Water and Human Needs – Amity’s 5th Living Water Townhall
On 4th August 2022, Amity Foundation Hong Kong, Transform Nepal* and HKSKH Bishop Hall Secondary School (BHSS) jointly organized the 5th Amity Living Water Townhall**. The online exchange event, hosted at BHSS was attended by 25 of its students, 8 students and representatives from Transform Nepal, 10 Nepalese students from Li Cheng Uk Government Primary School, and 4 staff from Amity HK. During the event, students and guests engaged in online sharing on the theme of “Water and Human Needs”, the core message of Amity HK’s “Living Water Campaign”.
To set the stage for the event, Mr. Rabindra Das, Director of Transform Nepal presented a video illustrating the plight of water-deprived communities in Nepal. 4 students from Nepal were invited to share stories about their daily lives, providing rare and valuable insight into the challenges faced by the young people of Nepal. Our overseas guests then engaged in a meaningful Q&A session with the students of BHSS, in which Mr. Das emphasized the importance of international awareness and support in tackling the many developmental issues faced by Nepal.
Following the Q&A session, the students of BHSS shared a short video showing the guests a snippet of life in HK, including a view of their campus. They also prepared a knowledge contest in which guests were quizzed on facts about water and human needs. For this segment, Transform Nepal also prepared questions about life in Nepal for the students of BHSS. One notable question revealed that Bhanu, one of the student guests from Nepal, had travelled 4 hours to participate in this event. The students from HK were greatly impressed and moved by the enthusiasm shown by Bhanu and his peers.
The 14 Nepalese students of Li Cheng Uk Government Primary School then gave an interesting presentation in English sharing their knowledge of water conservation in Hong Kong. Li Cheng Uk’s participation provided a rare opportunity for the local Nepalese students to meet their counterparts from their home country and be reconnected with their cultural roots. As for the students of BHSS it was a chance for them to learn about the Nepalese community in Hong Kong. To this end, Mr. Das voiced his hopes that this exchange could be a catalyst for more young people of Hong Kong to befriend their Nepalese peers whether locally or abroad. Towards the end of the Townhall, the students from BHSS showcased souvenir paintings exchanged between the Nepalese and Hong Kong participants.
In his closing speech to the event, Mr. Anthony Tong, Executive Director of Amity HK expressed his hopes that the students from Hong Kong could one day visit Nepal and experience its breath-taking natural beauty and colorful culture first-hand. He stressed the importance of English as a common language that facilitates communication and understanding around the world, encouraging students to learn and develop skills from this experience that would enable them to become globally competent. Finally, he called for more young people to take action and help those in need around the world.
Post-event surveys have indicated that all the secondary and primary students have enjoyed this kind of experiential learning and are looking forward to further engagement.
*Transform Nepal is an NGO committed to spreading love and aid to the needy people of Nepal through improving education, infrastructure, and quality of life. Since 2019, Amity has partnered with Transform Nepal in supporting the construction of water and sanitation facilities such as wells and taps for needy communities in Nepal.
**First held in 2021, Amity Townhall events are designed to bridge communications between communities from a wide array of backgrounds and nationalities, utilizing the power of the internet. Townhall events enable direct and live interaction between parties separated by distance, encouraging the sharing of ideas and experience through audio and visual media. This form of experiential learning helps raise awareness on global issues and most importantly broadens the horizons of young people around the world.
