Hybrids and Humanitarian Organizations
Monday, November 9, 2009 at 07:00PM | Share Article 
Children of Section 9, Whitehead Detention Center, Hong Kong. 1995In my job as Executive Director you can't help but be captivated by the orphans we help in China. But serving children is not new for Christian Action - it actually stretches back to our earliest days when...
(Continued) we provided relief services to the thousands of stateless Europeans arriving in Hong Kong from China in the 1950s.
Our humanitarian work did not let up over the next several decades as Hong Kong played host to waves of refugees from mainland China, followed by refugees from Vietnam at the end of the war there. Christian Action had special programs for pregnant women, ran schools for the refugee children, dental programs, soup kitchens and a slew of other services.
The amazing thing is that it only occurred to me the other day that I’ve never shared anything of this rich heritage with you!
Lastly, it also occurred to me that while I’ve often spoken of the children in Qinghai, I’ve generally said little about Christian Action itself.
I usually refer to Christian Action as a ‘Christian hybrid-humanitarian organization’. Christian Action is ‘Christian’, in that we believe in and base our programs on Jesus Christ’s example. ‘Action’ because the Bible makes it clear that just as Jesus came to those in need, so should we.
I also use the term 'hybrid' to describe Christian Action. We are familiar with it being used to describe cars that have two engines : one electric and one petrol powered - and are highly efficient as a result. I say we are a 'hybrid humanitarian organization' because in 1993 Christian Action started providing vocational training programs for the Hong Kong's growing ranks of unemployed when our manufacturing sector moved across the border into China. Training is a very specialized area in Hong Kong and it is unheard of for a humanitarian aid organization to cross over into such a performance based field. Today however, Christian Action is a 'hybrid' in that it has become one of Hong Kong's most prominent training bodies - while it also maintains it's humanitarian focus. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future we will be using our training expertise to help the older children in the orphanages !
Next week: more on the uniqueness of being a ‘hybrid’ organization!
Reader Comments (1)
Thank you once again. It just emphasises that you/we must never stop helping. There is too much to be done, and soon the tide will be rising, so dykes must be built around all the low lying countries of the world!
Bernard.