Featured Projects

Helpers For Helpers

Aiden Howe & Darin Lee

Statement of Impact: We created an organisation (helpers for helpers) that did three things:

Ran a session on Feb 7 (Sunday) for migrant workers to discuss and share their stories, as well as empower them through making them aware of their rights and educating them;
Talked to domestic helpers and asked them to share their stories/experiences as a migrant worker, and posted these stories on an Instagram account (helpers for helpers);
Created a youtube channel to teach migrant workers about culture and fitting in Hong Kong (Hong Kong culture, cantonese lessons, etc)

Further Description

We had three goals: to inform 15 people about the struggles of domestic helpers and let them build understanding and empathy towards them, teach 5 migrants about their legal rights and allow them to share their stories with discrimination and exploitation with one another, and inform up to 5 people about our youtube channel teaching migrants about Cantonese. We were able to achieve all our goals except for the third one: We spent the most of last week interviewing and talking to domestic helpers, and preparing for the session, but we didn’t reach our goal in the output of videos, and hence weren’t able to inform enough migrants. After interviewing lots of helpers, we were particularly shocked at how many helpers have been through some sort of domestic abuse, and it was really disheartening. It was also really fun to create the Youtube videos, the filming, and also the editing. As for after this unit, I (Aiden) felt really inspired by the stories of these domestic helpers and also had a lot of fun documenting these stories, so I will continue to run the Instagram account and share stories there.

Technology Drive

Natalie Chan, Ashley Wong, & Jodie Ong

Statement of Impact: Organized a second-hand technology drive at CIS from Nov 24th to Dec 2nd in partnership with Crossroads Foundation to provide underprivileged children in Hong Kong and internationally with technology and computer accessories such as laptops, power cables, keyboards, computer mice, earphones, and hard drives to enhance their education, especially during this period of online learning.

Further Description:

Our goal was to collect technological resources to support underprivileged children during virtual learning.We promoted our drive and our cause to all secondary students and staff through Emails, Notices for The Phoenix Daily and Secondary Weekly Circulars. We managed to collect 34 power cables, 21 adaptors, 3 keyboards, 3 phones, 1 computer, 2 tablets, 5 pairs of headphones, 6 pairs of earphones, 1 mouse, 1 portable charger, 1 LED light, 1 selfie stick, 1 printer cartridges, and 14 USBs, which greatly exceeded our initial expectations of 3 laptops, 20 power cables, 3 keyboards, 2 computer mice, 10 pairs of earphones and 2 hard drives. We believe that these donations will greatly benefit children in need of support in the form of physical resources. To encourage more donations, we could have stuck posters around the schools advocating for our event and the cause, or shared the stories of the affected children to spark empathy in our school community. This project required us to think outside the box and go out of our comfort zone to make an impact for those less fortunate than us, in these challenging times. This experience not only helped us realize how fortunate we are to have access to quality education and technological resources, but also reminded us to be grateful for all the things we take for granted.

Please note that the documentary has been made private to respect the privacy of the subjects

A Day in the life: A documentary about Hong Kong's subdivided flats

Valerie Yum

Statement of Impact: I filmed and edited a documentary titled “A Day in the Life of an Individual Living in a Subdivided Flat”. Through empathetic journalism, I gained a better understanding of the wealth gap and issues related to inequality in Hong Kong from the perspective of someone who has to deal with them everyday, getting to know them personally while deepening my understanding of the topic.

Further Description (200 words max)

After being prompted to investigate the “Dollar Street” project which compares families’ living conditions across cultures and continents, I felt connected to SDG goal #10 - ‘income inequality’. Through seeing snapshots of cutlery and toothbrushes, I was able to imagine what their lives looked like. I was moved by the project as a whole and was eager to make an impact, specifically something visual, and hence decided to film this documentary.This investigation helped me gain personal insight on how the individual felt about the work pace and restlessness of Hong Kong. Spending a day with them also made me realize how much more hectic their routines are, compared to someone on the other side of the socio-economic spectrum. The documentary includes the individuals’ flat, work place, daily transportation, and meals etc. Lastly, by uploading my documentary on the Hands On Hong Kong social media page, it subsequently gained a larger audience in our community, making an impact by ‘showing not telling’ the individual’s story. I’m glad that I was able to make a change, starting small, and being able to help Hong Kong get a step closer to closing the income inequality gap.
Hands On Hong Kong confirmation

Page updated

Report abuse