The boys and girls at Aplichau Kaifong Primary School  face more challenges than most. Many of their families rely on welfare and the kids, often, don’t have the same computer advantages as their Hong Kong peers.

The Rotary Club of Hong Kong South approached Crossroads, wanting to help upgrade AKPS’s computer systems. Like students everywhere, the kids pick up IT skills at lightning speed, but their computers had not been supporting the needed software, their Principal, Fung Pik Yee, told us.

 Aplichau computers (2)

Crossroads was delighted to partner with Rotary and AKPS to supply refurbished, up-to-date sets of computers and monitors, network equipment and a new firewall for security.  “The children use them for reading programs and exercises,” Principal Fung. As soon as the computers were installed, the eager students began working them to the maximum.

If you are upgrading your computers, at home or at work, please let Crossroads know. We may well be able to use your older computers, if they are still relevant to current usage, to help change the learning experience for more students like these.

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Life’s brighter for Hong Kong’s visually impaired kids, thanks to the rich education they can access  at Ebenezer School for the Visually Impaired. Crossroads was delighted to partner with the school and to bring a smile to scores of little faces, by donating toys for their 2012 Christmas party.

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WebOrganic, a Hong Kong NGO, is on a mission to  equip Hong Kong’s poorest children with technology, so they do not lag behind their peers. As part of their programmes to cross the digital divide, WebOrganic accepted 200 digital cameras from Crossroads, newly donated from CISCO, to give children from low-income families the chance to tell their stories. The cameras are Flip Cams: ultra user-friendly technology.  WebOrganic saw 600 disadvantaged Hong Kong families benefit from their Flip Cam project.

Hope after incarceration: Zambia

“I was doing Grade 7 when my father was sentenced to life imprisonment,” recounts Bodiao. “Life came to a standstill as...

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Liberia: Youth empowerment

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? Liberia as a nation is still suffering deep social and economic wounds from a civil war that ended...

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Shipment Feedback: The conflict in Syria continues to devastate lives and communities, with thousands of people still displaced and living in flimsy...

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The Chan sisters know they have to stick together. The three young women have been ‘mothers’ to each other since 2002, when as children, they suffered traumatic domestic abuse and were sent into residential care. Living away from their natural parents, they learned independence earlier than most children, and when the older Chan sisters grew to adulthood, they were allocated their own public housing unit to attempt to leave their painful past behind and start a life of their own.

With such a difficult start to life, though, the Chan sisters didn’t have enough money to purchase basic furniture to fit out the house. They visited Crossroads and were able to select what they needed, from chairs to appliances, to small household items, grateful and relieved that this part of their burden, at least, was lifted.

In 2012, Crossroads impacted 13,716 people in need within Hong Kong: people like the Chans, who come to us referred by the Social Welfare Department. We are deeply grateful for this partnership and the opportunity to serve Hong Kong families and individuals at some of their most desperate times.

Hope after incarceration: Zambia

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WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? Liberia as a nation is still suffering deep social and economic wounds from a civil war that ended...

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WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? When we first started working with our Cameroonian partners in 2010, they were planning and working on...

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That point had come for the Chen family. Four months after Mrs Chen’s stroke, her speech had not returned and confusion left her struggling to recognize friends and family. She even battled to sit upright in a chair. Her husband, after a valiant effort to care for her, knew it was beyond what he could provide.

The answer came in the form of the Po Leung Kuk elderly home in Tung Chung, who took in Mrs Chen as a resident. Visitors are struck by the compassion that emanates from staff and nurses at the home, who provide this haven.  Mr Chen, visiting each day, saw the nurses work gently with his wife, encouraging her to find new ways to manage her life. They taught her basic sign language. They helped strengthen her muscle system. Today, she recognizes the voices of her husband and the staff. Smiling and gesturing to them, she demonstrates that she can even sit up on her own.

It was this need for care among Hong Kong’s elderly that birthed this particular home. As the staff sought to furnish it, however, they faced a challenge. “We didn’t want to purchase a lot of cheap, identical furniture,” said the director. “We wanted it to feel like home for our residents.” That’s where Crossroads could help! The elderly home’s directors visited our site and spent hours with colour swatches and lists, carefully choosing sets of tables, chairs and decorations that they used to create themed rooms, corners of comfort and community. They created a nursing home that, remarkably, truly does feel like home.

“Around 40% of the furniture, and 90% or our office equipment, is from [Crossroads],” said the director.

That meant, she concluded, they could spend more money on medical support for the residents. It is precisely the kind of Hong Kong support Crossroads loves to provide.

