Supporting youth mental health
Following the launch ceremony, there was a sharing session where our youth representative, Ms. Kelly Tse, shared her experience of more than 10 years of basketball training with YMCA. She is now a member of the Hong Kong U16 basketball team. Mr. Marco Mui, an athlete from the Hong Kong hurdling team, shared his experience of competing abroad. Marco encouraged young people to be courageous and not give up in the face of difficulties.
The YMCA “YM Buzzer” is now live! We are excited to offer a wide range of sports to a diverse audience that extends from teenagers, children, young night drifters, and grassroots women to enhance their mental wellbeing and social opportunities through sports. Below are the details of each event. For any inquiries, please contact us.
For details, please visit the event website: https://www.ymca.org.hk/zh-hant/YMBuzzer
Lenten Prayer & Devotion Handbook
The first day of Lent in this year falls on 14 February. We are pleased to present our book Lenten Prayer & Devotion Handbook in the hope of helping every single reader’s walk with the Lord. This work includes 40 prayers written by our Voluntary Chaplain Rev. Paul Li Kam-ting and also articles on body-mind-spirit wholeness contributed by the Christian Work Committee members, our colleagues in respective departments and service units, and the former student committee member from University YMCA (Hong Kong Baptist University). We wish that our readers will find strength in this book to serving others.
Members are welcomed to pick up the printed copies from our service units or browse the electronic version via this link: https://bit.ly/49cUMIN
Please contact Ms. Wong of the Christian Work Department at 2783 3431 if you have any enquiries.
Accolades won by Chinese YMCA Primary School
Chinese YMCA Primary School has been awarded a number of teaching awards lately, such as the “Outstanding e-Learning Awards (2022/23)” from the University of Hong Kong’s e-Learning Development Laboratory. Teacher Ms. Lo Yi-ying was awarded the Gold Award of Chinese Language Education, and Senior Teacher Mr. Kwok Yin-pui was awarded the Emerging Technology Award of General e-Learning application.
Additionally, Teacher Ms. Ng Tsz-yan was awarded the Outstanding Teacher in the 18th Outstanding Teacher Election Awards 2023 by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers.
Worship Service of 2024 World Day of Prayer
Organised by the Hong Kong Christian Council, the annual “Worship Service of World Day of Prayer” will convene at 3pm on 2 March at the Methodist International Church (271 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai). This year’s theme is “I Beg You… Bear with One Another Love”. Our prayers will be especially dedicated to the needs of women in Palestine. We are honoured to have Rev. Phyllis Wong Mei-fung, Minister-in-Charge of the Kowloon Union Church, to join us on the day of worship. There will be a women’s choir hymn and prayer session. All members are welcomed in God’s grace.
Expanding students’ perspectives – Overseas exchange tours jointly-organised with the HKBU
Invitation to attend the Education Bureau’s seminar
Invited by the Education Bureau, the YMCA took part in a seminar about the coming of age in the internet era on 19 January. YMCA Coordinating Secretary Ms. Phoebe See Man-yan and Service Development Officer Mr. Isaac Yeung Chi-hin joined as keynote speakers. Together with 120 attendees that range from principals, teachers and education staff from primary and secondary schools, they shared their views on students’ internet usage and mental health”. Our speakers expanded on the relationship between the causes of Internet addiction and growth needs from the perspective of professional social workers, which was supported by the data from our survey about “Sharenting” and Protecting Children’s Digital Privacy.
Toy collection and donation for children in need at the Cityview
Our commitment to the principles of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) since 2019 reflects the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in our organisation’s approach to development and the YMCA 2030 Vision for sustainable development in Hong Kong. Apart from publishing the ESG Impact Report, YMCA also endeavours to integrate ESG concepts into our daily operations. This column is dedicated to sharing with our members our ESG initiatives regularly.
It has been 20 years since the founding of the Chinese Lion Dance Team by the Home of Love – Yung Shing Sheltered Workshop and Hostel in 2003. We hope that lion dance (including training, practice, rehearsal, performance and competition) will develop the physical and mental wellbeing of our service users, as well as serve as a chance to attain achievement through hard work, which will enhance our service users’ self-esteem and confidence.
The Chinese Lion Dance Team has featured in numerous performance venues and carnivals. The team members’ self-assured, dynamic and confident performances have changed the minds of the community when it comes to people with intellectual disabilities.
In 2020, the dance team received funding from the Social Welfare Department, which allowed the team to hire a professional lion dance coach. The dance coach has successfully helped the team to level up and learn additional lion dance moves. This allowed the team to travel to rehabilitation and elderly centres to perform, bringing the community together while sharing joy and warmth.
Once the funding ended, it is a shame that the dance team had to halt professional training and performances due to costs (e.g. transport expenses). At the moment, the Home of Love staff continues to practise previous routines with the team. The YMCA is actively seeking corporate or charitable sponsorships that will support our team members on their paths to developing vocational skills through lion dance. After costs, we hope that performance requests for the dance team will translate to income that can be distributed to team members as training subsidies, so that members can feel better fulfilled and valued.
As city dwellers who often work overtime and frequently perform repetitive motions, we are more susceptible to joint pain or sports injuries that can affect our quality of life. The Association’s Health Care Professions Department is launching a regular monthly column and publishing short articles about self-care. Topics covered will include arthritis, joint pain and self-healing. For more detailed health-related information, please visit our websitewww.ymca.org.hk/hcp or call 2783 3616for inquiries.
Knee Osteoarthritis
Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common ailment among the elderly. A healthy joint consists of cartilage and synovial fluid, which are crucial in reducing friction between knee joints when moving. A knee joint with osteoarthritis has thinner cartilage with mutated synovial fluid. When the joint is moved, immense pain is felt due to bones grinding on each other. Doctors often recommend the elderly to minimise movements that put a heavy load on their joints. This is sometimes misinterpreted as an advice to not move their joints. Instead, we should continue to perform the proper kinds of exercises regularly to strengthen our joints. With strengthened knees, walking downstairs will place less stress and damage on the joints, slowing down the deterioration of the knees. Here are two beginner exercises often used to strengthen your knees. If pain is experienced during these workouts, please consult your physiotherapist or doctor.
Stretching
Each movement should be maintained for approximately 10 seconds and repeated 10 times.
Bend the thumb towards the palm
Extend the thumb outward
Extend the thumb outward
After the pain subsides, perform strength-enhancing exercise.
Use your fingers to stretch a rubber band.
Hold for 10 seconds, and then relax. Repeat 10 times.
YM Chill Day
＊Some of the programmes are subsidised by the Social Welfare Department
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