Healing broken lives around the world

Volunteering does not only promote an active lifestyle, it also positively transforms the lives of people in need, as well as the volunteers’ own wellbeing. That is the lesson Isaac Kwok, Clinical Psychologist of Hong Kong East Cluster, has learned from 30 years of volunteering around the world. He has helped traumatised refugee children in Lebanon, and he has taken his own young children to Cambodia to see the families scavenging on a rubbish mountain so they can understand the need to show compassion and share love with people in desperate situations. “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” says Isaac.

Isaac first got involved in volunteer work when he was in Form four at secondary school, starting with simple home visits and telephone hotlines before helping Persons-in-Recovery and elderly people with cognitive impairment, and joining volunteer groups working in the Mainland and overseas. The work helped inspire him to become a clinical psychologist to help the needed with his professional knowledge.

In 2017, Isaac went to a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon as a volunteer healthcare worker with an international team and says he will never forget the scenes of bullet-riddled buildings and gunfire while refugees sheltered in fear. Isaac and his team held art workshops and family visits at a cultural and educational centre for more than 70 refugee children and teenagers, whose drawings showed brutal scenes of aerial bombardment and the destruction of their homes. He also conducted a mental health survey on the children and found more than 80% of them had symptoms of traumatic stress, and many suffered from depression.

Isaac and the volunteers listened to the refugees needs, and used artwork to help them rebuild their hopes and overcome trauma. He also bought the handmade soap back to Hong Kong for charity sale. “The local teachers often didn’t have professional knowledge of counselling,” Isaac explains. “Our visits allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of the children’s psychological needs and to identify serious cases for long-term follow-up.” The benefits of his work in Lebanon flowed both ways, and the experience reminded Isaac to listen closely to his patients and never to ignore their needs, however long it takes to help and support them.

Isaac involves his family in his volunteer work. As well as making regular visits to elderly people in Hong Kong with his two sons, he once took them to visit the poverty-stricken families in a notorious rubbish mountain in Phnom Penh. Isaac and his sons played ukuleles and football with the children. “It was a valuable experience for my children to witness the poor life of others and to broaden their horizons, which would not have happened with a normal overseas trip,” Isaac reflects. “They now think more about environmental protection, resource allocation and other issues, and have become less materialistic.”

Getting involved in volunteer work does not require professional skills or knowledge, says Isaac. “Just start by caring for the people around you,” he suggests. He believes people can enrich their communities by taking the initiative to care for family, friends, and neighbours, or helping young children with tutoring and special interest classes.

In the year ahead, Isaac is determined to carry on with his volunteer work and connect with other passionate volunteers to spread love and care in community.