ISA HK/China --- Therepeutic Tree Climbing to help Social Dropouts

Dear Station Members,

ISA HK/China has recently received the following message from a Station Member:

"It is really good that if such a Tree Climbing Training for Problematic Youngsters class could be open. This would even help my son the most since he was an ADHD (Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) kid full of physical energy. Though he got over average IQ but could not do good in conventional academics since the will power is weak.

Such a special care class is so precious and rare in our territory, the tuition fee of HK$500/class is reasonable for such a small class plus a top class teacher. Please let us know if you decide to open the class. "

Please note the identity of the request has been carefully screened out for privacy reason.

When the Station Manager first attended the Fung Kai kids training back in 2006, all there was confronting him was a bunch of youngsters similar to the kind described above, though maybe not so extreme. Worst of all when asked, none of them in particularly KW Lee & SY Ho, did not know what was going to become of them in future before the training. It took the Station Manager about a year & a half to carefully tune these apparently lost kids to aim their life & career at Professional Tree Climbing, since some of them were indeed talented in that manner. At the end of it, KW Lee became a Footlock champion in 2008 Brisbane competition & SY Ho won awards in the Singapore Green Thumbs competition. Both are now working as Professional Tree Worker in Australia & HK, & most other students also found jobs in the Tree Care Industry afterwards.

ISA HK/China is very inspired & is proud of what we have achieved. We feel we have done something good to our society, & our deed would invite support from the public to develop ISA further in our territory. Then we begin to think we can benefit more by developing a pilot scheme to help those in need for the deprived & ignored. This will push ISA closer to our society to earn more respect & support.

Therefore, we now have a plan.

The Station Manager intends to personally run a class of 6 candidates every Sunday from 9am to noon for a Therapeutic Tree Climbing, with an objective to bring up those who are ignored but with a potential to compete & win in future tree climbing competitions, be they local or overseas. This is a proposed program to turn the so called social dropouts to become champions, to give them a career & a direction in life under the careful guidance of the Station Manager. This pilot scheme will initially run for 3 months to see if it can be continued, or should the training be reviewed for continuation. This is a lion heart program to do good for our society.

Eligibility of Candidates: Must be kids below 25 years of age (with the exception of the 2 no. who have previously enrolled into this scheme. i.e. only 4 places left now) with certain inadequacies like rebellious, delinquent, over-active, with an average IQ & physically fit. An interview will be given to the kid as well as their parents to determine whether they would qualify for entry. The decision will be entirely that of the Station Manager who will take these kids for a journey of their life time.

Cost: HK$500 per session, payable in every class.

Duration: 3 months

Location: Eurasian Garden Ltd, Sheung Shui.

Equipment & PPE: All supplied by ISA HK/China

Personal Insurance: Every student will need to get their own accident Insurance & ISA HK/China or Eurasian Garden Ltd or anybody will not be responsible for accident or claim of any kind during the training.

Objective: to train these youngsters to be as good as KW Lee or SY Ho in tree climbing for a career in Professional Tree Work.

Job Prospect: Good. One sponsor has already agreed to take up any candidate, if they can be recommended by the Station Manager after the training.

Application: Please contact the Station Manager by e-mail at egc@netvigator.com for an interview. Be sure to leave your phone no. for contact.

Notes: This is not a training for normal kids or everybody. This is a pilot scheme for helping the apparently social dropouts to return to the society under the professional guidance of ISA HK/China. The training itself will be tailored to meet the pace of these problematic youngsters physically & psychologically to encourage them to live a meaningful life, & to train them with professional skills to become Tree Worker afterwards. Those who think they just want to be trained by the Station Manager by cheating in, will soon find themselves wasting their time in the application. The Station Manager will decide who will join.

With this message, ISA HK/China openly request everyone to pass on this information to the one in need, be they of any background but meeting our definition. This will be a program to train champions from dirt & ISA HK/China want to prove to our society that Tree Climbing can turn someone from lost to success. Such is our goal.

As we now have 2 candidates already being accepted to join his program, all we need is 4 more to open the class. We are patient to wait for the right candidates & there is no time limit for the inauguration.

May the world set their eyes on us to use Tree Climbing as a social tool to help our kids, & may we shine ISA once more in our effort to promote arboriculture in a proper manner.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager