The Awardee of 2011 Hong Kong Humanity Award - Mr Percy Wong |
Mr Wong Chi-hung, Percy was previously a Hong Kong based social worker. However, on a 2003 trip to Jinan, Shandong Province, he discovered a severe lack of support services for people with mental retardation in the Mainland and discrimination against the retarded was also serious. To improve their lives, and to allow the vulnerable to live with dignity, Mr Wong kicked off his voluntary humanitarian work in the Mainland. His mission involved establishing social service organization in Shandong – Jinan Christ Love Social Service Centre. It is a place of hope for the province's disadvantaged, its service target group has been extended from mentally disabled adults and their families to battered women, and orphans with disabilities. Under Mr Wong's leadership, the organization promotes the message - Concern the Disadvantaged, Combat Discrimination throughout the local community. It provides specialized trainings to the mentally challenged to help them return to society. The intention is to reduce prejudice against the disabled. There are also counseling services for female sufferers of domestic violence. The organization also provides a foster care service for disabled orphans to live with rural families, thus enabling the children to grow up in a loving family environment. Mr Wong strives to raise the standards of China's social workers, so as to help the country's disadvantaged improve their lives. He helped the province establish training systems which fit in social needs for their social workers. This included cooperating with Shandong University's Department of Social Work to train the first batch of social workers. He even helped the students form a "social worker volunteer team", and led them to meet with different kinds of needy people. Mr Wong also launched an 800-hour placement program for the students, letting them practice on what they have learnt. With Mr Wong's assistance, the university has successfully trained over 300 social workers up till today. Mr Wong has also established the Shangdong Fountain Social Service Centre, which provides social worker referral service to other social service organizations. From setting up social service organizations, training social
workers, serving the needy, to building cooperation with
universities on mainland projects, Mr Wong has been involved
in every step. Years on, he gives his love and care to needy
people in the Mainland to improve their lives. In future, Mr
Wong hopes to continue developing social services in the
Mainland and train more social workers for the country. He
cites that his objective is to let social justice and the care of the
human spirit take root in China. |