Special needs to good deeds — former teacher bridges two generations with photography

Hugo started writing the proposal for his social enterprise “For2gram”, a cross-generational photography project, just one month before the application deadline. As a former secondary school teacher for special education class, he observed that his students got many ideas but failed to deliver due to dyslexia or autism. “Every human being has thoughts, some find it easier to express through non-verbal means like photography.” When Hugo came across the open call for proposals of Impact Innovation Lab by chance, his passion for photography came to mind. Putting it to good use “For 2 Generations”, he trained disadvantaged youth to provide photo shooting and scanning services for the elderly. The project serves as a bridge between two generations, and is selected as one of the Cohort 1 Incubatees, receiving Seed Funding from The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund.

The first step to starting a business is design thinking, and understanding the needs of the target audience. “In my opinion, it is better to scan all photos and upload them to cloud storage, but many elderly hide their photos under the bed, refuse to take them out, and resist technology, so we have to walk in their shoes and find out when to help them organise their old photos. It appears that many elderly struggle to leave their own home for residential care homes, they may need a piece of home at their bedside, and digital photo albums can be it.”

In collaboration with social welfare organisations, he held a series of workshops that invited the elderly to recall the past through old objects, and share their most memorable photo album for scanning and colour restoring, which is then archived and preserved for all eternity. “If you give them a chance to walk down the memory lane, they will tell you lots of tales. I love seeing them mingle with each other.”

Meanwhile, Hugo recruited youngsters through SAHK and Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service to help process the old photos. “With the help of social workers, we gathered a group of youngsters that did not continue their education after graduating from secondary schools, who are still looking for jobs. Despite not knowing what I am doing, they participated without hesitation.” Autistic youngsters may not be good at socialising or understanding abstract concepts, but they are attentive to details and organised, which fits perfectly with photography. To his surprise, one of them acknowledged his project mission, saying it is meaningful. “Did he say that because he wanted to be hired? But even so, this shows his social skills,” Hugo noted. 

Parents are delighted to see positive changes, and some of them urge Hugo to offer long-term positions to their kids. “I would not say that this is a stepping stone for their career, but photography gives them more exposure.” Besides photo scanning, Hugo plans to develop more businesses in the future, including on-campus photography services, so as to create more jobs for teens in need. During the 6-month Incubation Period, “For2gram” organised 18 activities in elderly centres and schools, reaching as many as 210 elderly and 21 disadvantaged youths.

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Ms. Angie Zhou

Education Specialist

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Angie Zhou is an Education Specialist at MIT App Inventor. She was the founder and CEO of Dreams Come True in Shenzhen, where she developed online coding courses for kids. She also has previous curriculum development, teaching and staff training experience at First Code Academy in Hong Kong.