Committed volunteer and mum helps disabled find a place in the sun
*
Sonja Shih Chan Seung-yan with some of the young adults with mental disabilities she volunteers to help at the Tung Wah Building in Wan Chai. Photo: Edward Won
Sonja Shih Chan Seung-yan was in Canada when she gave birth to her daughter, Evelyn, 26 years ago.
She and her husband’s excitement was tempered by the fact their baby had Down’s syndrome. It was a tough start for the family, with major health issues for Evelyn, and Sonja and husband Louis having to adjust to having a daughter with a mental disability.
Today, Evelyn Shih is an enthusiastic worker with excellent English and social skills. She travels independently and works as an assistant at a luxury brand’s staff canteen in Causeway Bay.
The Hong Chi Association helped with her training, as did Shih, who has spent thousands of hours volunteering in social enterprises to ensure young adults with mental disabilities have the chance to mix with the public and experience real working life.
“We now have three cafes,” says Shih, a mother of three, referring to the Hong Chi social enterprises – The Puddle Café in Aberdeen, the HC Café in Wan Chai and H Corner in the Science Park at Sha Tin. Each has a team of volunteers and young workers with mental disabilities who prepare food, greet and serve the customers, serve drinks and wipe down tables.
Shih says it is vital that these young workers have the chance to interact with the public, and vice versa.
“About 90 per cent of them will have been educated in segregated schools,” she says. “There are opportunities to go and work at sheltered workshops, but each day they see the same people”, whereas this is a taste of real working life.
Shih previously helped run the Hong Chi Garden View Lounge at the YWCA’s Garden View hotel.
“I even wrote the business plan for it,” laughs Shih, “even though I had no previous restaurant or business experience. We were expecting it to be like a...
