Media

Harvard and HKU Students meet Underprivileged in HK

30 Mar 2008

 

Twelve Harvard University exchange students, accompanied by students from The University of Hong Kong (HKU), visited and served the underprivileged last week in Hong Kong. They talked to ethnic minorities and asylum seekers in Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsai, while serving street-sleepers and the homeless at a Shum Shui Po shelter.

The students were part of a nine-day student exchange conference (March 22 to 30) at HKU, under the Harvard College in Asia Program (HCAP). This past February, 10 HKU students had gone to Harvard for their 2-week exchange.

HCAP, a student-run organization at Harvard, aims to be a platform for student exploration and development. Founded in 2003, HCAP accomplishes its goal by sponsoring exchange conferences to connect Harvard students with their peers in premier universities around the world. HKU is one of the 6 partner institutions in Asia. The other 5 are in New Delhi, India; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Singapore; Seoul, South Korea; and Tokyo, Japan.

The Harvard and HKU students visited the Chungking Mansions Services Centre of the Christian Action last Thursday (March 27), and met the ethnic minorities and asylum seekers which the Centre served.

On Friday, they visited the Home of Love of the Missionary of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, at Shum Shui Po, which serves street-sleepers and homeless persons. Besides talking to the underprivileged and serving them meals, the Harvard students also helped in cleaning the shelter.

"It was absolutely earth-shattering. We feel like we have really gotten to experience Hong Kong - its people, its grassroots, food, culture, perspectives, everything," said Priya Gupta, a year-2 student in social anthropology with Harvard.

"HCAP is an amazing opportunity for Harvard students from all academic backgrounds to gain a better understanding of Hong Kong culture. Those interested in business can make networking contacts, and those interested in political science can engage in heated discussions about the one-country-two-systems policy. This is by far the best Spring Break I've ever had. I would love to live and work in this amazing city," said Stephanie Hon, who is in year-3 of East Asian Studies.

During the nine-day conference, the Harvard students attended lectures and seminars, and together with the HKU students, got to learn about each others cultures. They also visited the Museum of History, Li & Fung Company, and various tourist attractions like Lan Kwai Fong, the Peak, Ngong Ping, Stanley Market, Ocean Park and Lamma Island.

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Denise Wong, Manager (Media), HKU (Tel: 2859 2600 / E-mail: denise.wong@hku.hk)