A Lesson from the Refugee Service Trip 2018: The Kindness that Restores Humanity
A Lesson from the Refugee Service Trip 2018: The Kindness that Restores Humanity
Chau Wan Chung, Chris's Story
Faculty of Social Sciences
BSW
“It’s really something you won’t see on the newscasts every day, which are awash with images of ruined villages with poor living conditions,” exclaimed Chris Chau, when he was asked to comment on his impression of his visit to a Greek refugee camp earlier this year. “The container-lined refugee camp is so organized and the hospitality from the refugees was so affectionate as if you were enveloped in a warm bubble.”
“Every kindness matters, no matter where you are.”
As a student executive committee member of University YMCA® (HKU), Chris was one of the student leaders of the Greece Refugee Service Trip held in January, 2018. His team, together with 13 student volunteers, conducted educational workshops for children in the Diavata Refugee Camp, a temporary shelter near Thessaloniki in northern Greece. “The trip was not just for us to survey the plight of European migrant crisis,” Chris said.
His team well recognized that what refugees need in long run is a secured support for education in order to help them obtain citizenships in European countries. And that is why the 10-day service trip was dedicated to cultivating young refugees’ learning interest and shaping their morality by organizing workshops in art, science and sports.
“During our visit to a refugee village near Greece's border, the memory of helping each other remains very vivid. I was extremely touched by the locals who spent their time and money to help those in need,” when Chris recalled his most memorable experience during the lesson. “It is something rare to be seen in Hong Kong and through our campus sharing, we hope to leave a remark to our schoolmates that every kindness matters, no matter where you are.”