Our Story

The first time when I met Chau Hung, she was making pottery at a studio and was not aware of the visitors that gathered behind her back, watching her skilfully crafting the clay with her hands. The guests were impressed by Chau Hung’s pottery techniques, but at that time, she was so focused in moulding the clay, a chubby pottery lamb gradually came into shape. A year later, Chau Hung and I met again, I was surprised that she could still greet me by my name. That was my first impression of Chau Hung – a girl with extraordinary memory, but this is not her only strength. Chau Hung’s talent and passion for art is equally remarkable.

 

Her Inner World

Chau Hung is now receiving dishwashing job training at a newly opened Dishwashing Training Centre at Hong Chi Pinehill Integrated Vocational Rehabilitation Services Centre (IVRSC). Before that, she has also received other job training, such as product packaging and public area cleaning. She enjoys her job training nowadays very much as she likes keeping things clean and tidy.

 

Besides the daily training, Chau Hung loves music too, and she can play simple guitar tunes and sing by herself. Chau Hung is enthusiastic about art. Apart from painting, Chau Hung has been sponsored to travel to India years ago with an art group, and after she returned, she created a miniature pottery Taj Mahal with photos taken and her very own visual memory. Chau Hung can also draw breathtakingly beautiful Chinese painting simply with black and white ink, even though she always puts on clothes in vibrant colours that reflect her cheerful characters. Chau Hung might not be fluent verbally in expressing herself, but art is indeed a window that shows the broadness of her inner world.

 

The Pottery Dreams

Chau Hung loves making friends, so how would her friends describe her? A long-time volunteer friend said, “Chau Hung is a sentimental person.” Every time when she attends activities and gatherings organized by the service unit, Chau Hung spends time on dressing up nicely. “She cares a lot about attending events and every single friend that she meets.” At the Dishwashing Training Centre, Chau Hung returns to the hostel with other trainees every day when they finish training. Even though when they are learning at IVRSC, Chau Hung can always act as the “interpreter” to turn trainer’s words into something other trainees can understand easily. Sammy, IVRSC’s social worker, describes Chau Hung as the elder sister at IVRSC who helps take care of other trainees from time to time, and praises that Chau Hung can make use of the concentration and attentiveness that she has learnt from pottery making into her everyday training.

 

Chau Hung’s passion for pottery has never faded since her first experience in pottery making at 16. It is truly hoped that Chau Hung’s dream of becoming a pottery making teacher could be realized soon, and her pottery techniques be passed on to more art lovers.

 

Please click here to watch the full video interview

1) Pottery lamb handcrafted by Chau Hung.

 

2) An ink brush painting drawn by Chau Hung.

 

3) The pottery Taj Mahal is one of Chau Hung’s signature art pieces.