Hong Kong Delegation Hospitaller: Désirée Jebsen DMG
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n Hong Kong, 2018 was a special year. With the addition of seven new members comprising two Knights and five Dames of Magistral Grace, we are officially recognised and established as the Hong Kong Association of the Order of Malta. Our charity projects have also continued to grow with strength under the leadership of our project leaders.
Hospitaller Meetings Since introducing the bi-monthly Hospitaller meeting last year, leaders and volunteers leaders of the different projects have met four times in 2017, and five times in 2018. At the last meeting, report and updates on services and projects were discussed, including a focus on the Flying Young Program, Caritas Lok Yi School for Special Needs Students, Lourdes Pilgrimage, and Asia Pacific Camp for Youth with Disabilities. Eight members attended the meeting and collected suggestions and initiatives, such as ideas to organise the Asia Pacific Camp for Youth with Disabilities, and ways to streamline the female uniform for the Lourdes Pilgrimage.
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Caritas Lok Yi School for Special Needs Students Under the leadership of Confrere Peter Lee and volunteer Vivian Mock, we have supported special educational schools since 2013. Caritas Lok Yi School is one of the schools, which has a boarding section for students with mild to severe intellectual disabilities aged six to 18. Vivian takes charge of this project, aiming to help the students overcome difficulties, develop potential, enhance a sense of dignity, build selfconfidence, and integrate into the community, thus enabling them to attain a fruitful life and make contributions to society. This year, collaborating with Lok Yi School’s social workers, our volunteers have organised and joined 18 activities ranging from a mini sports day to a charity walk, celebration of festivals such as Mother’s Day, and a shopping mall outing. Most of the activities are focused on generating positive stimulation and relationship building. Some of our committed volunteers have already begun building positive relationships with these students.
The next step is to expand our volunteer base. It’s especially hard to find volunteers to join events on a Sunday. Flying Young Program The Flying Young program continues to be very successful. This year alone the program has organised seven successful events for more than 60 children and parents from underprivileged families. Each has proven successful with an increasing number of attendances from families. To kick-start the year, we celebrated Chinese New Year with the families, and presented a PowerPoint introduction of our organisation to the families as well as the volunteers. At the Chinese New Year celebration, more than 40 family members and 15 volunteers attended. In March, we organised a tour for the children to the world-famous art exhibition Art Basel. Exhibition organiser, The Asian Arts Fair, generously granted us 20 complimentary tickets I also invited a successful local artist with a similar background to the families to give a talk
2018 Australian Hospitaller
