Dr Barbara Leung (from right: 2nd on the first row) together with the participating students
It was very meaningful for us to serve the community under the subject ‘Community Service Learning’ which aims to cultivate our students’ sense of social responsibility, technical skills and generic intellectual skills. What’s more,it’s our hope that our students’ endeavours can bring the people in need joy as well as heart warming greetings.
As you may know, a number of old buildings lack maintenance and repair in Hong Kong. The households of these units, particularly the elderly, can’t help facing the adverse living environments. In 2015, under the supervision of Dr Barbara Leung, Lecturer of BRE, our students successfully served a series of households. For instance, one of the successful projects was to serve 30households in need in Oi Man Estate, Ho Man Tin through the thirteen-week project ‘Housing for the Community –Improvement on Home Safety and Health’.
In partnership with Oi Chun Fans Club (愛俊之友), Chartered Institute of Housing –Asian Pacific Branch (英國特許房屋經理學會亞太分會)and Engineers Without Borders -Hong Kong (香港無國界工程師), a group of our students conducted an integrated project to address the housing needs and home safety issue of the underprivileged members ofthe30 households. The project was conducted in form of a survey and services assisted and coached by the OCFC, CIH and EWB with the view to identifying the housing needs through site survey, building inspection and home visits.
According to the survey, the provision of community facilities in Ho Man Tin were found adequate in general, yet the health-and-safety living conditions of elderly households needed improvement. Based on the housing needs identified and the problems that the elderly encountered, the professional assistance, specific community services and repairs for improving the home safety were tailored to fit the specific needs of the residents.
Upon completion of the service, the elderly’s nice smiles could tell how much they appreciated our students’ great efforts.Our students also treasured the learning experience very much and were more aware of the needs in the community and their social responsibility.
The subject ‘Community Service Learning’ continues to pursue the mission of cultivating our students’ social responsibility and technical skills as well as serving the community.
