Blog Tag: Poverty
DC Sunshine Action Club
Posted by Peter MUIR
Are you interested in joining a club that can contribute to CE, CAS, and the community in Hong Kong?
Sunshine Action is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that aims to support those will limited access to resources or services in Hong Kong as well as other countries. It could be said that it is the smallest charity organisation in HK, with only ONE PERSON handling everything, which is why this organisation needs YOUR help!
DC’s Sunshine Action Club intends to support Sunshine Action through promoting its events, coming up and developing ideas and also getting into direct contact with those that need your help by participating in Sunshine Action’s events (eg. food distributing).
Some roles and requirements in Sunshine Charity Club may include but are not limited to:
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Regular attendance is a must
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Poster designing, taking photos or creating a film of Sunshine Action events
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Writing posts on CE blog, bulletin and explorer about Sunshine Charity
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Promote this event (tell your friends and family, take advantage of social media!)
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Participate in at least 1 Sunshine Charity event (bring some friends!)
Please email Adrian at 17yana1@dc.edu.hk if you are interested in joining. Click here to read more about Sunshine Action.
Box of Hope Toothpaste Drive
Posted by Peter MUIR
Imagine that you found it difficult to afford toothpaste.
There are many families in our region who have less access to resources, and as such find it difficult to buy everyday items such as toothpaste.
Next week (Monday 31st – Nov 4th) secondary students are asked to donate a tube of toothpaste that will be collected and distributed as a part of Box of Hope. SImply bring in a tube of new toothpaste and drop it off in the foyer before school. Your toothpaste will then be distributed to those with less acces to resources in HK and Asia.
To add a new element to this drive, the D Community Engagement Captains are adding a competition to see which house donates the least. That’s right, the house with the least toothpaste wins and gets house points! So bring in some toothpaste next week, place it in the collection box for one of the other houses, and know that you have done a little bit to help someone smile.
Child labour for our batteries
Posted by Peter MUIR
According to a this report from Amnesty International, major electronics brands, including Apple, Samsung and Sony, are failing to do basic checks to ensure that cobalt mined by child labourers has not been used in their products.
“Due to the radical changes and developments of technology millions of people worldwide enjoy the benefits of new technology, but seldom ask themselves how they are made. Major electronic brands such as Samsung and Apple are failing to ensure basic safety for their cobalt mining child labourers. The youngest child labourers starting at only seven years old are required to work long hours daily exposed to cobalt without protective equipment to shield them from diseases. Glamorous advertisements blind us from realising the suffering the child labourers endure, because Enterprises refuse to verify their usage of child labourers”.
How could you advocate for changes in this practice?
Soap for Box of Hope
Posted by Peter MUIR
The Year 7 and 8 Community Engagement Captains are holding a soap drive in support of Box of Hope initiative. DC primary students will be donating small boxes containing useful/educational items that will be donated to underprivileged children in Hong Kong and Asia. DC secondary students, especially those in Years 7 and 8, are asked to donate a bar of soap that will be added to the boxes. This soap will help improve personal hygiene for those that cannot afford basic necessities. The soap collection point will be at the front of the school from Monday November 3rd to Friday November 7th. Please do not donate liquid soap – bars of soap only.
A box of soap
Posted by Peter MUIR
A group of Year 8 students organised a Soap Drive, to support the Box of Hope initiative. Box of Hope asks students to donate a small box containing useful/educational items that will be donated to underprivileged children in Hong Kong and Asia. DC secondary students were asked to support Box of Hope by donating soap to help improve personal hygiene for those that cannot afford basic necessities. A total of 173 bars of soap were collected, and will be added to those donated by Primary students. We, the organising group, would like to pass on their thank you to those who donated, and would also like to pass on this message from Aesop “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
From Karthik Immaneni, Jasper Tong, Faizaan Adtani and Jerry Lin (Year 8)
World Food Day Inter-house Food Drive
Posted by admin
Hong Kong seems like a well-off society, however there are many alarming statistics when it comes to food. Did you know that there are thousands of people in Hong Kong who do not get enough food daily?
- 1 in 4 children do not get 3 meals a day
- 1 in 3 seniors struggle to meet their basic nutritional needs
- 1 in 5 people in HK live in poverty
As a part of World Food Day (October 16), a group of DC students are organizing a food drive, aiming to help some of those who face hunger daily. The World Food Day Committee has decided to have a competitive slant on our food drive – we will hold an inter-house “competitive food drive”, in which we see which DC house makes the most donations of non-perishable food items.
