MAKE A DIFFERENCE: HELP PEOPLE IN POVERTY
ORANGE LEVEL | PRIMARY 6 STUDENTS
Campaign by: Amboise, Bernice, Bruce, Darren, David, Ezra, Hin Wang, Jasper, Joshua, Kerry, Nicholas, Tiger, Valerie, and Ying Ying
WHO WE ARE
We are students who attend JEMS Character Academy and we are in the Orange Level. Many of us have been at JEMS for several years and some up to 9 years now.
Many might ask what we learn about here and to give you an idea, we learn about being nice, having empathy, the effects of charity, and being loving. What we focus most about is character and everything that leads up to being a good person (after all, we are called the junior excellent members of society)! Although this might sound boring, our teachers actually make it quite fun!
- David
WHAT WE LEARNT
In the past few months, we've learnt that poverty can look and be defined very differently and my perspective has changed. People living with material wealth may define poverty as a lack of healthcare, income, wealth, food, or other material items. People who are poor may describe poverty as a lack of everything or a broken relationship. We learnt through interviews that people in poverty feel ashamed, worthless, or like they are trash to be thrown out. This explains why it's so hard to get out of poverty. People feel like there is no more hope and no hope to move forward.
- Joshua
Image: YWAM Tuen Mun
WHY WE CARE
We feel passionate about this topic of poverty at JEMS. We realise that we can make a change to this topic. Therefore we decided to make a fundraiser to raise money for these people living in poverty in our community because they are going through something we may find unimaginable. Poverty is when people cannot afford many of the things that we have. Being in poverty can feel very stressful because they do not have enough money to buy food or they don’t have enough nutrients that may lead to them feeling very sick.
- Darren
30.9%
over
of citizens aged 65 and up live in poverty
that's
360,000
elderly people
who live in poverty
that's
1 in 3
elderly person
that lives in poverty
Data: Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2018
OUR SOLUTION
If we all work together and learn truly what the people in poverty are facing, we can understand how to help and will then know how to care for people in poverty without causing hurt. Getting to know others and starting to build a relationship is the first step to empathising with others. We believe this is what is needed.
- Nicholas
Image: YWAM Tuen Mun
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1
Get Informed
Learn more about poverty by reading through our website and understanding the complexity of poverty.
2
Build Relationship
When you see someone in poverty take five minutes to get to know them and grow in empathy for them.
3
Share What You Have
Donate money towards projects that really focus on helping people in poverty through building relationships, like YWAM Tuen Mun (see below).
4
Inform Others
Help us get the word out and inform more people about the complexity of poverty and help us put compassion into action!
YWAM TUEN MUN
Youth with a Mission Tuen Mun’s mission is to proclaim hope and provide comfort to all by providing holistic care to the needy and using relevant, creative tools to speak to this generation. They conduct frequent outreach programmes, are a local food bank, and most importantly they build relationships and care about those who are living in poverty in the Tuen Mun District. We hope to continue to support the work and efforts YWAM carries out in our city!
Image: YWAM Tuen Mun
