After a brief stint as an intern at a non-governmental organisation (NGO), university student Kiki Tsang has a social goal. 'I want to work for a non-profit organisation when I retire and work towards [accomplishing] a social mission,' says the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) second-year student who took part in the 'Citi Community Intern Programme'.
The programme, co-organised by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, an umbrella group of social service groups, aims to encourage university students majoring in business studies to contribute their knowledge to NGOs.
'We want to instil in our future leaders the notion of corporate social responsibility and help them understand their community better,' says Kathy Cheung, country corporate affairs director at Citi Hong Kong.
Many small- and medium-sized NGOs are doing meaningful work but are less adept at aspects such as marketing and fundraising, she adds. Thirty-six NGOs took part in the programme.
Cheung says that 72 students were selected from more than 340 applicants from local universities. They had to complete assigned tasks during the 80 hours they spent with NGOs from December last year to February, and received a salary of HK$6,000 over the period.
Training was put in place to prepare participants for the internship. This included visits to eight NGOs for young people to have a better grasp of the problems encountered by the groups, seminars on how to solicit support from volunteers and donors, and inspiring talks delivered by NGO leaders.