Serving the whole person

The counselling rooms are busier now than ever before

When refugees and asylum seekers come to us they are often traumatised by the experiences that forced them to flee their homes. If left untreated these people may develop ways of dealing with their trauma which become a huge handicap in the future.  At Chung King Mansions Service Centre for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, our new psycho-social programme aims to help these people in a professional way.

I am so grateful for the two volunteer counsellors who’ve worked with our adult clients over the past three years. Their contribution has led to this expansion, and I am sure they’re as pleased as I am that the new programme includes counselling for children and teenagers.

Thirteen mental health professionals are providing pro bono services to help meet the needs of our clients. These professionals include counsellors, clinical psychologists, an art therapist, and a life coach. Because these counsellors speak a variety of languages, many of our clients can be counselled in their mother tongue, so it’s less of a struggle as they share their pain and fear.

Christian Action now offers the refugee and asylum seeker community a wide-range of resources to deal with and manage psychological, spiritual, emotional and behavioural issues. For me this is a major breakthrough in our service provision!

I am also optimistic about this programme’s continued growth. The Centre for Behavioural Health (CBH) at Hong Kong University are partnering with us to advise, assist, and promote the development of a holistic psycho-social service. We have also entered into a partnership with City University, Alliant University (US), California School of Professional Psychology, and the Hong Kong Institute of Christian Counsellors. Their PhD and Masters’ students volunteer at our centre.

A solid Advisory Board is the foundation on which we’re building. Members come from a diverse range of ethnic, cultural, educational and vocational backgrounds and specialise in the mental health field. Their experience will be invaluable in understanding the needs of our clients.

There are currently 32 adults and seven children in this programme. Although we’re helping more people than ever before, we only have the capacity to serve a small percentage of those who need counselling. We also welcome referrals from partner NGOs. Please pray that funding is forth coming to make this service available to many more suffering people.

Playing the 'hello' card

There's so much in life that we take for granted!  This post is about a little boy who has made me very grateful that I am able to do the simplest thing - say 'Hello'.

When Jiang Xiang, now eleven, came to live at Xining Children's Home four years ago he had congenital heart disease and cognitive disability. We had a big challenge before us, so I'm also very grateful that our special education consultant at Xining Rehabilitation Centre was there to tackle this challenge.

Jiang Xiang was once an outgoing little boy, but because of his cognitive disabilities he was only able to make strange sounds. Other children laughed at him, so he was ashamed and became socially withdrawn.

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Two Angels

I have just returned from England, where I spent two weeks meeting with Christian Action's supporters and also with others who did not know about the opportunities open to us in Qinghai. Their positive response and earnest desire to help the orphans and abandoned children was truly gratifying. I was particularly humbled and inspired to continue this work by two people.

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Should we celebrate Labour Day?

It’s ironic that today, on Labour Day, when we are meant to be celebrating the economic and social achievements of workers, I have to tell you about the terrible abuse of a migrant worker right here in Hong Kong. You may find the following disturbing, but please bear in mind that this is not a typical case, and that most employers treat their domestic helpers well.

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Seeing and being seen

One of the things I take for granted is the freedom to walk out of my front door whenever I want to. But because we have so many children with disabilities  in our Xining Children's Rehabilitation Centre, and we can't take them all on outings, their view of the world outside the walls of the Centre is very restricted.

What's more, the view that the community has of children with disabilities is also very limited.  This is the barrier we are seriously trying to break down in order to end the tradition of child abandonment.

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