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It is hard to fathom the depth of terror in children who live with violent loved ones. The frightening shadow of their parent looms over their childhood, leaving them with no safe place. They learn, from a young age, to expect violence at any time and they fear that, when the aPeter Stepping into new lifenger goes too far, they might even be killed. For some, that death almost seems to offer a blessed relief from the searing pain of life.

Peter Chow*, a 17 year old Hong Kong teenager, lived with this nightmare under his father’s care. Every evening, he would dutifully return home and, as he opened the door in trepidation, he never knew if he would make it through the evening without his father attacking him.

It was the final blow when, one night, his father smashed a glass over the young man’s head. Peter knew he had to flee. Yet he was stuck between worlds. At only 17, he was technically almost an adult, but he had no income to rent a home of his own. Nor did he have the life experience to know how he should manage.

Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department came to his rescue. A case worker took him under her wing and got him safely out of danger. He was given welfare benefits that helped him rent a small room of his own. He now had a roof, and a safe place, but he still needed furniture and appliances to make it livable.

That is where Crossroads came in. His case worker brought him to us and we were delighted to see him choose his needed furniture and electrical equipment from our warehouse.

There are many things we love about this work. A day such as that, when we may play a role in creating a safe place for Peter and other minors like him, brings us a depth of joy too. It may be a ‘day at work’, but it feels like something more.

*Name changed

Hope after incarceration: Zambia

“I was doing Grade 7 when my father was sentenced to life imprisonment,” recounts Bodiao. “Life came to a standstill as...

read more ...

Liberia: Youth empowerment

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? Liberia as a nation is still suffering deep social and economic wounds from a civil war that ended...

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Shipment Feedback: The conflict in Syria continues to devastate lives and communities, with thousands of people still displaced and living in flimsy...

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Cameroon: Educating and rebuilding

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? When we first started working with our Cameroonian partners in 2010, they were planning and working on...

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We were no doubt naïve, but we found it all too easy to assume that a prisoner, when released from jail, would feel unabated joy. For some, the readjustment brings bewilderment and confusion. After 20 years in prison, Mr Wong*, in his 70s, was one who struggled to re-enter normal life. For two decades, every decision had been made for him and Mr Wong now felt baffled and perplexed when even small choices were placed in front of him.

We met Mr Wong when he visited us with his Social Welfare case worker. ‘Shopping’ for such people in our warehouse is quite similar to shopping in a department store, except that we don’t charge them any money for the goods they take! Our staff took Mr Wong around the warehouse, showing him the variety of high quality donated furniture we had on offer.

It was clear, though, that even this was hard for Mr Wong. His case worker patiently helped him as he agonised over each decision, measuring to see what would fit and choosing the kinds of furniture that were most appropriate: a bed, cabinets and more. Finally, he left with a van filled with the goods and we rejoiced that, together, we had helped this man begin again.

At Crossroads, we love to work with the Social Welfare Department in cases such as Mr Wong’s, where the community’s most vulnerable are relying on help.

 *Name changed. Photo is a representation only.

Hope after incarceration: Zambia

“I was doing Grade 7 when my father was sentenced to life imprisonment,” recounts Bodiao. “Life came to a standstill as...

read more ...

Liberia: Youth empowerment

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? Liberia as a nation is still suffering deep social and economic wounds from a civil war that ended...

read more ...

Syria: Aid and empowerment for refugees

Shipment Feedback: The conflict in Syria continues to devastate lives and communities, with thousands of people still displaced and living in flimsy...

read more ...

Cameroon: Educating and rebuilding

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? When we first started working with our Cameroonian partners in 2010, they were planning and working on...

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Chinese New Year: it’s a time of new beginnings, new resolutions, good food and blessings for friends and family! For many in Hong Kong, though, the new year, as through the rest of the year, is a difficult season, lacking what they need to endure each day, and struggling to make ends meet.

image_preview

60% of all the goods that Crossroads redistributes goes to people in need right here in Hong Kong.

There’s one kind of thing that’s requested by almost every desperate family that comes through our doors, though: new, good quality home appliances.

Until recently, stocks were running low, and we were unable to meet the demand for these items.

A charitable foundation in Hong Kong, the Ng Teng Foundation, gave a strategic gift that made it possible for us to purchase over 250 brand new appliances, including rice cookers and microwaves! We have been able to offer the white goods to individuals and charities in need in Hong Kong, along with the other goods they request, like the two stories below.

 

“I had a new apartment but nothing to put in it.”

‘Alan’ lives in Hong Kong on the edge of poverty. He recently moved to a new home that was unfurnished, and he had no way to purchase some of the basic essentials he needed for the flat. One thing he was missing was a rice cooker.

