After the devastating earthquake struck Wenchuan County, Sichuan in 2008, Mr Ho Ngai-leung, Albert made a field trip to the quake-afflicted areas. The devastation with only crumbling houses and rubbles in sight triggered his desire to apply his expertise as a geotechnical engineer to help in reconstruction. Since then, Mr Ho has been participating in rebuilding of schools in deprived areas because he believes that curing poverty should start with education. By providing the deprived with equal opportunities for receiving education, they would be able to stand on their own feet, and become intellectual resources for contributing back to society.

Mr Ho mainly volunteers for Sowers Action to conduct on-site needs assessments for school construction in Mainland China, supervise the project progress, and inspect the building safety. He requires strict adherence to the quality and quake-resistance standards for buildings and provides practical solutions to construction quality problems without compromising the required standard. Over the past six years, he has made 23 self-funded trips, each of 4 to 5 days, for various projects across the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Guizhou. Altogether, he has participated in the construction of more than 40 schools, which benefited some 8,000 students.

A firm believer and follower of Sowers’ rules of “On-Site Assessment, Direct Subsidy, Long Term Follow-up”, Mr Ho often conducts sharing sessions for construction teams in the Mainland. Through sharing knowledge on construction procedural requirements and new technologies, he aims to instill stronger awareness for safeguarding quality assurance, and to help enhance construction standards in the communities concerned. “We are overjoyed whenever witnessing completion of a project that can achieve win-win-win situations: teachers and students moving into safer school premises, construction teammates having their skills improved, donations being effectively used. Even now, after all these years, when a school we help construct is launched, I feel touched.”

Since joining the board of directors of Sowers in 2011, Mr Ho has been participating in the more comprehensive planning for its education services in the Mainland. Previously, the foci of Sowers have been more in construction of primary/secondary schools and related facilities, sponsorship for deprived students, and teacher training. In recent years, it has been extending to cover more diverse areas such as special education, pre-school education, services for orphans, and career planning for graduates. Mr Ho is planning for further expanding vocational training and career counseling for youth, as well as subsidizing more projects related to caring for disabled or orphaned children.

In 2011, during Christmas and New Year period, Mr Ho led about 30 young engineers and university students from Hong Kong and the Mainland to participate in voluntary projects and exchanges in the Mainland, in the hope of nurturing the younger generation to carry on various humanitarian causes. He is determined to continue with the current volunteering tasks even after his retirement, and aspires to reach out further to also serve the needy elderly.