In organizing the Good Reads for Good Deeds charity campaign, Juven had the honor of sitting down with different individuals involved with NGOs and charities. We want to feature their stories here. Juven hopes that through this campaign, we can build a new model of engagement between charities, organizations and the public.
Empowering a Mother’s choices
For a young teenage girl, one of the worst things that could happen is to accidentally conceive a child. Many of these girls are either forced to go to Shenzhen for an abortion or face problems at home, where parents may neglect her or even disown her. Both can result in long-term emotional pain and psychological trauma.
A class for expectant mothers
Mother’s Choice was established 30 years ago to embrace, empower and equip underaged pregnant girls by providing a safe shelter. Their mission is to join hands with our community to give hope and change life stories. They teach these girls how to care and nurture for their child, to understand the value of adoption and also to allow the girls to realize their value, so that they know that they are loved and accepted. Mother’s Choice also provides other services such as Sexuality Education, to prevent teenage pregnancy by equipping schools with intensive courses catered to different age groups and providing a holistic approach to understanding sexuality education.
Over the years, although Mother’s Choice has focused on the same societal problem, the social acceptance of teenage pregnancy has changed. Today, it is more prevalent to find underage pregnant girls seeking shelter in their own home or their boyfriend’s home. However, the concept of adoption as a solution for teenage pregnancy is still foreign and regarded as taboo in public.
Mother’s Choice HQ
Kit Ying, the services director at Mother’s Choice started off 30 years ago as a summer intern, as she applied after watching an episode of Hong Kong Connections featuring Mother’s Choice. With her undergraduate experience in Child Psychology, she wrote a thesis on teenage pregnancy. She became very interested in the cause and joined within 2–3 months of the charity’s establishment. She has stayed with the charity because of the growth she has seen. “Moreover, I have found my purpose in life from it,” she shared enthusiastically, “It is a platform for me to find myself with proper mentoring from the founder.”
Kit Ying believes that the Hong Kong lifestyle has distracted people from the doing charitable work, as they are too busy pursuing a life that only benefits their own well-being. She hopes the local people of Hong Kong will desire to partner as a community to transform lives by promoting sexuality education, being more understanding of the plight of teenager pregnant girls, and becoming an advocate for adoption.
Kit Ying has many memorable moments, but one particular story from 25 years ago still gives her the most joy. “Back when Mother’s Choice was still a small and unknown charity, there was a significant lack of service providers, which enabled me to serve in many different capacities, experiencing the entire scope of work; from teaching teenage parents and caring for their needs, to taking care of the babies that were born” she reminisced. Today, however, to accommodate expansion, each individual service across the organization is specialized within its own sector.
A happy family
Another memorable experience was when she met for the first time the parents who adopted a child. Hearing their family story made her realize the impact and significance of her work at Mothers Choice. “I had assumed I was only resolving the mistake made by a pregnant teenager. “However, this mistake is, in reality, a gift to adoptive parents” she stated.
Kit Ying
A hardworking and dedicated person, Kit Ying has read lots of books and is a big fan of Henri Nouwen’s books, written by the famous priest. She stated that the books she reads are dependent on the life stage she is in and what she is doing. “I believe that life is valuable and therefore, nothing is impossible!” “I hope that my life motto will have an influence on today’s generation, set higher standards, and inspire everyone to be a better version of themselves.”
Support a worthy charity. Empower Mother’s Choice via Juven today! https://juven.co/motherschoice/donate
https://www.motherschoice.org/
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