Hong Kong. The camp gives temporary accommodation to shipwrecked seamen, to those arrested for begging (in this connexion please see Chapter IX-Probation) and to destitute blind, to a number of mentally defective children, and to the aged who have nobody to support them and for whom no vacancy exists in any of the homes for the aged. For all these various people, clothing, bedding and three nourishing meals a day are provided.
110. Healthy and able-bodied inmates are expected to contribute part of their time to voluntary duties within the camp, such as working in the kitchen, keeping the grounds clean and tidy, or acting as watchmen. At the end of the year the number of inmates at North Point Relief Camp was 301.
111. This chapter on public assistance cannot close without a sincere tribute being paid to the many voluntary welfare organizations which are bringing substantial relief to those in need in Hong Kong. In particular, mention must be made of the Catholic Welfare Committee of China, The Lutheran World Federation, CARE and the Church World Service, which have brought into the Colony regular supplies of food, clothing and medicines-most generously donated by the people of the United States of America.
CHAPTER XI — EMERGENCY RELIEF
112. In recent years Hong Kong has suffered from many natural disasters, involving at times tens of thousands of people. It is the duty of the Relief Section to go into action whenever and wherever a disaster occurs in the Colony, whether it be fire, flood, landslide, house collapse, or anything else from which arises the need for immediate relief. There is a dramatic quality about emergency relief which has made at times a deep impression on the public, so much so that to many the work of the whole department is synonymous with bringing emer- gency relief to the victims of squatter fires and floods.
113. Over the last few years most of the full-scale emer- gencies have been fires in squatter areas, and to deal with these the Relief Section has organized two teams of fifteen officers each, one team in Hong Kong and the other in Kowloon. These officers are very experienced, and they are fully equipped and always in a state of readiness. Sometimes, as in the case
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