Instead of lazing in the sun or beating the heat in air-conditioned comfort, Hong Kong students can embark on a range of adventures during the long summer break, detailed here in a three-page feature
MIXING CEMENT, stacking bricks and helping lay foundations may not sound like regular activities for a holiday. But for Juliana Chan Ting-yun, building a house for a farming family in Udon Thani, north-east Thailand, with Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), provided an unforgettable seven-day experience last summer.
While the Chinese International School student had been involved in fund-raising events before, she saw this as a chance to really participate on the ground. 'It seemed different from any of the other service activities in which I had taken part. I thought it would be fun to do more hands-on work and to actually help people rather than just give money,' she said.
The HFHI experience, organised by the local Paragon Education Centre, is one of a number of opportunities for Hong Kong's students and young people to become involved during the summer - and at other times of the year - in social and conservation projects that benefit others overseas.
Juliana, then 17, accompanied by her 14-year-old sister Fiona Chan Ting-shan, worked alongside fellow volunteers from South Korea, UK, Singapore and Japan. All learnt to put up with the muscular aches and pains that resulted from their labours and by the time the team left, the basic structure of the house was up and running.
Habitat, founded in 1976, sells rather than gives houses to its partner families. Houses are not sold for profit and there is no interest on loans, with mortgage repayments enabling more houses to be built. In the Udon Thani project, the original 'shack' being replaced was situated next door and the men of the three-generation family that would own the new building worked alongside the volunteers.