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The LSSC has once again conducted a donation drive to support the Home of Love in Sham Shui Po, which feeds and provides emergency housing for those most in need. The LSSC were able to raise over 450kg of food and various other important items and hand-delivered these before the Xmas break. Well done LSSC!

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Trisha (6E) and her family took part in the ‘A Common Thread’ mask-making drive. Using repurposed materials and working together as a family they made 20 hand-made and reusable masks that will be distributed to Hong Kong community members in most need through our NGO partners.

My name is Diya and I am a student in grade 11. As part of my CAS project I have chosen to work with refugee children and am currently creating various efforts to improve their lives and their unfortunate situations. One of these projects involves helping to facilitate a toys drive for refugee and asylum seeker children this year at Christmas time. This initiative was started by the refugee organization Branches of Hope and the toy subscription box company Happy Baton. By working with Branches of Hope and Happy Baton we have been able to facilitate a toys drive at CDNIS. The toys drive aims to collect Christmas presents for the refugee and asylum seekers community this holiday season and to help the over 600 families in need. Refugee and asylum-seeking families are not eligible for government-assisted schemes and anti-Covid essentials, they face difficulties in finding affordable housing and many are unable to work meaning they struggle to make ends meet with insufficient monthly assistance from the government. With the Christmas season right around the corner, these families cannot afford to buy any gifts for their children, making this project the children’s only source of gifts this year. The generous children and parents of the lower school have worked together to help contribute to this drive and filled up two boxes of toys for the community.

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Anjali:

Hi everyone! My name is Anjali T and I am a Grade 12 student. This year, I am a member of HandsOn Hong Kong’s first ‘Youth Empowerment’ programme. The goal of this programme is to develop long-term, sustained initiatives for youth volunteers to support our community. Our council of approximately twenty students, from a range of different schools and backgrounds, works alongside the HandsOn team to identify specific needs in our community, create six new service programmes that address issues important to youth and ideal for young volunteers, participate in programmes throughout the school year as volunteer leaders and act as ambassadors for HandsOn Hong Kong. My programme specifically is targeted at how young people can support the refugee community in Hong Kong, and while we are starting small with a mentorship programme for young refugee children, we hope to grow our programme into addressing a larger range of the needs of the refugee community and we intend to launch our programme in mid-September. 

If you are interested in joining our programmes or HandsOn Hong Kong’s servathon to take advantage of leadership and CAS experiences, follow their Instagram account @handsonhongkong and keep an eye out for our orientation session soon. I look forward to seeing you there!

Arjun:

Hello! I’m Arjun S and I’m an 11th Grade student here at CDNIS. Along with Anjali, I am the second CDNIS member of the HandsOn Hong Kong’s Youth Empowerment committee. I was initially introduced to this program by Mr. Schulte which immediately appealed to me as it was a program that enabled the youth of Hong Kong to engender real change within our local community.  HOHK recognizes the potential of youth to the discover and innovate unique solutions to problems that riddle Hong Kong and entrusts us with resources as well as connections to implement our programmes that Anjali described. 

Specifically, I am working on a program that aims to alleviate stress and anxiety in youth where we are planning to implement 3 different programs that in a 9-month rotational cycle that each address a specific aspect of mental health: a mentorship program, a cathartic mindfulness hike, and a product design activity. 

Again, if you are interested in helping out with any of the six programs – mental health support for youth, mental health support for the elderly, food assistance for low-income families, education for disadvantaged children, support for refugees and asylum seekers, or environmental conservation – feel free to follow the HandsOn HK Instagram account or contact me at arjunsahney@cdnis.edu.hk!

Kashish M in 11H has spent the last 8 weeks hand-sewing reusable masks using a second-hand sewing machine, that she will hand out to homeless people in Hong Kong through NGO partner Impact Hong Kong.

Kashish has been passionate about breaking the cycle of poverty through education and has been involved in other initiatives including tutoring students from underprivileged backgrounds through Concerns for Grassroots Alliance HK.

”Since I cannot continue to tutor these children since I too am stuck at home, I have been thinking of how I can help during the pandemic.  After doing some research on the efficacy of masks,  I understand that facial protection is important to reduce infection during the pandemic. So, I have been making homemade washable masks… They are 100% cotton, and reusable. To supplement the safe use of masks I have made a video and paper instructions on how to use a mask safely and how to wash it. I hope this will be informative and useful for the community.”

Kashish is exploring further plans to run workshops on how to make homemade masks. This will empower community members with the knowledge and skills needed to continue making masks and spread awareness about remaining safe during this time.

Great initiative Kashish. The CDNIS community is both proud of and here to support your efforts.

Mira C in 8E has dedicated her time and energy during the COVID pandemic to a range of volunteer and community service initiatives. 

She engaged with various NGO’s and activities during the lockdown of schools including Hands On HK and Plastic Free Seas where she completed beach cleanups and waste audits, visits to elderly care facilities and was involved in a soap recycling project. 

Most recently she joined impact HK for kindness walks every week (except during the government quarantine restricted times and always following safety and social distancing protocols) to visit homeless people on street to distribute food, hygiene necessities, mask and to engage in conversation. Regular participation has been important for Mira to build trust and relationships. 

Thank you, Mira, for setting a great example to our community and finding ways to continue serving our community during this time

Soap Recycling

DB South Island Beach Cleanup 

DB North Island Beach Cleanup

Kindness walk with Impact Hong Kong.  

Thank you to the entire CDNIS community for donating 16 large boxes of food goods for the Home of Love Charity in Sham Shui Po. A group of Grade 6 students led this initiative which has been running for over 10 years. They collected and boxed the donations, with 5 students joining Mr Schulte to deliver the donations. The Sisters at Home of Love were very thankful, giving the students a tour of the kitchen and boarding houses and inviting us back to join them for lunch anytime. 

The beach cleanup held at the rocky shores of the Sandy Bay Swimming Shed on western HK Island on 18th of January was a success! Upper school students participated in the first 2019 beach cleanup organized by the CDNIS E-Club, and they spent their Friday afternoon helping out the local community by picking up trash. They collected around 8 bags filled with trash, 2 bags that were able to be recycled, items such as plastic bottles, styrofoam boxes, metal parts, etc. were found all along the beach. Thanks to the 8 volunteers that came to make a difference in our environment!