Habitat for Humanity projects in Hong Kong building a better future

The adage "home is where the heart is" aptly characterises the vision of Habitat for Humanity, the world's largest non-profit housing organisation, founded in 1976 in the US. And Hong Kong's dedicated "Habitat Youth" are learning, as they toil for the less fortunate, that homes and communities are made stronger when love and respect are added to bricks and mortar.

Habitat for Humanity has been active in the Asia-Pacific since 1983, helping more than 1.5 million people achieve the dream of home ownership. Despite its "developed" status, Hong Kong has its share of poverty-related housing issues, giving Habitat's youthful supporters opportunities to make a difference within the territory, across the border and on overseas "builds".

Habitat for Humanity's Hong Kong/China chapter organises several programmes to engage youth directly: project home works, project school works, the global village programme and the habitat youth build. Some recent local projects have included the multi-year restoration of stilt homes and walkways in Tai O, and the campus beautification and greening enhancements to structures and landscaping undertaken at local schools. Several local and international schools have their own Habitat for Humanity school chapters. This is due in part to the growing popularity of service learning as a requirement for graduation. The service-learning ethos is embedded in the "other learning experiences" component of the new senior secondary curriculum as well as in the "creativity, action, service" requirements of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years and Diploma programmes curricula.

Recently, the Independent Schools Foundation Academy in Pok Fu Lam sent 15 students and three teachers to an enhancement project at public housing estates at Long Ping in the New Territories. Students were engaged in painting, plastering and prep work for renovations. Across the border in Guangzhou, 19 students aged 14 to 16 and two teachers from the YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College participated in the "Eliminating the mud houses for low-income rural families" project. Students helped build brick homes and interacted with local villagers.

"Although the everyday work was exhausting, the students overcame difficulties and continued their work with satisfaction and happiness. This helped them develop a positive attitude towards life and towards people in need in other places," says YHKCC teacher and trip supervisor Wallace Lau.