From Helpless to Professional

Fifteen years ago, Dada felt extremely helpless when she first arrived in our Fragrant Harbour with her little son. Like most of the other New Arrivals from China, she had been trained well in China, but employers in Hong Kong did not recognize her qualifications. Getting a job was very difficult.

On one of the many days when Dada was struggling, she came across Christian Action and began to utilize the services we offer. She became a user of our services, but gradually began giving back. She volunteered to help other newcomers at CA. To balance her work and home life for her little son, Dada then joined our organization in 2007 as a part-time staff member, and enjoyed tutoring primary school students. Since then, Dada has dedicated herself to helping parents who were new to Hong Kong to look for schools for their children. Some children even got into band one English as Medium of Instruction (EMI) schools in the territory.

During her part-time service at CA, Dada was encouraged to complete a Retraining Programme in School Executive Management in a bid to enhance her competitiveness in the labour market. Being a passionate and competent person, Dada was soon promoted to Senior Officer. She was responsible for coordinating projects covering 16 primary and secondary schools and courses involving over 100 lessons.

Dada continues to serve as a bridge between school teachers and programme instructors at our Mongkok Centre. Her hard work has been highly praised by participating school principals and concerned officers, and also by the Education Bureau's After-school Learning and Support Programmes Division.

I'm so proud of Dada for turning herself from a helpless new immigrant to a professional community worker helping children who have newly arrived in Hong Kong. The icing on the cake is that Dada's son is now a volunteer at Mongkok, serving children who are new to Hong Kong, just as his own family was served 15 years ago.