Student Gives Prize Money to Lady Earning $30 Per Day

Ivy Fan left, Mrs. Lam center, school friend Steffie Wong right.

At the end of Year 8 students do a Solo E project, they spend eight weeks completing a project on a topic of their choice. Ivy Fan researched waste plastic, she discovered how much waste plastic Hong Kong produces each day and what happens to it. She then spent the day collecting plastic bottles from the streets as an experiment to see how much she could collect.

While collecting she met an 83 year – old woman, Mrs. Lam, collecting tins and cardboard. They started talking to each other and Ivy found out about her family, her situation and discovered that her annual income is less than $11,000.

Ivy completed her Solo E project with more research into recycling and waste management. It was so good that she won a school award and a cash prize of $1,500 which she donated to Mrs. Lam.

Now Ivy and her Dad are looking at the social services system and what can be done to support people like Ivy’s new friend.

Ivy said, “I learnt a lot doing this project, waste plastic in Hong Kong is a major issue, Hong Kong should do more to recycle but the main thing I discovered is that there is actually a lot of people in Hong Kong that need help from us.”