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Heart to Heart Project 2006-07
with 65 companies and 185 schools
Launched by the Federation's
Youth Volunteer Network (YVN) in 2005, this year's Heart
to Heart Project has 65 companies and 185 schools enrolled.
It is sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Charities Trust with the Social Welfare
Department and The Hong
Kong Council of Social Service as supporting organizations.
Many thanks also to Power Logistics for sponsoring printing
and to Direct Marketing of Asia Ltd for being our marketing
partner. Schools are asked to pledge volunteer service
hours and companies sponsor the schools' volunteer service
projects. By linking schools with corporate bodies, the
project fosters youth volunteerism in Hong Kong and gives
public recognition to enrolled schools and companies.
For further info please click here:
http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/yvn/
heart/chi/download.htm
*Click here for a list of 2006-07 Heart to Heart companies and schools.
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Sino Land sponsors Counselling
Centre
With generous sponsorship
from Sino Land Co Ltd, the Federation
is setting up a Counselling Centre to provide mediation
between parents
and children. The Centre will have
a special hotline for parents as well as a wide range
of other professional services. Strategies will include
guidance and crisis intervention services, conjoint interviews
and mediation, individual and group counselling and systematic
parent education programmes. We hope this will create
a support network to promote effective parent-child communication
and family harmony in the community.
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Federation invited to support
Holidayblog Contest
The Federation has been
invited to join Tea and Milk magazines as a supporting
organization in the 'Holidayblog Contest,' organized
by Web Host with sponsorship from Microsoft
Hong Kong Ltd, Hong Kong Domain Name
Registration (HKDNR) Co Ltd,
IBM China/Hong Kong Ltd and Juniper
Networks Inc. Participants
aged 11 or over will be provided with 500MB of free blogging
space and a one-year free registration of a '.hk' domain
name. They will be given all the necessary online blog
writing tools to connect with family and friends and
send Christmas or Chinese New Year wishes. The competition
aims to introduce the blogging atmosphere to more young
people in Hong Kong, to facilitate exchange of ideas
and creative self-expression. It is now open for enrollment
and will run till February 2007. Monthly prizes will
be awarded in 3 categories, namely Blog with most
visits,
Blog with most comments and Blog with best
content. For
more details, please visit
http://www.webblog.hk/index.aspx
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'06 ITU Telecom World: free
tickets for youth
The Commerce,
Industry and Technology Bureau gave 150
free tickets for the event on 6-8 December at Asia-World
Expo to HKFYG youth members. They can learn more
about Hong Kong's latest telecoms infrastructure
for hotels and transport. The event is organized
jointly by the (ITU) International Telecommunications
Union and the HKSAR Government and the
Federation's Youth Volunteer Network has been invited
to send 50 youth volunteers as Young Ambassadors
to the ITU Youth Forum.
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Eragon painting and short-story
writing competitions
The Federation's u21 youthnet
is co-organizing this creative competition with the
Twentieth Century Fox Hong Kong distributor, Kentac
Investments Ltd and Sing Tao Daily.
It relates to the upcoming movie, Eragon.
Primary school pupils can enter the painting competition
and secondary school
students
can enter the short-story writing competition. It aims
to stimulate their creativity and artistic talent.
Deadline for submission: 22 December. Click here for
more info:
http://www.u21.org.hk/u21_2006/
promotion/eragon/
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| New
readers: please send your contact details |
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ITU
Telecom World Youth Forum:
Fifty Federation Volunteers
at work |
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Lives are changed through
volunteering, both in the community and at large scale events
in the city. Fifty members of the HKFYG volunteer network
(VNET) are serving youth delegates at this week's ITU
Telecom World 2006 at Asia World-Expo. They
are trained how to plan and organize, make best use of interpersonal
and communication skills and ensure that overseas participants
find their feet and feel at home. What better preparation
for life's challenges could there be.
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Volunteering
is a fundamental act of citizenship and a generous offer
of time and energy. The Federation encourages as many young
people as possible to get involved. Last weekend, we celebrated
International Volunteer Day by giving recognition to our
volunteers. The Youth Volunteer Network (VNET), has accumulated
3,400,000 hours of service since it began in 1998. This
year for example, we have 185 schools in HKFYG's Heart
to Heart Project with 65 companies working voluntarily
at their side. They all send the message that giving is
fulfilling
and rewarding. We want to reinforce that message.
Do you need volunteers
for an upcoming event? Tell us about it. Contact the
Youth Volunteer Network, tel 2169 0032. Read about volunteering
in today's Feature Story. |
| Upcoming
events |
Youth
Dialogue Session with Howard Schultz:
Founder and Chairman, Starbucks Coffee Company
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Date: Friday 15 December
2006
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Venue: Auditorium, Hong Kong Council
of Social Service
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| "A
Million for the Dragon" Christmas Charity Sale* |
Date: Saturday
9 December 2006
Time: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Venue: Tianshan and Lushan Rooms
at the Island Shangri-La Hotel
Proceeds from the sale will support Dragon Foundation leadership training
programmes.
*Special thanks to Lisa's Collection. |
| Feature
Story |
| Putting volunteers in touch:
ITU Youth Forum
Fifty Federation volunteers have been busy
emailing half a dozen overseas participants in the run-up
to Hong Kong's major international event this week. Preparing
them for what's in store at the International Telecommunications
Union triennial global meeting is very important if they
are to get the most out of their time here. The first vital
step is breaking down the inevitable cultural barriers:
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'I have been emailing young people
in Korea, the Maldives, Moldova, Israel and Palestine...'
