Pre-pandemic, Hong Kong already had one of the widest gaps between rich and poor in the developed world. Since the Covid pandemic, though, it’s reached a tipping point. People already in poverty saw their income fall by an average 23%, while those who were already wealthy actually saw their income increase by 6%, according to an Oxfam report released in 2021.

People already in poverty saw their income fall by an average 23%.

What does that mean for real people?

Meet the Tsuis. The Tsui household is a small one, both in people and in square footage. It’s just Ms Tsui and her little boy, living together as a family, on a shoe-string budget. Their home is a subdivided flat, meaning a regular apartment has been partitioned to make even smaller apartments for several residents, each paying their own rent, and each living in a tiny, cramped space. Ms Tsui makes it feel like home, though. “There are cartoon stickers everywhere!” said a Crossroads staff member when she visited the family. “She loves her child so much.”

The Covid pandemic was a constant stress to Ms Tsui. The cost of required masks and medicines were a significant burden. Weighing even more heavily was the fact that her little boy had no computer to use for school-work at home. When so much of schooling has been online throughout recent years, it grieved her that she couldn’t support her son in this way.

Thankfully, there was help. A Hong Kong NGO which partners with Crossroads was able to request a laptop for the Tsuis, and we supplied a reconditioned laptop that made school life much easier for Ms Tsui’s son. It was a joy for some of our team to visit their home and see at least a little of the burden lifted for the small family.

The Tsuis are just one example of hundreds and hundreds of families who have received computers throughout the last few years. as the need for doing homework on-line has increased so much. Thankfully, with the computers we’ve been donated, we can redistribute them to people in such need and help close the gap and much more.