The Review 2007

Experiencing Working-class Life Student volunteers were sent out to experience working- class life during the summer of 2007 and increase their understanding of those who lack the opportunities provided by a university education. ‘Internship Otherwise’ sent students to work for three days in noodle stalls, fish markets, Chinese medicine shops and even a funeral wreath-making shop – a sharp contrast to the usual internships where students do work related to their professional studies. Raising AIDS Awareness An alliance to raise awareness about AIDS has been formed by a group of students who witnessed poverty in different areas of Asia while participating in Project SEE (Students for Equality and Equity), a General Education Unit initiative, in 2006. The students launched the Hong Kong Alliance Against AIDS on World Aids Day, December 1, 2006, to make people more aware of the disease, its close association with poverty and the harsh impacts on children. Apart from organising awareness activities in Hong Kong, they also sent 10 volunteers to Henan in June to learn more about the problems faced by HIV-infected children there. The students spent two weeks helping in a school run by a non-government organisation. “Our main goal in Henan was to make the children feel happy and know that people in other countries cared for them, but the NGO told us our presence was important in helping to eliminate discrimination in the community there. People could see we were educated and didn’t mind touching the children, and this helped to take away some of the myths and fear of the disease,” third-year law student Agatha Wong said. Beyond the Classroom Helping Orphans in China A team of post-graduate students from the Faculty of Social Sciences ventured into a remote region of Sichuan province that is scarred by poverty, drug use and AIDS, to work on a project helping orphaned children. They designed a training programme for teachers, principals and other caregivers to raise their understanding about the children’s needs and hardships. Joan Khng, who is pursuing an MPhil in Social Work, was one of the three post-graduates involved. All of them have come from Singapore to study at HKU. “This was my first visit to a rural part of China. It was eye-opening to see the level of poverty and the poor conditions there. One boy had had both his parents commit suicide. He came from a very deprived background and his most precious thing was a tattered book – he had this great yearning to study. The spirit of these children made me appreciate what I have more,” she said. Teaching Migrant Children The children of migrant workers in Beijing can face difficulties getting educated because their families often do not have residence permits. Charitable organisations are trying to help and in 2007 a team of Social Science students went to the capital for seven weeks to assist. They worked in the Dandelion School, which is run by the international voluntary organisation Mercy Corps, and taught English to migrant children alongside Mainland teachers and volunteers from the United States and Beijing Normal University. This was part of a credit-bearing social innovation internship under the Faculty of Social Sciences. Carol Chan, a second-year psychology student, said the experience helped them to understand the challenges faced by the children’s families, as well as those of working in a multi-cultural environment. “We had to co-operate with people from different places and cultures, who had different ideologies about teaching. For example, the Mainland Chinese teachers were more traditional, the American volunteers more creative, and we Hong Kong students were somewhere in the middle. It was a very good experience for learning to communicate with people from various backgrounds and appreciating their good points,” she said. It was a very good experience for learning to communicate with people from various backgrounds and appreciating their good points. This was my first visit to a rural part of China. It was eye-opening to see the level of poverty and the poor conditions there. Students at the Dandelion School in Beijing Stephen Wong serves up some hearty fare Stephen Wong, a second year speech and hearing sciences student, helped to serve food and clean tables in a noodle stall. “I enjoyed chatting with the people there and I appreciated their hard work. They said to me, look at how hard we work and the long hours we put in. You must study harder so you can do better than this.” Jessie Wong, a year one Bachelor of Arts student, worked at the funeral wreath-making shop, a place usually associated with bad luck and hard work. One of her co- workers was illiterate, but she taught Jessie how to make wreaths. “She admired me because I was a university student, but here we were doing the same job and she was superior to me because she knew how to do the job and I didn’t. It made me wonder why people admire university students so much, when other people are providing these important services,” she said. The internships concluded with a camp in which students reflected on such important issues as society’s re- wards for different types of work and students’ responsibili- ties to the less privileged. Agatha Wong People could see we were educated and didn’t mind touching the children, and this helped to take away some of the myths and fear of the disease.