It’s Carnival Time!

Wah-chun and Sai-sai are much better off now that they have been absorbed into the community built by faithful volunteers.

This weekend, November 24th & 25th, Christian Action will be joining forces with International Christian Assemblies at a carnival celebrating the diversity of cultures that make Hong Kong a vibrant and exciting world class city. We've called the carnival One People One City. But whenever we celebrate the benefits of living here, we must also remember the suffering of those who 'fall between the cracks' in our communities.

One of those people was Wah-chun who connected with Christian Action’s Pathways to Hope programme, a one year pilot project aimed at building community in Tin Shui Wai, which is known as Hong Kong’s City of Sorrows. Wah-chun’s husband works across the border in mainland China.  Pathways volunteers from local churches began to regularly visit Wah-chun, her four year old son, and her mother, and were able to make a valuable contribution to their wellbeing.

Wah-chun’s son, Sai-sai, began attending kindergarten, but after three months, the headmistress asked that he have a full educational assessment because he’d never uttered a word at school! The possibility that Sai-sai was suffering developmental delay left Wah-chun paralysed with fear. A Pathways volunteer was available to talk through her concerns with her.

It took Wah-chun another three months to gain the courage to have Sai-sai assessed, but when she did, the results were well worth it.  Sai-sai is a perfectly healthy little boy who had simply found school very intimidating! With some gentle assurance, he is now fully active in class. Wah-chun’s fears for Sai-sai have completely disappeared, and she’s more relaxed and happy than ever before!

Wah-chun has now also become a Pathways volunteer, visiting families in the community, helping to build a mutual support system and strengthen her community because she knows that without the support of the Pathways volunteer, she could have agonized over her son for much longer.

The Pathways programme ended in March 2012, but the Agape Community Intervention Project (ACIP) will be launched in 2013. ACIP will continue to build community in Tin Shui Wai, with the support of people like Wah-chun and volunteers from the local churches.

International Christian Assemblies and Christian Action are now inviting the public, especially foreign born Hong Kong residents, who enjoy the benefits of living here, to help those less fortunate than themselves.  If you can’t become a volunteer, then please come to the One People One City carnival anyway. The proceeds will finance ACIP, so come and join the fun!

Please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone who wishes to contribute to life in this exciting city.