ENG-1956 — Page 213

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

although English braille is also taught. There are also a number of day-pupils at the Ebenezer Home.

Very similar care and training are given at the Honeyville Home for Blind Girls, whilst the North Point Relief Camp has under its care a number of blind adults of both sexes.

On the completion of an additional building last Septem- ber, the Hong Kong School for the Deaf, which is subsidized by Government, was able to provide facilities for 30 more pupils, increasing the total capacity of the school to 100. The curriculum has been drawn up to meet the special needs of the students, and includes instruction in various handi- crafts. Increased facilities for deaf children are also planned with the grant of land by Government to the Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island (East) on which the club intends to build new premises for Victoria Park School for the Deaf and Dumb.

A convalescent home at Sandy Bay for crippled children was officially opened by Lady Grantham in November. It is managed by the Society for the Relief of Disabled Children, and is a two-storeyed building having fifty beds. Admission to this home is through either the Queen Mary or the Kowloon Hospital.

The Welfare Centre for the Physically Handicapped at Shap Long was removed from Lantao Island to Morrison Hill Camp in November. The number of inmates at present accommodated is 221, of whom 170 are disabled and 51 are dependants.

Community Development. Kaifong associations have existed at various periods throughout the Colony's history, but, with the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in 1941, these old style associations disintegrated completely.

In the years following the war Kaifong welfare associations were revived and modernized with the advice and encourage- ment of the Social Welfare Office. At present there are 23 recognized Kaifong welfare associations in the Colony, most-