Monthly Archives: January 2013
Schools united For Elephants
Posted by Peter MUIR
In October 2012, Celia Ho, nicknamed “The elephant girl” by Jane Goodall, was touched by ‘Blood Ivory’ an article in National Geographic magazine. She submitted a letter to the South China Morning Post about saving elephants. SInce then she has gained the support of over 7,000 students in her plight of stopping the illegal ivory trade. At only 14 years old she has become a she provides an example of what young people dedicated to a cause can achieve.
You too could get involved in Celia’s efforts – start up a group at DC and join ‘Schools united For Elephants‘
Trawling Ban in effect! A msg from WWF….
Posted by Peter MUIR
Passing on a message from WWF that featured on the DB Green website…
Dear Supporter,
I am pleased to inform you that as of 31 December 2012, the territory-wide trawling ban came into full effect. This legislation provides a solid foundation on which to build a sustainable fishery in Hong Kong. This ban, applicable to all forms of trawling in the entirety of Hong Kong waters, was one of our key conservation achievements in 2012 and it was your support that made it happen. Since 2005, WWF has been tirelessly campaigning for a ban on trawling in Hong Kong waters, and has been advocating that the government implement further measures to preserve the city’s near-collapsed marine ecology. This groundbreaking fisheries management measure will safeguard the diversity of marine life and ecological integrity of our marine environment. WWF hopes that the Hong Kong government will continue to provide support to the affected fishers and help them make the switch to other livelihoods like marine eco-tourism. We are also urging the government to implement the concept of Marine Spatial Planning, which will allow Hong Kong to allocate marine resources more efficiently, to balance ecological, social and economic objectives.
These gains aside, we are disappointed to have to inform you that another marine species in Hong Kong – the Chinese white dolphin – is also under threat. Over 1,700 hectares of the sea in western Hong Kong waters has been reclaimed in past decades, causing great disturbance and the direct loss of the habitat of this precious marine mammal. Compounding the problem, this reclamation has also removed the habitat of the fish on which these dolphins feed. WWF is urging the government to ensure that any possible impacts to the dolphins are kept to a minimum by putting in place sufficient environmental protection measures. We firmly believe a balance has to be struck between development and the survival of this unique species. Your support will help us improve the situation for the dolphins. Everyone in Hong Kong enjoys life in the ocean’s embrace, but our marine environment is under great pressure and the sea needs everyone’s support to restore its health and beauty. Your charitable contribution will make a big difference by ensuring the continued success of our marine conservation programs. Show your support by making a donation today. With every donation of HK$500 or above, you will receive a FREE dolphin key ring and a one-year WWF membership.
Yours Faithfully,
Samantha Lee
Senior Conservation Officer, Marine
WWF-Hong Kong
And Idea – Do it for sight!
Posted by Peter MUIR
ORBIS Hong Kong contributes to the fight against global blindness in several different ways – raising funds and building public awareness, as well as facilitating local ophthalmologists and orthoptists to work as medical volunteers and travel to various places around the globe conducting training sessions, eye examinations and check-ups.
To support ORBIS in there work, why not organize a Bite for Sight event – a sensory lunch where food and drink has to be identified whilst blindfolded. Or a Braille writing competition – use alphabet Braille cards and challenge students to write a sentence. Charge entry and give out prizes.
And Idea – A bookswap to support literacy
Posted by Peter MUIR
Room to read is an international organization that focuses on literacy and gender equality in education. An idea suggested by Room to read to improve literacy rates is a book swap.
Book swaps are a fun way to turn a stack of old books into a whole new set of exciting reads! But, what if your local swap could do something more, like help improve literacy in the developing world? Well, with Room to Read’s Ultimate Book Swap, your local leave-a-book, take-a-book activity can have huge global impact!
The DC piglets
Posted by Peter MUIR
Related to the No Boundaries trip that travelled to the Yangshan and Yao districts in Northern Guangdong province, where students worked with the Go 2 Serve foundation, funds were raised by DC to go towards Go 2 Serve’s Pig Scheme. According to Go 2 Serve, the Pig Scheme offers the opportunity to local people to benefit from raising pigs without any initial financial burden.
Participating Yao farmers start in the program without putting out any money, Go2Serve Foundation deliver two 3-month old piglets to their home and provide pig feed, training and vaccination to help them to be successful in raising their pigs to sell in the market in 4 months. Yao farmer can earn about HK$ 800 with 2 pigs sold in the market. We are committed to the Yao farmers for 2 years teaching them how to raise pigs for sale in the market and eventually breeding their own piglets to raise. Through the 2 year program, Yao farmers will learn pig farming skills, how to manage their income for re-investment and eventually increase their income and living standard. Go2Serve Foundation will also assist the farmers in the areas of hygiene and environmental impact in the village in order to help this program to be sustainable in the future e.g. assist them to apply funding for building methane tanks for pig wastes and ways to recycle pig wastes”.
