Background

THE WAY PROJECT


Background

In 2012, the Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation donated $10M to The University of Hong Kong to implement the “We Are With You Project” (WAY).

The WAY Project is a four-year community-based social capital development project in the Southern District. The objective of this project is to build a district-based community network to empower the community to accumulate social capital and improve social mobility. The project emphasizes on the mobilization and exchange of resources among different social groups in the Southern District to achieve mutual benefit.

HKU students and staff will contribute to improve the condition of the less privileged and empower them to improve their own conditions in the long run. The ultimate goal is to develop a replicable model for social capital development, particularly with the involvement of staff and students of tertiary institutions.

The Southern District is chosen to be the pilot district because it shares many poverty related problems with other districts such as social immobility, income inequality, unemployment and social isolation. In addition, the arrival of MTR’s South Island Line and its associated impact, including increasing living costs, will introduce new challenges to this aging community. The Southern District is closely related to the University as nearly half of the University’s facilitates are situated in the District.