‘We get along so well that we would tease one another with mean things. That’s why we call ourselves “YND Meanies”.’ Once given negative labels of ‘night wanderers’ or ‘marginal youths’, five young people have joined together and formed a volunteer team ‘YND Meanies’ through The Salvation Tuen Mun Services for Young Night Drifters. Recently the volunteer team started taking part actively in promoting the outdoor ethics of ‘Leave No Trace’ and making an effort towards nature protection.

Promoting ‘Leave No Trace’
‘At first, we wanted to let these young people try different types of activities, but we found that they preferred doing volunteer work. Later, they came together and formed the “YND Meanies” volunteer team to promote the idea of “Leave No Trace”, taking children hiking to pick up litter,’ said Aggie Chung, Team Leader of The Salvation Army Tuen Mun Services for Young Night Drifters. Volunteering for ‘Leave No Trace’ has not only brought the members friendship, but also a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment and mission, which motivate them to keep taking children to pick up litter as a way of nature conservation.

The ‘Leave No Trace’ concept aims to remind us to enjoy the nature with respect and clean up any traces we left behind (e.g. litter). The ‘YND Meanies’ have a passion for nature. Sponsored by The Salvation Army, they organized an exchange tour in Taiwan to learn from the successful experiences of the local government departments and other organizations. ‘We’ve done lots of researches before the trip. As soon as we had arrived in Taiwan, we attended the training course and received survival skill training in the woods, followed by exchanges with different organizations and government departments. The hectic schedule was exhausting yet satisfying,’ team members Alan, Karol and Fat Chai shared.

Education and Conservation go hand in hand
Because of their passion and sense of responsibility for nature, the team promotes the idea of ‘Leave No Trace’, hoping to instill in young children the concept of environmental protection. For every volunteering activity, the ‘YND Meanies’ would spend a great deal of time preparing, hoping to bring inspiration and changes to the children. ‘Every child participant reacts differently. Some of them are excited about picking up litter. Some may think twigs and branches are waste by mistake. Others find the soil too dirty. We will step in from time to time and teach them to only pick up litter being left behind by others, while twigs and soil are part of nature.’ The members enjoy the activities every time, as they can help to conserve the environment and at the same time inspire children to build better habits and respect the natural world.

Team Leader Aggie shared that she was delighted to see this group of young people are making contribution to the society, ‘Every young night wanderer has their own strengths, but very often the labels being put upon them may impede them from getting the recognition they deserve. Given the opportunities and encouragement to discover their own strengths, these young people can also make great contribution to the community and society, switching from the role of a “beneficiary” to a “helper”. This is the direction which our Services for Young Night Drifters has been working towards.’