WELCOME
On behalf of the Directors, we would like to welcome you to the September issue of our
Newsletter, M.E.F. As the heat of the summer dissipates, Birthday Happiness Asia is getting
hotter, especially after the report in the HK Standard and appearance on the Brunch with
Noreen on RTHK Radio 3. The article and radio broadcast has generated a lot of interest in
our goal of delivering birthday happiness to as many less fortunate children as possible.
Interest was so great that we were contacted by a Cosplayer who is interested in joining us at future joyous parties dressed as a Superhero. We were also contacted by a local a Special Needs Teacher and part-time model and professional dancer. It is our hope that members of the Cosplay and modelling worlds will join us at future joyous parties.
NEW PARTNERING ORGANISATION
Following our joyous parties in the Refugee Union we approached Branches of Hope
(https://branchesofhope.org.hk/) to deliver birthday happiness to less fortunate children they
help under their ROAD, Refugee Opportunity and Development programme. They help and
support refugees and asylum seekers. The Social Workers, Cherry and Joshua have identified a group of 20 children who would benefit from birthday happiness. They are planning to have the first joyous party in October or November with 7 to 8 Celebrants per joyous party. It is hoped that we will return to their Wan Chai Centre every 3 months to deliver birthday happiness. This will ensure that each child in the group gets the opportunity to have their special day acknowledged. We have also approached the Missionaries of Charity in Nan Cheong. We spoke to the Mother Superior, Sister Esterben. We were initially introduced to the Order by Mr. Manoj Moorjani. “Thank you, Johnny”. The Order helps the homeless on the Estate and surrounding areas by feeding them once per day. They also help asylum seekers, single parent families and short-term residents usually referred to them by the Social Welfare Department. There are separate dormitories for the sexes and children with their parents. The Order provides counselling services, shelter and meals whilst their cases are dealt by outside agencies. It is hoped that we will deliver our first joyous party in the Autumn. The joyous party will be held between lunch and afternoon prayers for the residents and nuns and evening meals and prayers. If there are not enough children with birthdays within the Centre during the period we are due in, the Sisters will contact children whose families have moved into local accommodations with help of outside agencies. The Order keeps in touch with former residents and are also willing to offer help if required.
JOYOUS PARTIES IN AUGUST
Because of the Centres are busy with other activities, we had only 2 joyous parties in August. The first joyous party was in the Society for Community Organization. This joyous party was kindly sponsored by Ms. Radhika Vishwanath and family to honour the beloved memory of her father, Mr. V.S. Rao. Her father went to rest 5 years ago and the family tradition is that on his birthday they throw a birthday party in his memory. Previously they have done this in India but this year they did it for the first time in Hong Kong with us at this joyous party. Radhika is one of our regular donors of yummy cakes and she made a special one for this joyous party. Hope that her Dad enjoyed the joyous party as much as the Celebrants and their Guests. Thank you for keeping a beautiful tradition going with us and the children in the Society for Community Organization. A truly beautiful way to remember a great man.
14th August 1957 – 3rd January 2018 RIP
The next joyous party saw us return to Love21 in their temporary Centre in Prince Edward.
There were 7 male Celebrants ranging in age from 34 to 17 and 3 female Celebrants from 29
to 35 years of age but each one has Autism or Down’s Syndrome. The youngest male
Celebrants was very pleased to see all the foreign Volunteers and kept on coming up to greet them. His mother explained that her son loves talking to foreigners and will always go up to them on the street to greet them. He was overjoyed with his birthday gift and really loved his joyous birthday party, led by Mansha. She was ably assisted by 10 Volunteers, including Captain America, aka Kiryu Chan (https://www.instagram.com/p/CwHmi_wriw6/) The yummy sugarless cake was kindly donated by Jeremy Mair who came with his 2 sons. The other Volunteers were Charmaine, Cyrl, Karen, Wing, Andrew and Bu Bu.
CONFIRMED JOYOUS PARTIES IN SEPTEMBER
Following our very enjoyable joyous party in March, Birthday Happiness Asia has been invited to return to the Boys’ and Girls Club Association’s Fanling Centre to deliver more birthday happiness on Saturday, 2nd September. The joyous party will start at 2.30pm for 90 minutes. The Team Leader will be Edward. As it is our Founder’s birthday a few days earlier, we have requested that the Centre’s kitchen cooks fish and chips, Marilou’s favourite meal.
On Saturday, 16th September we will return to the Society for Community Organization’s
Centre in Sham Shui Po, one of the poorest areas of Hong Kong. They help children who live in caged homes or very poor public housing in the area. They need birthday happiness more than most. The joyous party starts at Midday for 90 minutes. The Team Leader for this joyous party is Edward In the last issue of our Newsletter, we informed you that the Caritas Pelletier Hall is a new Partnering Organisation. The Social Worker, Ms. Christie Chung has advised to have a joyous birthday party for the residents of the Hall after the residents have returned from their summer holidays. Most of the girls spend the weekends with their parents and return to the Hall on Sunday evening. Monday and Tuesday are preoccupied with preparation of all the necessary schoolwork for the week has been dealt with. Thus, our joyous launch party has been scheduled for Wednesday, 27th September starting at 6.30 pm for 90 minutes. The Team Leader for this joyous party is Ms. Eva Lo. If you wish to help us deliver birthday happiness at any of the joyous parties in September, please do not hesitate to contact us.
SOCIAL MEDIA GURU REQUIRED
In the age of Social Media more and more people are moving away from communicating by
pen and paper, Emails, websites and word of mouth. We are entering a world of new exciting
possibilities with Artificial Intelligence and Social Media. With the realisation that the world has moved on, we require a Social Media ’Guru’ who can maintain our Social Media platforms on YouTube, Instagram, X LinkedIn and Facebook. If you can help us maintain these platforms and open new avenues, under the supervision of the Directors, please contact us the old- fashioned way by email or call us!!
SUPLEMENTARY BENEFITS
One of the Volunteers at the joyous party in Love21 was Cyrl. She is a Special Needs Teacher and a part-time model and Dance Teacher. After the joyous party, she spoke to Social Worker, Mr. Ricky Fung. They have agreed that she will soon start conducting dance classes for the children who attend the Centre on weekday afternoons.
Earlier this year we had a joyous party in The Boys’ and Girls’ Club Association’s Fanling
Centre. One of the Volunteers helping us deliver birthday happiness to the less fortunate
children on the Ka Fuk Estate and surrounding areas was Ms. Reshma Gopwani. On Saturday, 12th August Reshma and volunteers from the Faith Charity Foundation went to the Tai Wo Centre to distribute rice, soya sauce, oil, rice Vermicelli, drinks and marker pens. The 10 families also got to have a vegan meal provided by the Foundation. On behalf of everyone at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club Association and Birthday Happiness Asia, thank you very much.
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