Pictured here is the local recipient along with the two pigs donated by DC. It is hoped that the income generated from the pigs will enable the family to pay schooling for their children.
Film Exchange project
Posted by Peter MUIR
Here is a message from the Hong Kong Joint School Photographic Society, of which some DC students are members. They are keen for DC students to get involved!
Ever tried to think out of the box and create something completely original and beyond your imagination? Ever wanted to capture the world in a distinct aspect that is beyond the limits of normal photography? In order to satisfy your hunger for finding a novel way to explore the world, the Hong Kong Joint School Photographic Society is proud to present our Film Exchange Project, which is our second consecutive year to organize this event.
In this event, Participants will each receive a cartridge of photographic film, which they will use to produce a series of photographs in a limited period of time. They will then exchange their cartridges with other participants without processing the film so other participants can take photographs that overlap the original images. We will then retrieve the cartridges in order to process the film and get the final results.
The final products will therefore show a blend of creativity and show interesting ideas that were unintentional in their creation.
In order to allow you to freely explore on ideas and maximize your creativity, this project has a very flexible schedule in which participants can feel free to submit their films anytime within a range of one month and exchange for another cartridge. You can comfortably express your view on Hong Kong’s society, architecture and landscapes in whatever ways you wish and the only limit is your limited amount of film.Don’t hesitate and go for it today to explore this new scope in photography!
Discovery College Swimathon
Posted by Peter MUIR
Swimathon@DC is the first charity swimathon event that will take place at Discovery College, open to all students above Y5 who is capable of swimming more than 200m. Unlike the conventional speed competitions, this event focuses on physical endurance and that the participants will attempt to swim as many laps as they can within 30-minute time frame. All funds collected from the application fees will be directed to Mother’s Choice, a non-governmental organization that assists young children that need permanent homes as well as underprivileged pregnant mothers. This event is open to individual participants and teams with maximum of four members. The application form can be found below.
For any queries, please contact dc.swimathon@gmail.com.
Life for refugees in Hong Kong
Posted by Peter MUIR
Chungking Mansions Service Centre has sent out the following details, hoping to receive some support for some people in need. For those who are not aware, our centre does not get any support from the Government or any major funding body in HK, hence why they rely on the community to help their our clients through grants, sponsorship, donations and partnerships. The following is a call for help. And, importantly, keep in mind that you can also help directly by volunteering in the programmes that the service centre is involved in. See more details here on how to get involved.
- A vulnerable refugee family of 5 is in need of $300/month top-up in rent. They have started their resettlement process and might leave HK for resettlement within a year. It is not practical for them to move-out of their current home as they might not find anything cheaper than their current place. 4 out of 5 members of the family are under our Psychosocial Program for various mental health conditions. The father and mother are also physically ill.
- An elderly client suffering from various ailment and his 22 year old son live in New Territories. The assistance they get from ISS is not enough especially to meet their dietary needs. A support of $200/month will help them immensely.
- A single mother with a daughter who have recently escaped persecution (both are traumatized and mother is very sick)is in need of a home and we are finding it difficult to find them a home without rental deposit. To ensure they are safe and we find a decent home, we need to raise funds for rental deposit and or agent’s fee which we anticipate will be around $2,000. Moreover, her daughter who is in a local secondary school is top in their class but the Student’s Financial Assistance Agency doesn’t cover all the expenses. She is in danger of quitting school if we don’t find her additional financial support. If you are interested to help, I have attached here our Educational Sponsorship information (please note there are also other children under our waiting list).
- A family with 2 children came to HK almost two years ago. They live in Shek Kip Mei in a run-down flat. Both parents have a medical case, the mother has serious back injury and the father is going to be operated on his throat to remove a foreign body. They require financial assistance for their electricity bill each month of around $250.
An Idea – Home Composting Project
Posted by Peter MUIR
A C&S / CAS Idea – Set up a home composting project.
Research about composting and how it benefits the environment. Do some specific research about micro-composting in an apartment, then develop a promotional campaign to encourage people to have their own home compost.
DC Students aim to improve VTech Sweatshop Conditions
Posted by Peter MUIR
The DC Labour Rights Group wants to help improve conditions for all sweatshop workers. They want to promote decent working conditions and living environments and want managers and guards to treat workers as human beings and stop physical and verbal abuse. They believe that all workers deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and above all, with humanity.
The group have recently been focusing their efforts on spreading awareness about the working conditions at the V-Tech sweatshop in China. For more information about this issue please check out this article from the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights. The group is hoping that you have your say and sign a petition they have created – http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/vtech-sweatshop/
Also please check out their Facebook page. The group is planning to meet VTech soon and need you support!
