The kick-off ceremony of the ‘We Are With You’ Project was held today (February 23) at the Caritas Community Centre – Aberdeen. The “We Are With You” Project is a social innovation project on community development in Southern District, supported by the Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation. With their passion and commitment to serve the community, students and staff of HKU will contribute to community development and engagement, improve the condition of the underprivileged groups and empower them to improve their own conditions in the long run. It is estimated that 1,500 HKU students and staff will participate in at least 80 projects benefitting more than 16,000 service recipients.

Mrs. Carrie Lam, Chief Secretary of Administration, HKSAR Government; Dr. Henry Cheng, Honorary Chairman of Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation; Ms. Maggie Chan, Director, Social Work Services of Caritas Hong Kong; and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor and President of HKU officiated at the ceremony. Co-organized with Caritas Community Centre –Aberdeen, the “HKU Dumpling Making and Visit to the Elderly Service Day” was also held, where 100 HKU students and secondary school students in the district together made dumplings for more than 200 children and elderly people in Southern District, so as to bring them festive joy and warmth in the Lunar Chinese Year.

Professor Tsui thanked the Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation whole-heartedly for their support for the “We Are With You” Project, which is a university-led social innovation project aims at building a community cooperative platform for the underprivileged groups in Southern District. Students, staff, alumni and friends will engage with Southern District community groups to build an effective and sustainable poverty reduction model. Professor Tsui is glad that HKU, as a member of Southern District, can contribute and participate in the project. In align with the University’s theme of “Knowledge, Heritage, Service”, this unique opportunity reaffirms HKU’s commitment to building a better world and encourage the students to be socially responsible leaders.

Dr. Henry Cheng, Honorary Chairman of Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation, said: “We fully support the “We Are With You” Project to promote social integration and social inclusion. We sincerely hope that students can contribute to community development and engagement through the process of understanding, concern, participation and co-responsibility so as to jointly build a harmonious community.” After the ceremony, a volunteer team of students from the Faculty of Medicine and School of Chinese Medicine provided health check to elderly people. And a group of HKU students and secondary students visited and gave out dumplings and gifts to elderly people and low-income families in the Tin Wan district to spread love and care.

The Southern District has the widest income gap in Hong Kong. Its Median Monthly Income is the lowest on Hong Kong Island and is very close to that of Sham Shui Po’s. This 4-year project adopts a multi-dimensional approach and hopes to reduce poverty in the district in the long run. The project will focus on three areas at its first stage: students and alumni initiated service learning projects, documentary development of history and heritage of Southern District, and social enterprises.