'My contacts were in Algeria, Benin,
Chad and Ecuador...'
'...and mine are coming from Romania, Armenia
and Tonga.'
Annie, who will be looking after a very culturally
mixed group, with ITU youth 'fellows' from Iceland, Chile,
San Tome, South Africa, Georgia and Canada commented: |
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'Volunteering for an event like this makes
you concentrate on cultural differences. It makes you think
about how people interact and try to foresee how background
can hinder communication. It also helps me clarify my self
image as a Hongkongese.'
'Making contact beforehand,' said
Angela, a Hong Kong Young Ambassador since 2002, 'reduces
the culture shock and makes their stay here more enjoyable.
More than
anything else I want them to remember Hong Kong as a friendly
place.' |
| Two other Young Ambassadors, Crystal and Eric, also commented
for us on their experience as volunteers: |
'It's a 3-way process,' said Eric, 'I learn
because I am a volunteer and I teach others what I have
learnt.
I also learn about other cultures from visitors, an experience
I would never have without volunteering.'
For Crystal, the most important part of being a volunteer
is the positive effect it has, 'It makes me positive
about Hong Kong whenever I am its representative.' |
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| Bonnie talked about how she had prepared for meeting the
youth fellows at ITU: |
| 'I looked up their countries on the internet. We didn't
know much at all about where they come from. Without that
background information, how could I imagine what it is like
to visit Hong Kong? Life is so different in Africa.' |
| Terence was also very well prepared and thoughtful about
his role: |
| 'With some warning about the pace of life
in Hong Kong, I think they will be much more able to appreciate
the marvellous
contrasts here. I want to take them for a walking
tour...all the way from Central to Eastern District, from
the glittering skyscrapers to the wooded mountains. I want
them
to go home with unforgettable impressions.' |
| Forum participants have a very crowded schedule, with meetings
and workshops taking up much of the week. The meat of the
programme will be discussions on infrastructure, developing
economies, the blessings of micro-credit and the digital
divide. With our young volunteers they will do all this against
the spectacular backdrop of our city. |
| 'Meeting overseas visitors is the main reason I volunteer
for a large scale event like this,' said Sa. 'I
am proud of my home and want everyone to share it. These
are precious
moments which colour all our lives.' |
| These sentiments were echoed by all of them. |
| Bonnie: 'I really don't think I do a lot, yet people I
help say it makes a big difference to them. That's fantastic
motivation.' |
| Young Ambassador, Angela: 'Even with the little power I
have, I've learnt I can help people, and together we can
build that power.' |
| Terence: 'This really boosts self-esteem. Nothing else
stretches us like this does.' |
| While recognizing the gulf between themselves and delegates,
especially those whose countries are struggling to cope with
the basic problems in life, their goal is to bridge that
gap. Met with such enthusiastic commitment, visitors will
go home with good memories, not least of the thoughtfulness,
good organization and skillful contact made by our volunteer
helpers like these. |
| Annie: 'Just do it! You can always do more than you think.
We make it happen, together.' |
| Do you need volunteers for a big event? Tell us.
We want to help you. |
| Facts & Figures |
Hong Kong volunteering: the trends
Hong Kong is well known for generosity, not
only with donations of money but of time. In recent years,
the trends have risen consistently throughout the territory.
The Social Welfare Department publishes figures for Volunteer
Movement registered volunteers and volunteered hours of service.
By mid-2006, the total number* of volunteers territory-wide
was approaching 535,000, a figure that has grown steadily
from just over 173,000 in 1998. The number of hours contributed
per annum has grown in proportion, from 3.8 million to nearly
12.9 million over the same period. |
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This trend is matched in the
Federation's own experience. The Youth Volunteer Network
(VNET) and the Hong Kong Young Ambassador Scheme (HKYAS)
have seen consistent growth in numbers of volunteers, hours
of community service and volunteer projects in the past few
years. VNET's registered volunteer force has nearly doubled
from 53,702 in 2003 to nearly 103,000 today. Annual service
hours
have climbed steadily from 492,345 in 2001-2002 to 569,650
in 2005-2006. The hours of voluntary work done by the Hong
Kong Young Ambassadors
has also increased dramatically. The scheme is organized
by HKFYG with the Tourism Commission. Their hours are up
from
just over 2,000 per year in 2002 to over 8,800 in the 12
months to July 2006.
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Giving time
According to British studies done by the
Institute for Volunteering Research*, young people are
motivated to volunteer when they see that the time spent
will stand them in good stead in personal and future career
developments. The sentiment was echoed in an Australian
survey** which reported that among those aged 18-24, 40%
stated that personal satisfaction and being of service
to the community were the top two reasons. 17% volunteered
in order to gain work experience and 13% to acquire new
skills. |
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The most popular form of
volunteer work among young people is in sport or recreation.
That
is good news with the equestrian Olympics in Hong Kong
in 2008. Young voluntary workers like to have appreciation,
advice and support, but only when they feel they need it.
Volunteering must be enjoyable, satisfying and fun if they
are to continue offering services to the community. The
2006 estimate of the value of an hour of volunteer work
is just over US$18*** (HK$140), so that's not surprising.
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