Page 13 - CUHK UMP Issue169.indd

12
SPOTLIGHT
UMP ɽኪᄿఙ
NOV 2013
Year No. of students No. of partner organizations
2009 - 2010 15 1
2010 - 2011 46 3
2011 - 2012 70 4
2012 - 2013 80 4
2013 - 2014 275 25
CLOVER grows big:
CLOVER -
The Fruit of Friendship, Love and Care
Being a campus-wide cultural diversity cum voluntary
service programme in which local, mainland and overseas
students join hands in the provision of community service to
the needy in our society, CLOVER (C ommunity + Local &
Overseas students + Volunteers = Everlasting Relationship)
has flourished to be a well-received project over the past
four years. This year, CLOVER has attracted more than 270
students in 25 teams to join. With a larger size, the scope of
service is expected to be much wider. The backgrounds of
the participants are also more diverse – from Hong Kong,
mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Hungary, Italy, Russia, the Netherlands
and the US, which is a catalyst for inter-cultural exchange.
To better prepare the participants for the upcoming
voluntary service, a string of training sessions were
organized for them. Workshops on volunteering and
skills in serving specific targets including the elderly, the
disabled and children built up the students’ team spirit
and gave them a clearer idea about volunteering. As one
of the objectives of CLOVER is to spread the message
of environmental protection through voluntary service, a
variety of green activities followed. The students gained
an eye-opening experience after visiting the HKFYG
Organic Farm, Long Valley and a food waste treatment
plant. During the trip to the Organic Farm, the participants
were introduced to the concepts and operation of organic
farming. They even had a chance to try their hand at
making enzyme in an eco and wallet-friendly way. The
indoor activity of making handicrafts in mosaic with used
discs could also help stimulate the students’ creativity to
give unwanted items a facelift.
Unlike previous years, the CLOVER participants this
year take the helm to form their own teams, to find their
partner organizations and to decide the service content.
In the meantime, each team also initiates social activities
like gatherings and language classes among themselves,
as means to have more cultural interaction. Armed
with volunteering skills and an increased awareness of
environmental conservation, the students will carry out
social service from December to March 2014. Awards will
be given to the teams with outstanding performance.
To know more about CLOVER and to keep abreast of its
updates, catch us on: www.facebook.com/CLOVERCUHK.