Living A Poor Life

The famous Welsh poet W.H. Davies wrote: 'What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?' His last verse answers that question: 'A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.'

It really is a poor life for many of the single mothers in our programme for New Arrivals. The only thing they have in abundance is exhaustion.

I can identify with working mothers because when my son Danial was growing up, there were days when I would get home late at night, exhausted after a day full of difficult meetings, and feeling incapable of giving him the attention he needed.

Almost all of the families in our programme have the same profile: A single mother, with one or two children.  Mother works 12-16 hours a day, six and often seven days a week; exhaustion and the constant worry about how to make ends meet in our expensive city is a constant pressure. Home is a crowded flat surrounded by concrete. Tensions within families often run high.

A few weeks ago the staff and volunteers of Yau Yat Chuen Garden City Club accompanied a group of children and their mothers from our New Arrivals service centre a day at the Hong Kong Wet Land Park.  This is a world-class conservation, education and tourism facility.  It is a haven of peace on the outskirts of Hong Kong’s New Territories and entry is affordable to most people – but not to the single mothers I’ve described above.

So on behalf of all the single mothers struggling to raise their children here, a heartfelt THANK YOU to the members of Yau Yat Chuen Garden City Club for their generosity!

And to any of you who wish to sponsor similar outings or programmes that will help alleviate the stress of daily life, please contact me via the comments box below!