The Shek Kip Mei centre is located in one of the districts of Hong Kong with the greatest concentration of low-income families. Built with a grant from Citi, the centre opened its doors in 2000. It is a safe place for the kids to come to after school, Saturdays, and holidays. The children receive homework tutoring, participate in educational outings and character building classes. It is also a place where parents, kids, staff and volunteers build a caring community around each other. 

Each weekday afternoon, around 20-30 primary school children come to the centre. They not only get help on their homework, our staff and volunteers are also training them in skills that will be useful for life. Our front line staff have certain KPIs - key performance indicators they are training into the kids. For the younger kids, it can be something as simple as taking out only what they need for homework that day. For the older ones, they are being taught to set performance goals and study plans. 

Children from these families seldom venture outside of their immediate neighbourhoods. The cost of transportation, even public transportation, is a burden. Some have never even crossed the harbour to Hong Kong Island! On weekends and especially during school holidays, the centre provides outings to different parts of Hong Kong to broaden these chidlren’s horizons. Some of these excursions are educational, others focus on building good character. Either way, they are always fun! 

In 2008, we began the Character Success Education Programme, based on the curriculum of "Character Counts!", the largest character education programme in the United States. The children learn the Six Pillars of Character - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Click here for more details about the programme.