Voices of the Children Phase II – Shum Shui Po
The Alliance for Children Development Rights (Alliance), our local partner, has launched the “Voices of Children” project Shum Shui Po Group in Mei Ho House, Shek Kip Mei Estate. It aims at exploring the present conditions, issues and solutions to improve the playgrounds in the community of Shum Shui Po. Children participants then designed a survey to collect feedback from their community. They finally compiled the survey result, shared their opinions and feedback with their district councilors, and worked out the models at the community engagement workshops to show their ideas on the improvement of the Tong Mei Road Children Playground.
Stage 1 – Alignment and Capacity Building with Potential Collaborators
Facilitator training was one of the focuses in stage 1. It was designed to equip volunteers, who came from different disciplines but showed interest in child participation, with the ability to be our facilitators and co-work with children throughout the project. Training topics covered child rights, practical skills for special workshops as well as COVID-19 precaution measures.
Stage 2 – Children Recruitment and Capacity Building
After recruiting children from different channels, the Alliance arranged interviews and a simulation activity in which all children’s ability to express, listen and empathy were observed. 13 children, aged 7-13, were selected and offered a series of capacity building workshops. Throughout the workshops, children could understand their rights and ponder on their relationship with their community.
Stage 3 – Child-led Issue Identification
Children participants understood the ideation process of child-friendly facilities in Hong Kong and the present conditions of the playground in their community, the issues and possible solutions through a field trip to Tuen Mun Park Inclusive Playground and exploration activities.
Stage 4 – Child-led Issue Analysis & Prioritisation
The Junior Community Officers compiled their viewpoints and suggestions in the form of survey and collected opinions from residents of the district. The children also created models of their ideal playground to visualise their ideas.
Stage 5 – Child-led Influencing & Community Education
Through activities such as dialogues with District Council members and community guided tours, the Junior Community Officers shared their ideas and suggestions on improving local playgrounds with different stakeholders. Moreover, they held an exhibition displaying playground models to showcase their accomplishments in community participation over the past year.
