Connecting people in a worldof need

FABBAs helps to transform Ugandan slum school

It might not look like a treasure chest. But the 40 foot shipping container outside the only school in Kamwokya slum is filled with valuables that are changing Ugandan futures, one child at a time. Children in the densely packed, dangerous Kamwokya slum once had nowhere to go to school, while their parents went to work in surrounding neighbourhoods. Now, this school is a beacon of hope, educating 2,000 pupils, not just in academic subjects but in life skills, job training and children’s rights.

They struggle with very few resources, though. We responded with the shipment sent by Fund Managers, Asian Bankers and Brokers Awards (FABBAs). As a result, the school library in Kamwokya is now filled with text books, the boys’ soccer team wears uniforms, the students sit at new desks and chairs, and some of the poorest students, who previously slept on the floor, now have soft new mattresses and warm blankets. All have a new zeal to attend school each day.

It’s FABBAs – our largest single donor in 13 years – who made this possible. At their 2013 banquet, FABBAs raised a staggering HK$1.5 million for Crossroads’ operations and international shipments.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

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Fiji: HK kids give village school a hand up

Fiji village schoolchildren are ready to learn but struggle with few resources.

Fiji village schoolchildren are ready to learn but struggle with few resources.

Behind the perfect beaches and five star resorts, much of Fiji’s rural population lives in poverty, with many unable to meet the basic needs of their families. Village life can be idyllic, but people here, like anywhere, want to see their children able to learn, thrive and stay in school.

One Hong Kong school in Shatin has been working with a community in Fiji for some years to revitalise and refurbish their local school, to help more children stay in school longer.

Crossroads' shipment includes more than 100 school desks to help upgrade classrooms.

Crossroads’ shipment includes more than 100 school desks to help upgrade classrooms.

“Parents there want their children to succeed and get into high school,” said the project’s coordinator, a teacher at the Shatin school, but, he said, the ageing buildings and lack of resources place the children at a constant disadvantage. Only one school building has electricity, there are very few books, or basic supplies such as chalk and they don’t have enough school furniture to cater for all their students. “Half of the classes are held on the floor,” the teacher said.

Crossroads is shipping bathroom fittings like basins and toilet bowls to upgrade school facilities.

Basins, toilet bowls and other bathroom fittings from Hong Kong will upgrade school facilities.

Teams from the school have visited Fiji as part of their community service curriculum and have helped to renovate and refurbish parts of the school, but there were supplies and equipment that they didn’t have, which they knew could make an even greater difference. They asked Crossroads to help put together a container of goods, and, joyfully, the Hong Kong teachers themselves came to Crossroads to load the shipment! It is, however, the community members in Fiji themselves who are the greatest drive behind the school’s revitalisation. “Despite everything, these are the happiest people you will ever meet,” staff wrote. “All four villages around the school are so excited about the container and fixing the school up.”

We’re thankful to the school for making this shipment happen, and to countless other schools around Hong Kong who’ve been equally generous with their hands, hearts and pockets, partnering on other shipments. If your school would like to work with Crossroads on an international shipment, or on a project right here in Hong Kong, we’d love to talk. Email partnerships@crossroads.org.hk

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Donate to a shipment like this one.

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Fiji Snapshot

Population: around 850,000
Capital: Suva
Population living below the national poverty line of US$3.3 per day: 45%

Compared to its neighbours, Fiji is relatively well developed, though it is the 61st poorest country in the world, comparable with the Philippines.

Fiji consists of 332 islands, of which 110 are inhabited.

Fiji’s main island is known as Viti Levu and it is from this that the name “Fiji” is derived.

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Morgan Stanley investing in Children

“The majority of schools in rural Nepal are inadequately resourced,” says the NGO, First Steps Himalaya. “Children often have to sit on dirty floors without a teacher present.” This group is building early childhood centres in Nepal that use vibrant educational materials to give little ones a healthy start for their school career. When Morgan Stanley wanted staff to volunteer their time as part of their CSR programme, we partnered with Global Equity Brokers to link them with First Steps Himalaya.

The Morgan Stanley staff designed and created English flash cards that are now in use in Nepalese kindergarten classrooms. They also created more than 500 back-toschool kits to transform educational life for children who have never seen a pen before. Educational investment always pays dividends. Giving a child a fair start in life can be transformative in ways impossible to measure.

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The Power of a Pen

For those used to well equipped schools, it is hard to picture life in parts of rural Gambia where students sit quietly, waiting their turn to use a pen. The idea of having one each, much less a traditional ‘pencil case’ with a set of pens and pencils, is a world away from these students.

