Every year, thousands of Hong Kong students travel abroad on study or cultural exchange tours. Ernest Ng Chun-ngai did so, too - except he planned his trip by himself on a shoestring budget.
The 16-year-old, a Form Five student at Caritas Wu Cheng-chung Secondary School, wanted to travel in Africa. So he approached potential sponsors like Kenya Tourism, Gamewatchers Safaris, Porini Rhino Camp and Ethiopia Airlines.
'Ernest knows what he wants to achieve and the sponsors were very impressed,' says former travel programme host Trish Thanley, who helped the youngster find sponsors.
The teen, who speaks English fluently, travelled to Africa last Christmas. He was surprised to learn that several African countries, though poor, were ahead of Hong Kong in terms of environmental protection. 'I stayed at the Porini Rhino Camp inside the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya,' he says. 'All the electrical appliances and hot water we used in the tent were powered by solar energy, which is very environmentally friendly.'
The tents, he adds, can be removed at will without damage to the environment.
A high point of his stay was watching the sunset from a nearby mountaintop. 'We were near the equator and the sun set quickly. It was an amazing scene,' he says.
His time in Africa strengthened Ernest's resolve to become a vet. 'I saw some northern white rhinoceros, an extremely rare species. They are on the verge of extinction. Their horns are used in Chinese medicine and great demand for them from China is threatening their lives,' Ernest says.
