Seeds from Tin Shui Wai Project
Fruit for the Whole Community
Sharing Session on "Community-based Social Capital Development"
In 2008, nearly 20 CIIF-funded projects were launched in Tin Shui Wai (TSW) District where the seeds of resilience, care and mutual help culture were sown.
On 3 February 2010, TSW project teams met with CIIF Committee Members, SC.Net members, project collaborators and community stakeholders at Pak Kau College's Hall where they reviewed the implementation progress of these projects, shared with us their fruit and concluded their experience. The Sharing Session focused on exploring the effective strategies of "community-based" social capital development and further spreading the fruit of social capital across various communities based on TSW's experience.
Highlights of the Sharing Session
1.
Community-based Strategy Inspiring Views of Academics
The Sharing Session successfully invited Dr TING Wai-fong, Associate Professor of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to be a sharing guest. As a SC.Net member, Dr TING had been caring for and following up the progress of social capital development in TSW. To enhance the "community capacity", she considered it necessary to create various platforms for participation and confirmed the identity of participating residents with a view to promoting the participation of residents in community affairs, enhancing the voluntary participation of members of the community and fostering the collaboration among different sectors in the community. She also mentioned the relevant strategies, examples and methods of measurement, which provided a clear basis for subsequent sharing session and group discussions.
Dr TING Wai-fong gave a detailed account of social capital establishment and relevant studies in TSW as well as theories of social capital development.
2.
Insights from Project Teams
Experience on Collaborative Practice
Mr Wong Wing-tung, Vice Principal of Pak Kau College and Mr CHAM Kwok-wing, Director of Programme of the International Social Service - Hong Kong Branch, representatives of Sunny Ching Tin Project and True Hero Project respectively, shared with us their experience on how the Projects could be effectively "aligned with" the community and achieve community benefits.
As pointed out by Mr CHAM, it would help enhancing the capacity of volunteers and the vibrancy of the community if the mobility of volunteers was increased so that they could participate in the platforms provided by various organisations. It would also be beneficial to both the projects and the community if we could recruit a wider spectrum of collaborative organisations and co-ordinate with other CIIF projects. Mr WONG shared with us his experience on the Project's "home-school-community" collaboration model which opened the school platform with after-school care as an entry point. The purpose was to encourage residents to be actively engaged in the community and build up a community network which would bring about benefits to schools, students, parents and the community.
Mr WONG Wing-tung (upper photo) and Mr CHAM Kwok-wing (lower photo) received souvenirs from Mr YEUNG Ka-sing, Chairman of the CIIF Committee.
3.
Active Group Discussion Focus on Community Capacity
"From Creating Collaborative Platform to Enhancing Community Capacity" was the topic for focus discussion by groups, each of which was assigned CIIF Members and SC.Net members to foster discussion and inspire thinking. After active discussion, the eight groups shared with us their salient points in turn. These will greatly inspire our future enhancement of community-based social capital development.
When group members were actively engaged in discussion, participants of TSW projects served them with well-prepared refreshments.
Group Discussion
Participants of the Tin Yiu Community Network Building Project in TSW and Tin Chef Project presented the Sharing Session with their handmade refreshments.
4.
Sharing Experience on Islands Platform for Cross-sectoral Collaboration
After listening to a number of TSW projects, Ms CHAU Chuen-heung, CIIF Member also shared with us her views on the cross-sectoral collaboration in a number of Islands projects. These projects had prompted local enterprises, organisations and government departments to establish the cross-sectoral Steering Committee, a platform that linked together local stakeholders and integrated social resources, thus extending the community support network.
Ms CHAU Chuen-heung shared with us her experience on Islands District, followed by the responses and conclusion on the Sharing Session by Mr FU Tsun-hung and Dr TING Wai-fong.
5.
Concluding Community Experience　Looking Ahead for Nothing Impossible
In concluding on the Sharing Session, Mr FU Tsun-hung, District Social Welfare Officer (Yuen Long) hoped that all projects co-ordinated by the CIIF and supported by the Government could integrate and co-operate in building the community. It was the belief of the CIIF that with concerted efforts, the seeds we had sown would finally sprout beyond the service scope of the projects and produce abundant fruit in the community.
At last, Mr YEUNG Ka-sing, Chairman of the CIIF Committee thanked all sectors for their participation in the Sharing Session and also their commitment to social capital development at all times. He was highly appreciative of the fruitful results of this sharing session, and hoped that there would be more opportunities for exchange of views and co-operation. The CIIF was always ready to provide more platforms for communication and sharing.
The CIIF would like to express gratitude to Professor TAM Man-kwan, Principal of Pak Kau College for his support to building up social capital at all times as well as for his provision of the venue and all necessary support for the activity. We were also grateful to two TSW project teams for their handmade refreshments, of which the high standard had earned our high praise!
Mr YEUNG Ka-sing, Chairman of the CIIF Committee