The website in support of ethnic minority families of children with special needs is launched today. The website, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, is intended to enable ethnic minority parents resided in Hong Kong to make full use of personal, community and cultural resources in bringing up their children with special needs, attesting to the commitment of Heep Hong Society to caring for children of different capabilities regardless of their cultural and racial backgrounds.
The website, presented in four languages, namely Nepalese, Urdu, English and Chinese, contains articles on child development and child-raising skills, and acts as a platform for ethnic minority parents to share their thoughts and feelings with each other. It amasses community resources for those parents’ reference, and introduces basics of ethnic minorities to the general public. A variety of activities and courses tailor-made for ethnic minorities will also be announced on the website.
The website is part of Heep Hong’s project in support of the ethnic minority families of children with special needs. Under the project, a wide range of initiatives will also be launched, including (1) family support activities to help ethnic minority families to establish their support network and utilize community resources; (2) parent training package in English, Nepalese and Urdu, which is designed by professional team and parents and covers areas such as children’s language and social skills development. It aims to equip the ethnic minority parents with knowledge of children’s developmental disorders; (3) recruiting youth from South Asian mainstream secondary schools to join the Volunteer Ambassadors Training Scheme, which aims to equip volunteers with necessary knowledge and kills to help children with special needs.
Owing to language barriers, cultural and environmental differences, and inadequate income, it is hard for ethnic minority parents to grasp child-care knowledge, identify problems of their children and make use of community resources to raise their children, thus adversely affecting the growth and development of their children. With a view to providing timely support to those families, a two-year project “All Cultures, All Races, All We Care” has been launched with the funding support from the Community Chest of Hong Kong.
For details of the project, please contact Hoi Fu Centre, Heep Hong Society.
