In December of 1994, the KELY Support Group in Hong Kong invited Rey Carr of Peer Resources in Victoria, British Columbia to spend a week consulting with staff and conducting workshops with other local organisations. We asked Rey to come to Hong Kong because he is an internationally recognised authority on peer support and continues to be a leading force in developing programmes in schools and, more recently, in other human service and more traditional work settings. Workshops and informational sessions were held with KELY staff and volunteers, local schools, the Hong Kong Playground Association and were highlighted by a public seminar on the subject of peer support.

The full day seminar at the Omni Hong Kong Hotel was attended by just under 100 social workers, teachers, and others involved in human services. The seminar focused on the principles of peer support and the benefits that could be obtained by agencies interested in implementing a programme. Rey's presentation was very lively and included a number of experiential learning activities to let participants really feel the power and effectiveness of interpersonal skill training. The seminar was well received and most participants left feeling intrigued by the presentation.

Rey's presentation to local schools including South Island School, King George V, Li Po Chun College, and the French International School as well as the Hong Kong Playground Association gave students, teachers, administrators, and social workers the opportunity to see the principles in action in their own settings and to ask specific questions about how it would affect them personally.

Rey also went on to do a day of training with the KELY staff and volunteers. It gave us valuable insight into the workings and rationale of programmes being run in other countries. We learned some valuable information and are now starting to implement what we learned in schools here in Hong Kong. It was nice to get staff and volunteers together for a day of learning where we were all participants.

Since Rey's visit a lot has happened on the peer support front. We conducted a three day peer support training to a group of students at Li Po Chun College. The students were really enthusiastic about the training and have gone on to plan ways they will be able to help the school community. Ideas so far have been great with students hoping to plan better ways to support new students through orientation, providing an objective ear when friends or fellow students have a problem but aren't sure who to talk to, and dealing with some of the larger issues facing students such as drinking and drugs, sexuality, and such. This is an on-going project and KELY continues to be involved in helping plan, motivate, and act as a support for the project.

We believe that our initial experience with peer support training at Li Po Chun was so valuable we went straight out and recruited two more schools, Royden House School and South Island School. We will be talking to students and planning workshops in these schools, and we don't plan to stop there. We are speaking to more schools and agencies and plan to expand the idea to reach more young people. One of our own staff members, Joe Pianpiano, was lucky enough to travel to Toronto in the summer of 1995 to participate in a week of training for peer trainers. Joe got a chance to learn more about training from Diane Eckler and will now be able to share the train-the-trainer information and experience with others here in Hong Kong.

Joe Pianpiano can be contacted at KELY Support Group G/F Montgomery Block, 42B Kennedy Road, Hong Kong.

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