「我喺一間老人院入面做義工,作為一個尋求庇護者,我唔可以喺香港工作,所以我就去做義工。我會照顧三個老人家,餵佢哋食飯,幫佢哋沖涼,扶佢哋上床訓覺同埋陪佢哋去做物理治療咁。我照顧嘅其中一個婆婆已經103歲﹗一開始喺度幫手嗰陣,我真係好緊張,擔心啲本地人唔接受我,但佢哋對我好好, 好友善。新年仲俾咗利是我添。其實我有上過堂學過做一個護理員,所以我希望有朝一日可以喺老人院工作。我喺 非洲西部嗰陣時 做過 紡織品廠 ,又 做過少少會計。你要生存就乜都要做啦﹗」
“I had no idea that I would end up in Hong Kong; I just had to leave my country. I don’t want to talk about what happened back then and why, but for my own security I cannot be pictured. When I arrived in Hong Kong 5 years ago, I didn’t know a single person here; I had no idea where to go or who to speak to. For 6 months I had nowhere to sleep, so sometimes I would go sleep at a McDonald’s or at a shelter . I don’t know what I did during that time, I don’t really want to remember. Months later, the Centre for Refugees and International Social Service helped me to find a room to stay in. And then they connected me with RunHK, which started off as a small running and hiking group for asylum seekers. These gatherings gave me the opportunity to experience nature and to meet people, and to finally be reminded to enjoy life. That was the first time I felt a sense of connection and belonging in Hong Kong.”
「我冇諗過最後我會嚟咗香港,我當時只係有需要離開我嘅國家。我唔想解釋背後發生咗咩事同埋點解,為安全起見我唔可以上鏡。當我五年前嚟到香港,我一個人都唔識,完全唔知要去邊度或者搵邊個。有六個月我係冇地方瞓,所以有時我會搵間麥當勞或者收容中心過夜。我唔知自己嗰陣時做緊咩,我都唔係好想記起。過咗好幾個月,難民服務中心同埋香港國際社會服務社幫我搵到間房去住。佢哋仲介紹咗 RunHK 俾我,一開始係一個為尋求庇護者而設嘅跑步行山群組。佢哋嘅活動令我有機會去接觸大自然同埋識多啲人,亦令我終於記得要享受生命。嗰時係我第一次對香港有感情同埋有歸屬感。」
“Many of us don’t have proper kitchens, so we come into the centre to cook our home dishes. I miss my home food a lot. I even contributed my country’s recipe to the RunHK cookbook - chicken stew with plantain. It’s hard to find plantains in Hong Kong, but you can use small bananas instead. RunHK has now grown so much - each week we have sporting activities like yoga, swimming, running...we also have study days where we learn English, IT and other subjects. In my free time, I like to listen to black American music and music from Cameroon, like Grace Decca. As asylum seekers we are often made to feel like beggars - because we have nothing. We would regularly be subject to random police searches when we are out and about. Of course there is racism as well, even though mostl
y it is simply ignorance. We live constantly in worry and fear that we would be deported back to the country that we fled.
But at RunHK, I feel safe. The team here treats us with full and complete respect and value us as human beings - RunHK is my haven and my home in Hong Kong.”