location and concreting them in place. We moved approximately 20 tonnes of rocks and hundreds of barrows of concrete down a steep slope to get it done. Our students were very proud of the work. They all connected with other service students, making new friends from around the world. It was an amazing experience and having now been a part of a Round Square Service Project, I can confidently recommend it to any other staff or students.”
In Term 1, our students shared their experiences in a College assembly through a Q&A session, offering insights into their time in Vietnam. They spoke about the cultural differences they had to adjust to, such as sleeping in a shared room with multiple mattresses on the floor, using mosquito nets and squat toilets!
Beyond the hard work, our students shared how much they enjoyed taking part in cultural activities such as traditional dancing, playing games with local children, planting rice and cooking meals over a wood fire.
When asked to reflect on the service trip our students all enthused about the experience, urging others to seize the opportunity if offered.
Student Reflections
Jaime: “The dam was my personal favourite. It involved a lot of collaboration between us and the locals, and at first it was extremely daunting seeing a pile of rocks and a creek having no idea where to start, but luckily we had amazing translators out there who told us what to do. So day by day we organised and completed tasks such as transporting rocks down hill, mixing cement, and forming the dam until it all came together.”
Neve: “The most rewarding experience for me was the relationships with the villagers and all the little things of appreciation from the locals at the worksites. We had ladies offering hand picked fruits which made such a physically challenging day so much more validating because you could tell how thankful they were.”
Audrey: “It was really rewarding to look out to the village at night and see our solar lights lighting the path for as far as the eye could see and feel so appreciated by the locals. The experience gave me a different perspective on so many things. The connections I made are so important. Now I have people from all around the world that I talk to, am so close with and still in contact with now. I’m even meeting up with one of them!”
Will: “One of the best things was playing with the local kids. We played volleyball in the evening and it taught me that even if you don’t have much, you can still have fun.”
2025 Round Square Opportunities
The opportunity to participate in Round Square service projects is a hands-on way for students to learn how small changes can have a big impact in rural communities. The program invites young adults, ages 16-18 years, to develop a sense of global citizenship and an understanding of the power of respectful community engagement.
Flinders students can get involved with the following Round Square initiatives in 2025.
- Round Square International Service Trip to South Africa runs from 9-21 July, 2025. Students will work alongside a local community, contributing to early childhood education and sustainable beekeeping. Applications for this trip close at the end of March. There will be another Round Square International Service Trip announced soon which will happen in December.
- Six Year 11 students will be attending the Round Square International Conference in Dubai in September. This conference will bring together over 1200 students from across the world to participate in activities that promote the Round Square IDEALS. Starehe Boy’s Centre will host a pre-conference in Kenya which we intend to attend. This amazing school is a prestigious charitable school that provides high-quality education and leadership opportunities to academically talented but financially disadvantaged boys. The pre-conference they are organising aims to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The itinerary includes a visit to an elephant orphanage, giraffe centre, hippo viewing at Lake Naivasha, a visit to a traditional Maasai village, sightseeing at The Rift Valley and game drives in Nairobi National Park, Hells Gate National Park and Nakuru National Park.
- Six Middle School students will have an opportunity to attend a regional Round Square conference in New Zealand. This conference is being organised by Whanganui Collegiate School and will allow our students to make new friends from across the globe whilst participating in activities to promote the Round Square IDEALS.
- Flinders Year 10 students have the opportunity to go on global exchanges as part of our ongoing International exchange program with other Round Square schools around the world. This year our students will be exchanging to Japan, Denmark, Germany, England, Canada and America. As a certified Round Square School, Flinders connects and collaborates with the 250+ like-minded schools across 50 countries in the Round Square network, all offering world-class exchange, service learning and leadership programs.
- Flinders Year 8 students can take part in Domestic exchanges with other Round Square schools Australia-wide.
- Flinders will be hosting our own Round Square Model United Nations in Term 2. Students from Years 9-12 will be invited to attend and learn more about the United Nations. This event will be organised by UN Youth Queensland.
Past Round Square Service Projects
Flinders students have been involved in International Round Service projects for over two years. In 2023, two students ventured to Thailand to build a community research centre and in 2024 three students built a vocational training centre for a local school, again in Thailand.
Vietnam Photo Gallery
