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on small-holdings, or by giving help to enable them to re-establish themselves in their former occupations. The third project is for the vocational training of more than 400 students in four trades, dealing with electricity, diesel engines, painting and refrigeration, together with a basic education in English and elementary mathe- matics, which is carried out in the community centre at Wong Tai Sin, in new premises in Bridges Street, Hong Kong, and in a special floating classroom for fishermen which is moved from harbour to harbour.
Other welfare work done by the churches jointly includes the Haven of Hope Tuberculosis Sanitorium; the Self-Help Projects Committee's work in setting needy families on their feet to earn their own livelihood; the College Student Work Project, which supports students through College in return for regular hours of service to social welfare projects; and co-ordinated relief for flood, typhoon and fire victims.
All churches and missions contribute to this great work in the social welfare field. The Salvation Army, the Lutheran Church Service and the United Presbyterian Case Work Centre and Industrial Project are but a few of the many organizations par- ticipating. The scope of their activities is both fascinating and revealing. It shows the immensity of the problems facing the welfare worker, ranging from work among poor people in crowded urban tenements to the provision of voluntary services to rooftop dwellers, hillside squatters and boat people.
The Roman Catholic Church has been established in Hong Kong since the beginning of British rule 120 years ago. Its history has been one of steady development which, during the past decade, has taken on impressive dimensions as the Church made intensive efforts, often improvised, to meet the social, educational and spir- itual needs of the heavy influx of refugees from mainland China. On 22nd April 1841, Pope Gregory XVI established the Prefecture of Hong Kong by papal decree, with Msgr Theodore Joset as Prefect. At that time there was one Catholic Church on the island, a matshed which was used by missionaries who had come to Hong Kong several years earlier to serve the spiritual needs of the Roman Catholics among British soldiers. Foundations for the future were laid when Msgr Joset erected a new church, a seminary for the education of Chinese priests, and the first