February 1997
Mail to the Editor
Sharing the mission
A breakthrough idea to help youth
By Wong Yuen Kwan
The village, created by Breakthrough, is located on a hillside at A Kung Kok Shan Road in Sha Tin. Facing beautiful Tolo Harbour and surrounded by greenery, it is a venue which uses multi-media resources.
According to the assistant administration manager, Miss Celia Hung So Kiu, the young, stylish but simple approach of the design is appealing to young people. It was the idea and work of a voluntary engineer who was very devoted to youth service.
The Village aims at serving young people aged 10 to 30. Many schools and private organizations have arranged day trips and camps in the Village. They hope to improve teacher-student relationships or to enhance the working and cooperative spirit of the company.
During peak times -- for example the summer holidays and public holidays -- the Village is fully booked. Participants can enjoy exciting outdoor activities, as well as quiet and creative artwork. Discussion rooms are provided for group gatherings and presentations.
Youths can use the facilities to develop their talents and discover their limitations, especially by participating in the Adventure Site, which helps them overcome the fear of heights. Participants can also meet a lot of friends and experience support from their group members. Apart from this, other innovative programmes like Xyber café, a DJ studio, an art workshop, a computer song composition course, drama and dance are organised for personal development.
Many art works created by young people have been placed throughout the Village. Mr. Jeffrey Chau Sze Ngai, the renewal pavilion manager, pointed out that it is one way to arouse the youths’ sense of achievement.
"We are very concerned about their vitality and attitude change. It is important for them to realise their goodness and capabilities," said he.
In order to provide thorough service, the Village is generally divided into four parts: Cultural Pavilion, Information Pavilion, Pathfinding Pavilion and Renewal Pavilion. Each is managed by professional youth workers. Young people will be enrolled as day campers or live-in campers.
The Cultural Pavilion aims to stimulate the cultural awareness of the youths. Regular presentations and performances are organised to give both local youths and groups from other countries opportunity for self expression and communication.
The Information Pavilion encourages them to make use of the latest technology to communicate with others via interactive networks.
The place for youngsters to express their views and develop their potential to the fullest is the Pathfinding Pavilion. They are encouraged to develop their social values by exploring issues ranging from environmental concerns to modern morality. The subjects are introduced through workshops incorporating video, radio, reporting and editing.
The Renewal Pavilion provides temporary shelter for young people from broken and abusive families. Experienced house parents will nurture them with guidance, training and counselling.
Miss Hung said as the workers need to provide professional service, they have to receive training. Most important of all, they need to have a commitment to offer help to the youths.
Said she: "Many housewives are recruited as part-time tour guides. Indeed, they are very responsible and helpful."
Though the Breakthrough Organization is based on Christian principles, "religious preaching" is not the prior goal.
"I think religion and life are blend together. Through activities, Christian love is spread, so we have no intention to separate them," said she.
Since the Village is a private organization, the accommodation fee is higher than government-funded youth hostels. But Miss Hung stressed the facilities and accommodation they offer deserve the price.
The community leaders and many charity organizations have already given enthusiastic support to the project. She said they also welcome the government's subsidy. "However, if we have to be accountable to the government, it would greatly reduce our flexibility," she added.
The Village is gaining support from various organizations and the utilization rate is not low. Miss Hung admitted that improvement is needed to expand its influence to all of society.
"After all, the Village was open in July. We have been in operation only for a few months. It is too early to say whether we are successful or not," she said. "We face a lot of difficulties and each one of us is still learning very hard to run the Village."