Asset Based: Community Centered: People Focused

Today, I was very impressed by the far reach of the NGO that we toured. I was particularly interested in the way that the approach was described as “asset based” and in-touch with the needs of the community. The array of programs and projects run and supported by Yan Oi Tong seems to specifically address individual needs and to highlight and utilize individual skills, talents, passions, and resources. This appears to be consistent with an overall theme that I have observed so far in Hong Kong: careful use of resources. Whether it is the consumption of all parts of an animal at a meal or the intentional use of space to fit the most people and needs, people in Hong Kong seem to be very aware of and intentional about the use of limited resources including space. I suppose that a resource like space which has easily definable and visible limits would present itself as an obvious point on which to focus. I am particularly impressed that the individuals who work at Yan Oi Tong are able and dedicated to focusing on the intentional use of a resource which lacks such easily definable limits: the assets of individual people.