March 21 marks “World Down Syndrome Day” and in order to raise students’ awareness for and knowledge of the less advantageous (people with Down syndrome) in our community, CKPC co-organized some activities with the Macau Down Syndrome Association to bring out the meaning of integration.

There were mainly two activities, the first one being a viewing of the movie “My Beating Heart” in mid-March, a documentary on the love stories of people with Down syndrome or their cravings for love and interactions with others. After viewing the movie, students had a sharing and discussion. One student mentioned that she was once in a class with a student with Down syndrome. After getting along with him, you found out that they are no different from us, and she hoped that we can have more love and understanding for them.

The second activity is “Outdoor Fun” at Hac-Sa Beach on March 19. Through interactions with people with Down syndrome, we hope our volunteers can bring warmth to the latter and have fun together. We grouped the volunteers and the Down Syndrome buddies randomly and started by playing games like three-legged race and balloon fight. Everyone enjoyed the games and burst out laughter. Chit-chat followed during which volunteers and Down syndrome buddies continued to interact with each other; some buddies shared their stories with the volunteers, like interesting experiences at work or at school etc. Finally, some volunteers flew kites or built sandcastles with the buddies, and our activities ended with lots of laughter.

Chairman of Executive Board from the Macau Down Syndrome Association Ms. Lau thanked the college for co-organizing such activity, which made interactions and communication between the buddies and our volunteers possible. As parents, they also enjoyed the activity and had lots of fun. Both the Association and the College look forward to future cooperation.