The charity VOLTRA and the Asian social enterprise Empact jointly organized the "Hong Kong Social Innovation and Development Camp" results sharing session. 29 secondary school students from Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen shared their personal experiences of the 6-day field trip, including visits to the grassroots in Sham Shui Po, visits to people with disabilities, hand-to-hand experiments on the daily budget of Hong Kong grassroots shopping in the market, food recycling and meal distribution activities, collaboration with students with special educational needs to create inclusive art, hiking activities in Western High Mountains, and visits to 4 inclusive social enterprise restaurants to understand the different situations of disadvantaged groups in the community.
Ma Yiyi, Assistant Director of VOLTRA, said that the "Hong Kong Social Innovation and Development Camp" is a 6-day experiential learning activity that brings mainland youth to Hong Kong to explore the different aspects of the city in depth. The activity is based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), allowing participants to experience the pros and cons of urban development through field visits to different areas of Hong Kong. They first went to the less affluent Sham Shui Po area to experience livelihood issues such as subdivided flats. Then, they went to the bustling areas to experience the other side of urban development. In addition, they went to nature to experience the contrast between urban and rural areas. In different issues such as food and environmental protection, participants can think about the current social situation in Hong Kong from all angles.
Ma continued, "For most of the participants, this experiential learning activity has become an opportunity to broaden their horizons. Because the students' family backgrounds are relatively wealthy, they usually come to Hong Kong for tourism and rarely have the opportunity to gain in-depth understanding of Hong Kong's social problems. Through this activity, they not only learned self-care and teamwork, but more importantly, they developed a reflective awareness of social fairness and justice."
Yang Zhenhui, General Manager of Empact (China), an Asian social enterprise, said that the participants of the "Hong Kong Social Innovation and Development Camp" are mainly between the ages of 12 and 18, and come from public schools, inclusive schools and international schools in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. She hopes that this project can cultivate students' awareness of social responsibility, let them see the other side of the world, learn empathy, and give back to society in their own way in the future.
17-year-old Feng Yiming from Shanghai was the leader of the first group of the event. He shared an unforgettable visit experience in the Sham Shui Po area: an uncle who had a history of drug abuse, although now regained a job and a place to live, his living environment is still very difficult. Feng Yiming visited the uncle's home of less than 100 square feet, which made him personally understand the difficulties faced by the displaced. He said frankly that this experience not only changed his perception of Hong Kong, but also made him realize that society needs everyone to lend a hand, care for the disadvantaged groups, and build a more fair and just society.
Another participant, Qiao Tianyu, who is also 17 years old, said that he would never forget to participate in the activities of the food recovery organization Food Dehao. The organization recycles food that is about to be thrown away from stores and markets and redistributes it to people in need. This not only reduces the waste of resources, but also effectively helps the disadvantaged groups. This model can not only promote the goal of "zero hunger", but also embodies the concept of social equity and poverty alleviation.
The two participants also said that in the past they got to know Hong Kong through traveling to Disneyland, Ocean Park and the most prosperous attractions. This time, participating in the "Hong Kong Social Innovation and Development Camp" allowed them to get to know a more three-dimensional Hong Kong through social enterprises and relatively less affluent areas. They also truly saw the other side of the world. There are many people in poor areas living in misery, which gave them a different experience of the world.
Source: Hong Kong Commercial Daily
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