The need is widespread. We have been asked for stationery supplies by almost every one of our partners who work with children. Supplies have been running low, though. So, when Hong Kong stationery manufacturer Cartorama offered a large quantity of school stationery, we leaped at the chance. The donation itself left us flabbergasted: 12 pallet loads of cartons containing felt tip pens, piles of school notepads, beautiful new backpacks, erasers, folders and more.

We shipped these to Gambia, hopefully making a huge impact on those little who had previously shared a single pen. We had enough, too, to send to children in Uganda, orphans in Moldova and children here in Hong Kong.

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Keeping Up With Online Education

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.

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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‘Marrying to Survive’ in Uganda

Madina, 17, faced a wretched set of options as a refugee in Uganda. She and her family fled the war in southern Sudan but there was little by way of support for her or the four younger sisters who needed care. Her mother asked her to marry so that the bridal price would help. Madina did not want to marry for that reason alone and sought to alleviate their need with income from occasional work.

As a refugee, though, without much education or training, she couldn’t hope to get a good, steady job.

Crossroads sent a shipment to the town where Madina lives, and she was identified by our local partner to benefit. They gave Madina a ‘start up package’ of things she could use to begin a small clothing business. Now, she owns a mobile business selling clothes door to door.

“You are different”, she told them, with gratitude. “You have made me feel loved in a foreign land. With this new business, I will be able to provide for my mother and pay school fees for my sisters instead of marrying. You are changing our lives.”

Also included in the container was furniture for three schools, along with provision for many of the most impoverished families in the community.

“You have helped put a smile on many of these faces,” the NGO told us. “You have helped restore hope to those that had lost hope.”

Give Now!

Donate to a shipment like this one.

Donate Goods!

Want to donate goods for a shipment like this one?

Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

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Digital Support for Hong Kong Children in Need

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.

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Decades ago, bombshells ripped through Cambodia, scarring the land and its people. Young Heang was a little toddler when his family...

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“Everything broke in my head, soul and body. You are alive but you don’t feel alive.” A Ukrainian military leader spoke...

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JP Morgan partnership & fresh fish traders school

He is a Hong Kong legend. Poverty forced Leung Kee Cheong to drop out of school at 13 and left him with a passion to see quality education given to children in economic need.

Being poor is not a crime, he believes, but refusing to reverse it is. Heis proof of concept. After later qualifying as a teacher, he worked with Hong Kong’s Education Department and, in time, was offered the top job at an elite school. Instead, he took the principal role at theFresh Fish Traders’ School: one started by the Kowloon Fish Traders Association for their children. It is one of Hong Kong’s poorest schools and risked closure until Mr Leung took over.

Today, it thrives, primarily because of its principal and his understanding of his students’ needs. “Children love playing, eating and being loved,” he says.

He makes all three happen in his school. His education methods are fun, using creative lessons to help children grasp information and stay motivated. He ensures they have enough to eat through a food bank he has opened on site to help both the children and their families. His personal care is boundless. His goal is to know each one by name and to visit their families, where possible, to offer support. The door of his office is always open and, inside, students find toys, snacks and a listening ear.

So, when JP Morgan offered Crossroads computers, we immediately thought of this school. Wonderfully, the finance company added to their donation the money needed for computer refurbishment and the volunteer labour to undertake it. We gave both desktops and laptops to the school, glad to support Leung Kee Cheong in his mission to help create leaders for Hong Kong’s next generation.

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Ghana: “Read-to-Succeed”

Though many in Africa look to Ghana as a model for political and economic reform, difficulties such as poverty, disease, and lack of basic educational tools still plague people in rural parts of the country.

Thousands of those who are more educated leave Ghana for jobs elsewhere, draining the country of adequate health professionals and teachers. Others must face the scourge of AIDS without proper treatment, and countless young children are forced to abandon their education in order to care for younger siblings and sick parents. Crossroads shipped to an NGO working in the Volta Region of Ghana, one of the poorest areas of the country. The organisation focuses on ensuring that the children in this area can attend school and learn how to read and write through their Read-to-Succeed programme. They also run vocational centres that provide tools and training for youth so they can find employment once they finish school. We were able to ship a variety of items to resource the schools and training centres as well as support the building of a secondary school.

Give Now!

Donate to a shipment like this one.

Donate Goods!

Want to donate goods for a shipment like this one?

Ghana Snapshot

Capital: Accra

Population: 27 million. 45% of the population is under 18.

Ghana is in West Africa, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, and has a tropical climate. It is the fifth most stable state in Africa.
There are about 1 million children orphaned for a variety of reasons in the country.
34% of children are involved in some kind of child labour, and education is often inaccessible in rural areas.

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