New generation lifts up the next
By Maureen Vaught
Rotary International News -- 9 March 2010
Central club service chair Candy Ma (left) joins a young project recipient at the Hong Kong Broadband TV station.
Photo courtesy of Rotary Club of Central, Hong Kong
The Rotary Club of Central, Hong Kong, understands the value of helping young people reach their potential.
Over a third of its 33 charter members come from a Rotary background, having been involved in Rotary Foundation programs, Rotaract, or RYLA, or as other members of the family of Rotary. So it’s not surprising that the club’s first service projects would involve helping youth.
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tai Po, the Central club was chartered in June. Just two months later, the club was awarded a Rotary Foundation District Simplified Grant of US$2,000 in support of a Make a Wish project to help children, ages 7 to 14, who have migrated from mainland China assimilate into their new culture.
“Through group activities and workshops, we hope to develop their interpersonal skills and boost their self-confidence,” says charter president Fonia Wong, a former Group Study Exchange team member and Rotaractor. “We also hope to enhance their understanding of Rotary to pave the way for future involvement in Interact or Rotaract.”
In cooperation with the HKSKH Kowloon City Children and Youth Integrated Service Center, the club has organized a variety of activities, including a community service project, a visit to an amusement park, and a tour of a local television station.
Following the visit to the TV station, the club held a series of six journalism workshops on writing and photography. In April, the young people used their newfound skills to “cover” the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Kowloon children and youth center.
“We want to encourage the children to pay attention to the daily news and develop confidence in expressing themselves through words and photographs,” Wong says.
With an average age of 33 and professional backgrounds as varied as public relations, investment banking, and entertainment, members of this New Generations club didn’t lack for extracurricular activities, but they chose Rotary.
The Central club’s launch “was a dream come true for several RI- and district-driven initiatives to retain scholars and alumni within the Rotary family and extend the service platform to the younger generation,” says Tai Po club member Claire Mak, who serves as District 3450 Governor Ada Cheng’s special representative to the Central club. “It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with a bunch of enthusiastic, fresh Rotarians with a clear vision to serve.”
Written for Reconnections.