In the past few years, adventure programs had
been widely applied in our social service. Most of these programs
aimed at enhancing self-esteem, building team spirit and facilitating
in character building. Participants of the adventure programs
were mostly young people. Other groupings such as teachers,
parents and employees of corporate organizations also enrolled
in adventure programs for various reasons.
With the support from Beat Drug Fund Association,
Hong Kong Christian Services had set up the "Mobile Adventure
Activities Center" (MAAC). The center aimed at preventing
young people in P.4 to F.6 from substance abuse through adventure
activities. The funding support will last for 20 months, starting
from January 2001 to August 2002.
"Mobile
Adventure" is a modified mode of service delivery based
on the concept of experiential learning and adventure-based
activities. Instead of having a fixed base with permanent set
up of equipment for adventure activities, a team of staff will
carry portable equipment to any suitable venue to deliver the
service. This service delivery mode is quite suitable in Hong
Kong.
Since the late 80's, HKCS's Children and Youth
Centers had started to make use of wilderness programs to help
develop youngsters. In recent years, a new kind of adventure
program, namely "City Adventure", had been launched.
By means of the traditional uniqueness of certain communities
in Hong Kong, social workers had designed programs that would
stimulated and inspired youngsters into looking at their environment
with new perceptions and creative ideas. The challenge was a
rewarding one and the participants had gained a lot of self-discoveries
in the process.
Outreaching Social Work Team had organized adventure
programs for their service users as part of their treatment
plan. To ensure more long-lasting positive changes, service
recipients who had gone through the adventure experiences were
trained to become helpers in other adventure programs. These
helpers not only become resources of the team, they actually
found acceptance, recognitions and achievements in serving others.
Adventure
programs were widely used in schools. School Social Workers
made use of the approach to help the academically underachieved
students. The successful experience in adventure programs can
boost up self-esteem and one's motivation to learn. In leadership
training programs, adventure activities can improve the understanding
of oneself and in communication and leadership skills.
For the first time, adventure program has recently
applied in a group of elderly people in Wan Hon Multi-service
Centre for the Elderly. The program was very well received and
the participants were empowered.
As the adventure program spreads, we are cautioned
in using the approach. To flood the participants with a lot
of adventure activities without in-depth deliberation will end
the "experience" without "learning". In
the coming months, the variety of adventure programs in the
agency may grow in different shapes and directions. We will
pay more attention on the service quality and the fine-tuning
of theoretical application in the approach. We will open up
new perspectives to bring in more in-depth counseling elements
in the debriefing or reflection part of the adventure activities.
