Celebrating the end of school term 2018
Our wonderful days this year!
The 2018 School term has ended at Lok Yi School. To celebrate the end of the school term and the beginning of summer holidays, Lok Yi School organised a ceremony for the students on July 11. Volunteers from the Order of Malta Hong Kong attended the ceremony together with the parents and students at the Multi-purpose Hall. At the ceremony, the school arranged a video, a sharing session with the volunteers, a prize presentation, and some interactive games.
The video reviewed the activities held over the past year. It was incredible to see the progress of some of the students over the past year, especially the moments spent with our volunteers. After the video, the school invited some of our volunteers to share their thoughts and feelings. One particular remark from the volunteers was that they all enjoyed spending the time with the students and treasured the relationships that had grown.
This project’s volunteer leader, Peter Lee, said, “When we first encountered some of the students, they were very quiet and shy and not willing to interact with the volunteers. Now we can see the fruits of the program – after spending the time and effort with these students. To them, we are no longer strangers. Instead, now when the students see our volunteers, they become very happy and excited, and likewise, our volunteers feel like they have become their friends.”
After the sharing session, we had a prize presentation. The teachers at the school identified and selected some students who have made significant progress during this year, such as being able to follow instructions and managing emotional control. Each of these students were presented with a gift as a token of encouragement. The most touching part of the evening was that some students had hand-made some coasters with mosaic patterns especially for our volunteers.
After the game and snack time, the students were required to go back to their dormitory. As they said goodnight to each one of us, we started to feel sad and miss them as we won’t see them until September when the new school term begins.
Ms. Lydia Mak, the School’s Warden, remarked, “This is the third year for the Order of Malta Hong Kong’s volunteering program. This year is different from the previous years. The School this year has admitted students with medium mental disabilities, and so the ask on our volunteers has expanded significantly.
Apart from the evening activities we hold on Wednesdays, volunteers also helped make it possible to bring the higher need students to outing events on weekends, and even during the long holidays. The support and time given by the volunteers in these activities allowed the students to participate in a greater range of activities. Through various excursions, we were able to tap on their potential, and enable them to apply what they had learnt in a practical way, thereby opening up their horizons. Since the students in the boarding section can only interact with the school’s teachers most of the time, they have little chance to interact with people outside the school. To the students, many of these volunteers have become their friends.”
“Organising this evening’s event with a theme of “our days in this year” is also one of the ways for us to express our appreciation to the volunteers.”