Alan would go to a friend’s house late at night to use their rice cooker, without hope of affording one of his own.

When Alan was referred to Crossroads for help, we were glad to provide him with a new rice cooker among other things he needed, so that now he is able to have rice with his meals in his own home.

 

“We couldn’t afford a new microwave.”

For fast-paced, hardworking advocacy group, Hong Kong Unison, their offices in Tsai Kok Tsui are their strategic headquarters. They’re where they plan campaigns and activities to help give a voice to people from ethnic minorities in Hong Kong who find themselves in trouble. It’s important for them to have well-equipped premises so that they can best help the people they serve.

image_nnn

Miss Yip works with Hong Kong Unison and when the secondhand microwave in their office started ‘sparking’, she told us they knew it was time to get a new one! As a charity on a tight budget, though, they couldn’t afford to buy a new microwave.

“Any funds that we get in, we use for our work,” said Miss Yip. When she came to Crossroads to choose new office furniture, Miss Yip was astonished to hear that we could also give them a brand new microwave – one of those that we were able to purchase with the funds from the Ng Teng Foundation!

Can we help your charity?

If your Hong Kong charity has a need for goods, we’d love to help! Click here to apply

 

 

Hope after incarceration: Zambia

“I was doing Grade 7 when my father was sentenced to life imprisonment,” recounts Bodiao. “Life came to a standstill as...

read more ...

Liberia: Youth empowerment

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? Liberia as a nation is still suffering deep social and economic wounds from a civil war that ended...

read more ...

Syria: Aid and empowerment for refugees

Shipment Feedback: The conflict in Syria continues to devastate lives and communities, with thousands of people still displaced and living in flimsy...

read more ...

Cameroon: Educating and rebuilding

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? When we first started working with our Cameroonian partners in 2010, they were planning and working on...

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HongKong_child_in_wagonChi Kin should be running and climbing like any other energetic preschooler but at 3 years old, the little boy still can’t walk.

Chi Kin suffers from a genetic condition that means his legs are too weak to take more than a few steps at a time.

He’s receiving therapy that will help his legs grow strong, but in the meantime, Chi Kin rides in a stroller to get around.

With medical costs mounting, though, his father started to worry when their old stroller began to wear out.

 

“It was almost broken,” he said. They couldn’t afford to buy a bigger, stronger stroller that would help Chi Kin.

We had the joy of meeting Chi Kin and his Dad at Crossroads when they visited to collect some goods to help with family life. One of the things they hoped for was a stroller to replace the broken one.

Little did his father know, stroller company Maclaren had recently donated to Crossroads a large quantity of their high-end strollers, still in their packaging! Our staff unpacked one of the larger models, and the happy father started to put it together straight away.

“I didn’t expect we would get a brand new stroller!” he said. He expressed great gratitude to Maclaren for the donation.

As for Chi Kin, you couldn’t wipe the smile from this little guy’s face! We know he is as thrilled with his new ‘wheels’ as his father is.

Maclaren’s gorgeous new strollers are bringing joy to many more families throughout Hong Kong as each one is wheeled out of our gates.

Some of the strollers have been gratefully accepted by local NGO Pathfinders, who serve migrant families in need.

‘Mary’*, a young Indonesian mother, single and in difficult circumstances, was one of the grateful beneficiaries (baby pictured below right).

Hongkong_donated_wagon

“It really helps me from carrying the baby all the time,” she said. “My arms and shoulders were getting sore before but now with the new stroller.. it makes it more comfortable and convenient for me to go to different appointments.”

 

“We truly appreciate the donation which enables us to provide better services to the at risk migrant mothers and children,” said a Pathfinders staff member.

Every week, generous companies like Maclaren contact us with offers of high-quality goods that we redistribute to change lives.

Could your company or organisation partner with us in this way?
We’d love to hear from you! Email donategoods@crossroads.org.hk

* Name changed

Hope after incarceration: Zambia

“I was doing Grade 7 when my father was sentenced to life imprisonment,” recounts Bodiao. “Life came to a standstill as...

read more ...

Liberia: Youth empowerment

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? Liberia as a nation is still suffering deep social and economic wounds from a civil war that ended...

read more ...

Syria: Aid and empowerment for refugees

Shipment Feedback: The conflict in Syria continues to devastate lives and communities, with thousands of people still displaced and living in flimsy...

read more ...

Cameroon: Educating and rebuilding

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING? When we first started working with our Cameroonian partners in 2010, they were planning and working on...

read more ...