Shum Oi Church

30 Woh Chai Street

Shek Kip Mei

Kowloon, Hong Kong

Telephone 790986

RECOVERING LOCAL/GLOBAL COMMUNITY

The tone of life in the Seventies is a far cry from that of the Sixties. The protest movements and broad social causes have jelled into a world­wide effort to recover local autonomy. Particularly in Hong Kong the rapid population growth and all of the accompanying economic, political and cultural problems have made the education problem even more complex. Look at these statistics.

• 1/2 of the 4 million people living in Hong Kong are under 25
• 1/8 of the total population is under 6
• 3/4 of the under 6 year old children receive no pre­primary education

When educators declare that 40% of a person's education is acquired before the age of 6, the fact that Hong Kong children are getting so little education is tragic and not only affects Hong Kong but also South East Asia and consequently the entire world.

RENEWAL PROJECT PROGRAM

The SHEK KIP MEI ECUMENICAL PARISH, a renewal project for the oldest resettlement estate in Hong Kong, housing 65,000 refugee people, built in 1955 after a Christmas eve fire destroyed all the squatter huts, is our proposal for recovering and preserving this community. This Ecumenical Parish is being initiated by the five churches located in Shek Kip Mei: one Anglican church, one Roman Catholic Church, two Lutheran churches, and one Church of Christ in China church. Our Shum Oi C.C.C. Church (meaning Profound Love) plans to employ one of the Shek Kip Mei community leaders, train him, and guarantee him a three year salary so that he can coordinate the work of these five churches, discover and train new leadership to take responsibility particularly for the existing and new educational structures, and strengthen all leaders in modern problem solving and decision making methods.

RESULTING TACTICAL LEADERSHIP

The victim image mindset of the refugee dweller, whether he be 3 or 83, is a mindset of extreme inadequateness, unworthy of dignity, hopelessness, powerlessness, and of being forever at the mercy of uncontrollable community and world forces that prohibit a fulfilled life. Through this Ecumenical Parish in Hong Kong's most drug ridden, highest crime rate resettlement estate, the possibility of a new life stance of being the creators of the future can be embodied by the children and youth, the rising adults, the established generations and the honored elders. Leadership training seminars, motivational curriculums, community festivals and space transformations will all be used to forge a new community self­image. When the new Shek Kip Mei becomes a sign and symbol of the

new humanity, other communities in Hong Kong, South East Asia and the world will use Shek Kip Mei Ecumenical Parish as a model for community recovery.

YOUR PARTICIPATION

A contribution of _______would enable us together to be those adventurous, daring ones who shape the 21st century through this new Ecumenical Parish in Shek Kip Mei, Hong Kong.