The inter-house food drive will take place from Monday October 7 until Friday October 11. A box for each house will be placed at the entrance of the school. Please place your non-perishable food donations in these boxes (items such as rice, noodles, cooking oil, pasta, canned fruits – see here for more details Food Drive goods to donate. The house with the most donations wins!
All of these non-perishable foods will then be donated to Feeding HK, who will deliver these items to those who face hunger daily.
Feeding Hong Kong Bread Run
Posted by admin
Help Feeding Hong Kong bridge the gap between hunger and food waste by helping them collect fresh bread and sandwiches from shops across Hong Kong at closing time.
The Bread Run engages individual and pairs of volunteers in the nightly collection of surplus fresh bread. Each bread runner visits 1-2 stores at closing time to pick up the surplus and then delivers the items to a designated FHK drop-off point. All bread run donations are redistributed via the FHK charity network the same night or first thing the following morning.
There are three ways you could get involved in Feeding HKs Bread Run –
1. Become a weekly FHK volunteer
2. Join the FHK monthly Bread Run
3. Host a dedicated Bread Run for a group of volunteers
For more details, visit the bread run website.
How many slaves work for you?
Posted by Peter MUIR
It is reported that there are over 27 million slaves worldwide – roughly the combined population of Australia and New Zealand. These people may be women working long hours in garment factories to make our clothes; factory workers with minimal pay, producing phones and computers; or children in debt bondage picking cocoa and coffee beans for our chocolate and coffee.
Today, August 23, is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. This day commemorates the beginning of an event (the uprising in Santo Domingo) that played a significant role in leading to the abolition of the slave trade across the Atlantic. On this day we should also realise that slavery still exists today, with people living in poverty the most likely to have their rights ignored and be coerced into slavery.
How many slaves work for you?
Check out this website to uncover how many slaves work for you by assessing your consumptions habits.
Survive 5 Facebook Challenge
Posted by Peter MUIR
World Vision have initiated a worthwhile challenge – why not get involved And for those DC students doing the 40-hour famine, combining the famine with this activity could be considered a C&S Project.
Every day, 19,000 children die before reaching their 5th birthday because of preventable causes like malnutrition, pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. Sunday, 5th May (5/5) is Survive 5 Day – where advocates around the world will make noise about under-five child deaths, but we need your help!
Create a unique “Survive 5” Facebook timeline cover that shows why people should care about child mortality.
The top 5 designs will win and be featured by World Vision’s GLOBAL Child Health Now campaign to be used by advocates all around the world! These winners will also receive a gift certificate to Society 6, where World Vision Youth sells unique art inspired items!
Learn how to get started & download starter resources at the “Survive 5” Facebook Design Competition challenge page.
40 Hour Famine
Posted by Peter MUIR
From Thursday 25 April 2013, there will be a 40 Hour Famine hosted at DC, open to any secondary student over the age of 12 who wishes to participate. The aim of this event is to raise awareness about world hunger by going on a 40 hour fast. By participating in this event your child will experience a small glimpse of the hardships of starvation that nearly 1 billion people worldwide face everyday. It also promotes compassion by giving up something for the sake of others in need, providing an opportunity to help others in their global community.
Participants in the event will cease consuming any type of food from 5pm on Thursday 25 April until 9am on Saturday 27 April. The consumption of water, however, is still essential and volunteers are advised to drink as much water as possible during the event. Volunteers will be responsible for bringing their own water bottles to school, and these can be refilled at one of the many water fountains. Sugar, in the form of small sweets, will be provided to keep participants’ sugar levels up, but these are to be consumed at a minimum.
Those participating are also encouraged to find donors to sponsor them during the event. The funds raised will be donated to World Vision and help their plight against world hunger and breaking the poverty cycle. Attached is a sponsor form that students should use to acquire sponsors. Please return the sponsor form with the money (cash) to the 40 Hour Famine information booths, which will be in the main foyer on the Monday after the event.
To enhance the experience, students in Years 10-12 who are participating in the fast have the option to join an overnight stay at the school, from 3.15pm Friday 26 April until 9am the following morning. The overnight stay will be held in the school gym, as it offers the participants an uncomfortable environment to fast in, aiming to further develop empathy of those around the world who live in poverty. This is also to ensure that participants will not break the fast, and allows participants to fast communally, teachers and students alike.
Students who are keen to take part in either the famine or the overnight stay will need to obtain the relevant permission forms from the school office.
