HONG KONG (SE): On Easter Sunday, April 9, a group of foreign domestic workers were invited by MercyHK to distribute the Easter eggs to bring the joy of Jesus’ resurrection to different people in Yau Ma Tei.
According to Lucia Leung Mei-ling, a social worker of MercyHK, which organised the event, a total of 320 homemade Easter eggs were given out within half an hour.
The coordinator of the project said it took around two days for them to make the eggs.
“Wrapped in colourful papers, the Easter eggs are meant to show our joy with different people,” she said.
The domestic workers brought the eggs to people along Temple Street, including passers-by, shopkeepers, people from South East Asian countries working or living nearby, street cleaners and sex workers, as they reached out to them and said, “Happy Easter!”
MercyHK was set up by Oblate Father John Wotherspoon in April 2017 aiming to help the homeless, former inmates, refugees and other people in need. Registered in 2020 as a tax-exempt charitable organisation, it provides various services, such as giving subsidies for the homeless, distributing daily necessities to the low-income groups, etc.
It has also provided housing for the homeless in Yau Ma Tei, ethnic minorities, rehabilitated people, and asylum seekers, as well as offering shelter for foreign domestic workers. The group is totally funded by donations, without government subsidies, to allow more flexibility and efficiency.
Leung said that most participants are former residents of the shelters run by MercyHK. In the past year, they have built up a community which gathers regularly in the centre.
Jona Degullado Perez, a Filipino worker who helped to distribute the eggs, said she was a bit excited and anxious but the feelings vanished during the activity as she greeted passersby with “Happy Easter and Happy New Life”.
Perez said, “Even though some people ignored me, it was a memorable experience. This was my first-time celebrating Easter in Hong Kong, as I didn’t know much about the culture and its people. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the chance to share and care for others.”
The Easter eggs were blessed by Father Wotherspoon in a private Mass beforehand at the Doctor Jesus Centre in Temple Street.
Even though some people ignored me, it was a memorable experience. This was my first-time celebrating Easter in Hong Kong, as I didn’t know much about the culture and its people. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the chance to share and care for others
Jona Degullado Perez
Before Easter, MercyHK also launched an online charity sale of cookies to raise funds. These were also sold at a number of parishes on Palm Sunday, such as Holy Cross parish, Shau Kei Wan, and St. Jude’s parish, North Point.
Moreover, on April 16, Footprint of Grace, a social media platform for charity work, in cooperation with MercyHK, distributed 150 food packages, in which noodles, snacks and the cookies produced by MercyHK were included.
Yuki Fung Kit-yu, co-ordinator of Footprint of Grace, said that as the pandemic eased and people started travelling abroad, or gathering with family and friends, the needy should not be forgotten.
“For the needy or for some low-income families, their lives have not been changed. Maybe they are still facing their own problems, or some problems have become even more serious after the pandemic,” she said, and encouraged people to reach out to the needy through their parishes, Caritas or other organisations.
