Charity Finder

Civic Exchange

Human ServicesPublic and Societal Benefit

Civic Exchange is an independent Hong Kong public-policy think tank established in 2000. OUR MISSION We use in-depth research and dialogue to inform policy and engage stakeholders on addressing environmental and development challenges in Hong Kong. Our research covers four areas that make up a liveable city: environmental, economic, social, and governance. Civic Exchange has been ranked among the top 50 environmental think tanks in the world by the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania since 2011.

Caleb for Change Limited

Religion Related

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Caring for the Aged and the Young, Promoting Education and Nurturing Talented Students, Supporting the Disadvantaged and the Sick, and Serving the Community with Sincerity

TWGHs Nanny Buddy Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project (Yau Tsim Mong)

Subsidiary

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong.

TWGHs Mr and Mrs Liu Lit Mo Child Development Centre

Subsidiary

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong.

TWGHs Mong kok Child Development Resource Centre

Subsidiary

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong.

TWGHs Ma Kung Lin Chi Child Development Centre

Human ServicesSubsidiary

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong.

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong.

TWGHs Centre on Family Wellness and Child Development

Subsidiary

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong.

How We Started In December 2010, a baby girl was born into an ordinary family in Handan, Hebei. Her parents named her Tongtong (彤彤) in the hope that her life would be smooth and her rosy face always filled with carefree smiles. Tragically, it became evident in her first few months of life that Tongtong was not growing normally. She suffered from a series of ‘Tet spells’ and would frequently become deprived of oxygen, turning blue and passing out whenever she cried or strained. She was slowly dying. Tongtong’s family had extremely limited access to medical care. The local doctor, experienced but lacking advanced medical training, suggested that Tongtong might have a heart condition. Without access to even basic x-ray imaging, it was clear that a more comprehensive examination in a large city hospital was desperately needed. Tongtong’s parents immediately became aware of the cost implication for the whole family. Their options for private healthcare were prohibitively expensive. Basic tests and investigations immediately ran up bills of over 10,000 RMB, already an unthinkable number for a household with a combined income of 2,000 RMB per month. Corrective surgery was going to require further resources in the range of 100-200,000 RMB. Given the sheer hopelessness of their circumstances, Tongtong’s parents initially had no clear plan for treating their sick child. Some members of their extended family even suggested abandoning Tongtong given that she was a girl, a practice which is not uncommon in poor rural areas of China. Jia Liu, one of SSCF’s founding members, had been a colleague of Tongtong’s father before he lost his job. When she learnt of the family’s dilemma, Jia volunteered to help and assembled an informal working team that included Jingjing Zhou and Dr. Christopher Hui. The team then contacted over thirty domestic and international charities on behalf of the family, liaised between the family, doctors and hospitals, and organised fund raising. With the help of many other kind people who donated time, effort and money, they were able to secure access to the best medical resources and raise sufficient funds to save Tongtong’s life. Tongtong underwent successful surgical correction of her condition on July 5th, 2011 at Beijing’s Anzhen Hospital and is now healthy and growing rapidly. Jia and Jingjing paid a visit to the family in September 2011, finding a healthy Tongtong and extremely grateful parents. Why We Are Doing This What is congenital heart disease (“CHD”)? Congenital heart disease exists when there is a defect in the structure of the heart which is present at birth. This causes blood to flow through the heart in an abnormal way, causing the heart muscle to strain and, ultimately, fail. Symptoms frequently present early in life, but it is possible for some CHDs to go undetected for longer periods. It is a spectrum of disease whereby some children may show no outward symptoms, while others exhibit shortness of breath, cyanosis (turning blue due to oxygen deprivation), syncope (collapse), heart murmurs, under-development of limbs and muscles, respiratory infections, and poor growth. Tongtong suffered from a condition known as Tetralogy of Fallot. This is a congenital heart defect which classically involves multiple life-threatening anatomical abnormalities. It is one of the most common cyanotic heart defects, and the most common cause of ‘blue baby syndrome’. It was described in 1672 by Niels Stensen, and in 1888 by the French physician Étienne-Louis Fallot, after whom it is named. Expected survival (if left untreated) is less than 30% at age ten, yet the condition is entirely treatable with today’s technology and medical expertise. In the best cardiothoracic centers, surgery is now often carried out in infants one year of age or younger, with more a greater than 95% post-operative success rate. The best long-term results are achieved when access to surgery is available before the development of heart failure. Why do CHD patients in China need our help? The most striking issue is the sheer magnitude of the problem. China is presently estimated to have over 2,000,000 children suffering from congenital heart disease. It is one of the top causes of childhood mortality below the age of 5. Over 125,000 babies are born with CHD each year, with well over 10,000 new cases of Fallot’s Tetralogy alone. With vast urban migration over the past 20 years, the existing systems of healthcare insurance (based on a series of residency permits) are often limited by access and geography. Alternative provision by private healthcare is prohibitively expensive for the average family. Modern congenital cardiac care is truly a collaborative team effort. It requires sophisticated diagnostic and monitoring equipment, highly trained nursing and technical support staff as well as skilled physicians and surgeons. It also requires a vast and complex hospital infrastructure to support a village of people to attain these capabilities. State-of-the art care involves accurate diagnosis in the neonatal period or at least in early infancy; followed by early surgical repair. This approach has been clearly demonstrated to minimize the secondary deleterious effects of the cardiac problem. One of the more tragic aspects of congenital heart disease is that it usually strikes young families at a stage in their lives when they are not well equipped financially to deal with the costs of cardiac surgery. Indeed, the complex medical expertise and urgent surgery required to correct these cardiac conditions can be so distant and expensive as to be completely out of reach of the vast majority of such families in our society. Aside, from significant difficulties in gaining the best quality healthcare, and access to expertise and financial support, there is often also a limited and poor understanding amongst patient-relatives. They are thus unable to help themselves. Hence there is need for a trusted platform to act as advocate and provide appropriate resources; using central coordination and the leverage of an extensive network of social contacts / technical expertise – to raise necessary funds, screen professionals and gain access to the best medical centers.

Race for Education Accessibilities for Every Child Limited

Education

REACH is the charity arm of Story Jungle. Founded in 2002, Story Jungle is a premier English learning centre, specialising in reading, writing and speaking. We firmly believe literacy and the cultivation of reading are the most sustainable and impactful means in maximising life opportunities for underserved children in Hong Kong. We believe underserved children equally deserve the right to premium English reading programmes. Access to well-trained teachers and top-quality, tailored curriculum that meets this group’s needs are essential to helping them reach the starting line. The objective of the project is to improve English proficiencies of Kindergarten 3 students from underserved families in Hong Kong in order to better prepared them for entering Primary 1. 1. We partner with NGOs, kindergartens and other charity organisations to help identify and screen target beneficiaries. 2. Each project consists of a minimum of a 20-week long English Programme conducted online on a weekly basis by the Project’s full time English teacher. 3. Education curriculum, trainings, on-going class monitoring, and parents’ workshops are offered by Story Jungle Education Center to ensure the quality of the programme. 4. Pre and post programme assessments are conducted for impact measurements and to monitor continuous improvements.

The less fortunate are lightened with hope.

The less fortunate are lightened with hope.