Hermione Chan and Camy Tam
Fuhong Society of Macau (FHS) (澳門扶康會) Director Jennifer Chau Wai I (周惠儀) told The Macau Post Daily in an interview at her office earlier this week that her organisation was very grateful for the support that it has continued to receive from its donors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chau pointed out that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on her group’s fundraising and self-financed projects, while the donations by a number of organisations have dropped significantly. However, she was quick to add that Fuhong remains very grateful to all sectors of society for their recognition and support of her group even during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Chau explained that Fuhong Society of Macau was founded by a group of volunteers in May 2003. It is a non-profit social service organisation dedicated to providing diverse services for persons with intellectual disabilities and persons with mental illness in rehabilitation.
The organisation currently operates 12 service units, including “Fuhong Society of Macau Pou Lei Centre”, “Fuhong Society of Macau Hong Ieng Centre”, “Fuhong Society of Macau Yee Lok Centre”, “Fuhong Society of Macau Long Cheng Centre”, “Fuhong Society of Macau Pou Choi Centre”, “Creative Art House” and “Happy Art Studio”.
Chau added that the organisation established the “Happy Laundry Social Enterprise” and “Happy Market Social Enterprise”, under Phase I and Phase II of the Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) “Financial Aid Programme for Employment Development of People with Disabilities” in 2012 and 2015. She said the organisation has set up two “Happy Shops”, one in Anim’ Arte Nam Van and the other at the Taipa Houses Museum, as vocational training venues, as well as a “Happy Corner” at Macau Tower, which mainly provides opportunities to learn more skills such as communication for people with disabilities, autistic persons, and people with mental illness in rehabilitation.
Chau pointed out that this year FHS of Macau has launched a Mid-Autumn Festival charity mooncake gift box called “Traditional Taste with ChaLi Tea Brings Fest Joyfulness” (茶里風花雪 月是故鄉圓) in collaboration with Ma Hong Kei Pastelaria (馬鴻記餅家) and ChaLi Group (茶里).
“Pastelaria” is the Portuguese word for pastry shop.
The mooncakes are packaged in a specially designed turquoise gift box featuring a fish motif, created by their in-house autistic artist, Ip Chi Kin. In addition to the multiple flavours of mooncakes and seasonal flower tea, the gift boxes also include Fuhong’s latest cultural and creative product series – coasters with a lattice pattern depicting the Chapel of Our Lady of Penha. All packaging and logistics are handled by people with disabilities. Chau added that each box purchased represents the buyer’s support of the disabled and helps them reveal their capacity. Anyone who is interested in ordering the mooncake set can contact the Fuhong Society of Macau on 2822 0330 during office hours, or visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fuhongmacau/.
Chau said her team immediately changed its strategies after the COVID-19 outbreak, hoping to make use of the advantage of online platforms to raise funds. She thanked donors for their continuous generous support during the pandemic as the spirit of helping others allows the organisation to offer the necessary rehabilitation and vocational training services for people with disabilities.
Chau told The Macau Post Daily that the organisation is planning to collaborate with a mainland company on a project to support and promote the Greater Bay Area (GBA) development. Further details will be announced in due course.
“Fu Hong” means “giving assistance to become physically and mentally healthy”, according to the website of Fu Hong Society in Hong Kong (where it uses two words, unlike by its counterpart in Macau).
Fuhong Society of Macau (FHS) Director Jennifer Chau Wai I poses with some of the organisation’s handmade products crafted by people with disabilities, at her office on Monday. Photo: Camy Tam
This undated file photo provided by Fuhong Society of Macau (FHS) shows people with disabilities working at the Happy Laundry Social Enterprise in Avenida do Parque Industrial.
This undated file photo provided by Fuhong Society of Macau (FHS) shows a therapist providing training to special education needs (SEN) children.
