(L to R) Yuen Long Town Hall Programme Officer Madhavi Gurung, Ash Maya Limbu, Bhanu Gurung, and Hong Kong Expressive Arts Therapy Service Centre Service Director Janet Li Wai-chong. Photo: Jonathan WongHousewife Ash Maya Limbu moved to Hong Kong with her husband and four children from Nepal in 2014. Daily life in the city was a challenge because of language barriers.
Cultural differences make it difficult for older people from ethnic minority groups. It can be tough for them to describe their feelings or look for mental health support.
But since May this year, Limbu has learned to express herself through clay art, playing the drums and painting.
She joined a project started by the Hong Kong Expressive Arts Therapy Service Centre a year ago. The project teaches 300 older people from ethnic minority communities and their carers. Most are Nepalis, and some are from the Indian and Pakistani communities.
The project works with eight social service organisations to provide expressive arts treatments for emotional relief, carer stress relief, and life and death education. The message is spread through activities such as dancing and visual arts.
According to Hong Kong’s 2021 census, 301,344 people from ethnic minority groups, aside from domestic helpers, lived in the city. Many of them come from countries like the Philippines, India and Nepal.