Advocacy group helps change lives of the vulnerable Switching from working with the elderly to disadvantaged ethnic minority children was a huge change for Amy Ho Kit-fan, executive director of Hong Kong Unison. But like most of the advocacy group's five staff members, Ms Ho said working with ethnic minorities was both challenging and meaningful. Hong Kong Unison is arguably the city's best-known advocacy group for the rights of ethnic minorities. It is one of 13 beneficiaries of Operation Santa Claus 2008, which aims to transform the lives of vulnerable groups. Last month, it paired with local art group Drawgraphy and Korean-American folk artist Young Kim to run art workshops for children aged seven to 12. Among the participants were Simkan Devi Lal, nine, and Manisha Devi Lal, seven, who created a painting called My Neighbourhood. The collaboration was sponsored by Starbucks, an Operation Santa Claus donor. Hong Kong Unison wants to extend its initiative, called 'embRACE', from the next school year 'to promote and embrace different cultures and races in society through different strategies'. Keran Hayat, 20, was born in Hong Kong to Pakistani parents who arrived in the '60s. Ms Hayat, Hong Kong Unison's programme and administrative assistant, speaks Urdu, French, Cantonese and English. She is the fourth of seven siblings born in Hong Kong and wishes she could have gone to university. Like her older siblings, she only finished Form Five. She said the family was pinning its hopes on her youngest brother, now in Form Five, finishing university. She said her father, 69, ran a Pakistani restaurant in Kwai Chung but it closed and he became a watchman at a cargo area. Her mother completed primary education in Pakistan but has never worked. For a Pakistani woman, having been educated at all is a feat, said Ms Ho. This school year, 40 people from ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, both male and female, have gone on to university. Ms Hayat said she would try to attend university now there were more local opportunities. Her wish through the Operation Santa Claus project was that it could 'help more poor people. I hope in the future there will be more integration and more diversity, and people can live more multiculturally'. Hong Kong Unison depends on a phalanx of volunteers; 200 people, half of whom are from ethnic minorities, help to educate people on racial equality and harmony. They also provide individual services to about 1,000 ethnic minorities. A Census and Statistics Department survey in 2006 found 340,000 people from ethnic minorities lived in Hong Kong, or 5 per cent of the population. Nearly 16 per cent were aged below 24. About 75 per cent were engaged in 'elementary occupations', and their median monthly income from their main employment was only HK$3,500. Organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK, Operation Santa Claus is now in its 21st year. Part of the funds will also go to the SCMP Homes for Hope project to help victims of the Sichuan earthquake rebuild. Wish list Aim Hong Kong Unison plans to launch 'embRACE', a community engagement and racial harmony project. It will provide educational help and mentorship to young people of ethnic minorities, organise school talks, theatre programmes and training for teachers on racial issues. The project will run from August next year to July 2010. Funds needed HK$749,950 Amount raised so far: HK$1,477,275