Hong Kong Unison's Story

Our story began in 1998, when outreach social worker Fermi Wong Wai-Fun came into contact with a group of disaffected Nepalese youths hanging out late into the night in Jordan. From conversations with these young men, Fermi realised that the Hong Kong Government departments had completely ignored the needs of these Hong Kong residents. The youths that Fermi met were unable to find jobs, a school place and were struggling to meet their basic needs of food and shelter. There were social service organisations all around but none reached out to these youths, nor did the youths know that these resources were avaliable to them.

In 2001, seeing the extent of the need of Ethnic Minority communities, Fermi established Unison Hong Kong - for Ethnic Equality. Our very first supporter provided us with an office space in the Mong Kok area to headquarter our operations. In the beginning our mandate was simple: identify the needs of the community and find solutions. We focused a lot of our attention on individual cases on education, employment, drug abuse, family support, etc.

Today, as Hong Kong Unison Ltd., our mandate is still the same, our solutions build on the case experiences over the years to involve demands for change in social policy. Since our humble beginnings we have grown from one concerned social worker to five staff members and many more volunteer staff-supporters. Our staff members are currently involved in campaigns to improve the education system for Ethnic Minority children. Other staff members regularly liase with schools to promote multiculturalism in our next generation, while continuing the important individual case work.

Looking to the future, Hong Kong Unison will continue to voice the concerns of Ethnic Minority Communities to remove the inequalities that exist between them and mainstream society. In the years to come, we hope that you will join us in making this history!

香港融樂會的故事

在1998年，當外展社工王惠芬深夜在佐敦接觸一班尼泊爾青年，從與他們的對話中發覺香港政府對這班香港的居民是完全忽視。王惠芬接觸的尼泊爾青年不能夠找到工作、讀書學位，每天也為食物和棲身之所努力掙扎求存。

雖然社會上有不同的福利機構，但沒有一個接觸這班青年，而這班青年亦不知道原來有些社會資源他們可以使用。

在2001年，鑑於少數族裔的持續需要，王惠芬建立香港融樂會-為種族平等。我們第一個支持者為我們提供位於旺角的辦公室，作為我們運作的總部。起初我們的使命十分簡單︰分析個別少數族裔團體的需要，以及尋找解決的方法。我們集中於個別的個案如在教育、就業、濫用藥物、家庭支援等方面。

現今香港融樂會肩負著同樣的使命，透過多年來個案的經驗，我們在社會政策不斷的轉變下，為他們尋求適當的解決方法。我們自成立以來不斷成長，現今成員包括五位職員及很多義工。我們的員工致力參與改善少數族裔小孩教育制度的活動，定期聯絡不同的學校，向我們的下一代推廣多元文化，以及繼續跟進個別的個案。

展望未來，香港融樂會會繼續關心少數族裔，以及消除主流社會上對他們不平等的待遇。希望不久的將來，你會加入我們，與我們一起創造歷史﹗