The Salvation Army (Macau) Education Centre and City University of Macau Joint Training for Social Workers and Teachers to Address Social Issues through Micro-movies
(1 August 2018, Macau) The Salvation Army (Macau) Education Centre (Education Centre) leads over 20 youth, social workers and teachers from Macau to a service experience and training in Hong Kong during 28-30 July. The youth learn how to display social problems such as poverty, aging population and education by making micro-movies as a way to drive young people who will soon enter the real world to address social issues from a daily life perspective. With sponsorship from the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Macau government, the Education Centre co-organises the activity with Department of Innovative Social Work of the City University of Macau. Participants get in touch with poor people in Hong Kong. Apart from giving out daily necessities to the community in need, they also talk to people living in poverty to understand their stories.
Care about the Society through Cameras
In the 3-day camp, training instructor Mr Yeung Chin-keung, multi-media artist, taught participants the principles and skills of making micro-movies and inspired their creativity. The instructor guided the young participants to express their views by storytelling, sound effect, lighting and motion graphic. ‘This activity gives me an opportunity to work with a group of prospective social workers and teachers. With their experience and feelings about the society, we want to show our care for the community in need through the cameras,’ said Mr Yeung.
From Creativity to Empathy
A participant shared that the training and service experience had not only enriched his knowledge on filmmaking but also deepened his understanding on the things he had taken for granted. ‘An old man sitting on the street has his own story. His encounters may even reflect some social problems.’ This activity provides new insights to future leaders of Macau. Through discussion and brainstorming together, participants tried to understand the needs of different people from a first-person point of view. When a sense of empathy advances to a sense of mission, they will help more people in need in the future. According to Dr Carl Cheng, Educational Services Director of The Salvation Army, ‘The Salvation Army provides educational and social services in Macau with an aim to take care of those in need. But most of all, we equip the next generation so that they may respond to social needs by methods that keep pace with social trends and development.’
Last year, The Salvation Army set up ‘The Salvation Army (Macau) Education Centre’. Apart from providing appropriate support to SEN students and their parents, school-based support is also introduced to local primary schools. The Army also promotes integrated education or even community integration from different aspects of the society, creating a better environment for the development of children.
