[Nepali Culture Workshop 2014-2015] Field Trip to YMCA Cheung Sha Wan Centre: A Lens to Social Enterprise in Hong Kong

Multiculturalism in Action: Nepali Culture Workshop

Field Trip to YMCA Cheung Sha Wan Centre: 

A Lens to Social Enterprise in Hong Kong

Visit to YMCA CSW Centre

The participants of “Multiculturalism in Action: Nepali Culture Workshop”, together with undergraduate students of the Department of Anthropology, paid a visit to the YMCA Cheung Sha Wan Center on 22 November, 2014, to learn more about the objectives and operation of a social enterprise.

After a short briefing by Ms. Law, social worker at the Center, participants were divided into groups and took turns to participate in three activities — henna painting, handicraft making, and cooking Nepali food (aaloo achar).

Henna painting by a Pakistani teacher

Cooking demonstration by a Nepali teacher

Each activity was presented and led by members of a social minority in Hong Kong. The activities gave participants an opportunity to hear from ethnic and cultural minorities firsthand, and to gain a better understanding on the everyday experience and disadvantaged status of marginalized groups.

Learning bracelet making from a Chinese teacher

Participants also visited the community store run by the YMCA Cheung Sha Wan Center. The store was a social enterprise with an aim to provide minority women a way to support their own living by selling handmade products and to learn business skills that could be applied in future. The HK Government rented the store to them at a discounted rate, enabling the Center to generate profits for social and community projects.

This field trip was a great opportunity for participants to learn about the design, operation, and difficulties of a social enterprise. With more face-to-face discussion and interaction with the minority communities, participants were able to understand better the living conditions and needs of minorities from their own perspectives.