Take care of your home, take care of your world
"Take care of your home, take care of your world"It is the motto of our project “Uncover the truth of poverty. Cross-cultural study-adventure”.
The first part of the project in "Uncover the truth of poverty in Hong Kong" (see post of November 13th).
So a few weeks ago, we went first to a place near Mongkok, to visit the social centre.
We had a presentation about the poor people in Hong Kong. Those people can be new arrivants in Hong Kong (from Mainland China, India...), old people, single parent families... It is quite surprising to see that even for poor people, there are sport machines in the social centre ! That points out how Chinese people take care of their physical health (and also mental health, because for them, mental and physical health are one) !!!
We then visited the buildings where the families live...it really has nothing to do with the French H.L.M. ! And the difference is so obvious, especially when next to the "poor" building, you have a wealthy building.
And the "flats" are so tiny ! Imagine one mother and her child living in a 10 m² (if not less) apartment ("apartment includes main room, "kitchen" and "bathroom"... ) ! Our group was "in charge" of a family, id a mother and her son.
If I have understood everything (obviously, people speak Cantonese here, and obviously I already speak Cantonese fluently !-) ), the lady is from Mainland China. She married a man from Hong Kong and gave birth to her son in Hong Kong. So the child is a Hong Kong citizen. But the lady does not have the Hong Kong citizenship, but the Mainland Chinese one. (Nota : Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region, with its own rules and law). As long as the man was alive, even tough the lady could not live in Hong Kong (she only had the right to visit her son once a month), the family used to live happily. But the man died. And here, when you are in need, you do not have as much money from the government as in France. Furthermore, even though the child is a Hong Kong citizen and is only 8 years old, his mother still does not have the right to live in Hong Kong and raise him. Indeed the child can deny his Hong Kong citizenship and become a Chinese citizen, but he would lose many advantages in Hong Kong (education...), and would not get the same advantages in Mainland China.
So the lady asks for the right to stay in Hong Kong permanently, which also means the right to work... but now, she has not still managed to get it. Nowadays, she is actually in Hong Kong with nearly no income, and no friends or any support, except from the social centre : most of Hong Kong people look down on people from Mainland China, especially when they are not wealthy...
Today, we invited the lady and her son (as well as other families) to our campus. We showed them the university and the dormitory. Then we had a barbecue in the BBQ area inside the campus. Afterwards, we played games at the lawn, next to the dormitory. Even if at the beginning I worried because the ice between the students and the families had not been broken yet, finally this day turned out to be wonderful ! At the end of the day, the families told us they really enjoyed the day and felt they have friends ! They even invited us to visit them ! 
This day was not a charity day in fact ! It was a day of sharing, a day of barbecue and games, and it was soooooo nice !!!! (Nota : Chinese people are very proud of themselves. If they do not trust you, or if they feel you treat them as inferior, they would not open their hearts to you, they even would not accept your presents... for example, I offered perfume samples to the ladies... first they did not want to accept it : they knew they would not be able to give me a present in return, because they could not afford it yet, and also because I would leave Hong Kong soon... but finally :D)
Now I understand why people like to do charity projects... When you do not do it because you expect something in return, when you only do it because you just want to share your time, when you only do it for the sake of doing it, it is so nice ! It is so nice to see smiles on people's face ! It is so nice to experience that while you did not do anything special or complicated (we only invite them for a barbecue and games ! ) ! It is soooooo nice because it really makes you take life easier ! :))
We had a presentation about the poor people in Hong Kong. Those people can be new arrivants in Hong Kong (from Mainland China, India...), old people, single parent families... It is quite surprising to see that even for poor people, there are sport machines in the social centre ! That points out how Chinese people take care of their physical health (and also mental health, because for them, mental and physical health are one) !!!
We then visited the buildings where the families live...it really has nothing to do with the French H.L.M. ! And the difference is so obvious, especially when next to the "poor" building, you have a wealthy building.
And the "flats" are so tiny ! Imagine one mother and her child living in a 10 m² (if not less) apartment ("apartment includes main room, "kitchen" and "bathroom"... ) ! Our group was "in charge" of a family, id a mother and her son.
If I have understood everything (obviously, people speak Cantonese here, and obviously I already speak Cantonese fluently !-) ), the lady is from Mainland China. She married a man from Hong Kong and gave birth to her son in Hong Kong. So the child is a Hong Kong citizen. But the lady does not have the Hong Kong citizenship, but the Mainland Chinese one. (Nota : Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region, with its own rules and law). As long as the man was alive, even tough the lady could not live in Hong Kong (she only had the right to visit her son once a month), the family used to live happily. But the man died. And here, when you are in need, you do not have as much money from the government as in France. Furthermore, even though the child is a Hong Kong citizen and is only 8 years old, his mother still does not have the right to live in Hong Kong and raise him. Indeed the child can deny his Hong Kong citizenship and become a Chinese citizen, but he would lose many advantages in Hong Kong (education...), and would not get the same advantages in Mainland China.
So the lady asks for the right to stay in Hong Kong permanently, which also means the right to work... but now, she has not still managed to get it. Nowadays, she is actually in Hong Kong with nearly no income, and no friends or any support, except from the social centre : most of Hong Kong people look down on people from Mainland China, especially when they are not wealthy...
Today, we invited the lady and her son (as well as other families) to our campus. We showed them the university and the dormitory. Then we had a barbecue in the BBQ area inside the campus. Afterwards, we played games at the lawn, next to the dormitory. Even if at the beginning I worried because the ice between the students and the families had not been broken yet, finally this day turned out to be wonderful ! At the end of the day, the families told us they really enjoyed the day and felt they have friends ! They even invited us to visit them ! 
This day was not a charity day in fact ! It was a day of sharing, a day of barbecue and games, and it was soooooo nice !!!! (Nota : Chinese people are very proud of themselves. If they do not trust you, or if they feel you treat them as inferior, they would not open their hearts to you, they even would not accept your presents... for example, I offered perfume samples to the ladies... first they did not want to accept it : they knew they would not be able to give me a present in return, because they could not afford it yet, and also because I would leave Hong Kong soon... but finally :D)Now I understand why people like to do charity projects... When you do not do it because you expect something in return, when you only do it because you just want to share your time, when you only do it for the sake of doing it, it is so nice ! It is so nice to see smiles on people's face ! It is so nice to experience that while you did not do anything special or complicated (we only invite them for a barbecue and games ! ) ! It is soooooo nice because it really makes you take life easier ! :))
posted by yonali @ 9:29 PM
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