Celebrating 13 years of success...

Having celebrated its thirteenth anniversary last month, Access Hong Kong (“Access HK”) is still going strong in carrying out its mission to improve the education of underprivileged children in Hong Kong. 

 

Access HK was founded in 2001 by a group of Hong Kong students studying in leading UK and US universities. In addition to the obvious goal of providing a free platform for the children to improve their English, the founders also hoped to inspire the children to thrive under the conviction that they are not a neglected set in our ever competitive society. Hence came our organisation’s motto, “Access to education, Access to opportunity, Access to love”.

 

Access HK provides three service programmes: the Summer School Programme, held during the summer holidays for a duration of three weeks; Teach an Hour, an ongoing weekend tuition and mentorship programme; and A Day in the Life of…, a career programme that offers selected children the opportunity to shadow a professional in a career in which he or she is interested. 

 

Summer School Programme 2014

This year, our programme took place in CCC Kei Chun Primary School in Mei Foo. As usual, our volunteers were recruited from leading universities in the UK, US and Canada. They were given the task to devise the lesson plans, with the aim of incorporating English learning with interactive teaching methods and a variety of themes outside of text books.

  

To enliven the curriculum, the Access HK Executive Committee arranged many unprecedented activities, for example a visit from the volunteers of Hong Kong Dog Rescue, whose interactive presentation enabled the children to understand the plight of stray pets. We hosted a catch-ball talk with SSP Ming Gor (深水埗明哥), whose unostentatious and heartfelt answers to our questions effectively conveyed the spirit of giving without expecting anything in return. The Volunteering Student Group from the Chinese University of Hong Kong also paid us a visit, conducting an intriguing and extensive game that got all the students excited and clamouring for more.

 

The three-week programme was concluded by the graduation performance, in which every student participated. There was drama, singing, dancing, even a puppet show – all conducted in English. It was very encouraging to witness how every student spoke confidently on stage, proving their development during the programme and the impact Access HK made.

 

A Day in the Life of…

This programme saw success in its inaugural year. Three students from the Summer School Programme were selected to shadow two practicing barristers, both former Access HK Executive Committee members, for a day.

  

The main item on that day’s itinerary was the visit to the High Court to attend the corruption trial of Rafael Hui, former Chief Secretary of the HKSAR – somewhat solemn for primary school students, one might say.

 

Surprisingly, the trial drew some interesting insights from the children. All three acknowledged the unfairness that could arise from the most mundane things in life.

 

The concepts of fairness and justice, entwined with the law, might be too difficult for them to grasp completely, but we hope that this experience stays with them and serves as inspiration for them to work hard and become assets to society.

 

Check the Sky Post article covering this event. 

  

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