"Wong Tit Shing Sustainability Education Project: Habitat Green in East Africa" is a service-learning and leadership programme that encompasses a variety of service-learning subjects to nurture students’ global leadership and cultural sensitivity in the context of cross-disciplinary green engineering, appropriate technology, and sustainable living. Students will receive academic training and collaborate with local peers to design and develop innovative and context-specific solutions to uplift and empower families in remote villages in East African countries. In the process, students will learn about the concepts of socially responsible leadership, intercultural competencies, racial tolerance and global citizenship, and demonstrate them in practice. At the same time, students will also learn and apply subject-specific knowledge and skills in the service projects in East Africa.
The programme has been remarkably successful since its inception in 2020/21. The service expansion in 2023-24 had been made possible through the generous contributions and unwavering commitment of Dr Wong Tit Shing, a distinguished alumnus whose support has been pivotal to our programme's development for over a decade. Dr Wong's dedication to our service-learning initiatives takes root and spreads and he looks forward to the programme's continued growth and impact. In 2024/25, all the students will be placed to serve in the Southern province of Rwanda.
Subjects under Wong Tit Shing Sustainability Education Project: Habitat Green in East Africa in 2024/25 (students enrolled in one of these subjects join Habitat Green automatically)
Programme Learning Goals
- Develop students’ intercultural and global competencies
- Raise students’ awareness of poverty and its impact, especially on vulnerable individuals such as children and women
- Raise students’ awareness of sustainable living and environmental stewardship
- Equip students with subject-specific knowledge and skills to address community needs
- Nurture students’ sense of civic responsibility and engagement as a professional in their chosen discipline and/or as a responsible citizen
Subject-Specific Service Objectives
- Work with local students in the service location to design solar energy panels for low-income families and wire up their homes with basic electrical or electronic appliances (COMP3S02 and EE2S01)
- Improve the electricity supply and energy usage for low-income families in the service location by constructing or renovating the solar energy system (COMP3S02 and EE2S01)
- Use digital storytelling skills to showcase impacts of small Charities (ELC2S03)
Service Arrangement
- Starting from Semester Two, students will be equipped with subject-specific knowledge and skills by attending lectures and labs, along with a series of cultural activities such as movie screen, meeting African people in HK, a taste of African music and cooking class, etc
- During the Summer Term, students will spend two weeks providing direct services to the recipients in Rwanda.
Programme Schedule in 2024/25
- 2– 4 Oct: Indication of interest
- Oct: Selection of student applications
- Nov: Announcement of selection results
- Semester Two: Classes, lab and other experiential learning activities
- Summer Term: Tentative service schedule – Rwanda (June 2025)
Requirements
The SL subjects under the programme mentioned above welcome applications from students all over the University regardless of their major disciplines. (Note: Though the programme applies concepts from engineering/textiles, students are not required to be from FENG or FH.)
Students must indicate their interest during the pre-selection period in early October. The selection procedures will be made soon after the application deadline. In addition, you must be able to participate physically in the service location during the Summer Term.
Application Method
Interested students should indicate their interest via eStudent (My Subject Registration > Service-Learning Indication) from 2 Oct to 4 Oct.
Contact
Ms Kanis Chu kanis.chu@polyu.edu.hk or 3400 3456
