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Nam Wai

Human Development Project
Home / Collections / Community Development / Methods and Training / Band of 24 HDPs / Nam Wai

HIGHLIGHTS

BEFORE THE CONSULT

GEOGRAPHY: Nam Wai is an ancestral Hakka village located on the San Kung Peninsula of the Eastern New Territories close to Hebe Haven.

 

POPULATION: Nam Wai is a community of approximately 550 people established as a fishing village by two clans almost 300 years ago.

 

CHALLENGES: Focus was to create an economic plan which would provide for work in the village, thus empowering the local workforce. The villagers, seeking the cooperation that once existed among them, worked to bring more care for the environment and engage the apathetic younger population. Without the need to find work in nearby towns, the villagers could experience an integration of economic and social life, leading to pride and care for the village. The Nam Wai Human Development project is a demonstration in comprehensive community development located in Nam Wai, ancestral Hakka village on the Sai Kung Peninsula of the Eastern New Territories close to Hebe Haven. The project involves both the social and economic development of the village.

 

HISTORY: The once agricultural economy has become a mixture of pig raising and commuter work in Kowloon. The once integrated village has become broken up by the rapid changes surrounding it creating an uncertainty about its future as evidenced by the uncared for environment, the apathy of the young, and the nostalgia the villagers have for the cooperation that once existed among them.

 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    • The Nam Wai land development scheme by villagers generated over five million dollars (US) for reinvestment in the village.

    • An electronics industry introduced into the community provided 6 full-time and 12 part-time jobs and special attention to upgrading the pig industry increased the number of pigs by 30%.

    • 21 new homes have been built.

    • Mini-parks, drainage repairs, shrubs, formation of a village museum and writing of the history have served to recreate the setting and the identity of the community.

    • 1153 participants took part in 23 training programs, while elders and youth organized themselves into working groups to enable heritage recovery and a community newspaper.

    • The village opened the first registered dental clinic in the district, which they manage themselves.

“I was born in Nam Wai and lived here for 23 years. My parents were from China. The village’s history was of a quiet village, except when it was almost destroyed by a typhoon. Nowadays, Nam Wai is developing very fast and is much better than other villages around here. Anyone can see for themselves just by going from one end of the village to the other.”

– Village Young Adult