“Parenting for a Peaceful World (“PFPW”) written by the Australian psychologist Robin Grille is probably one of the most influential books I have ever read,” said Cam Cheung, Co-founder and CEO of EDiversity. A local non-profit striving to promote educational diversity and broaden parents’ views on child-rearing, EDiversity was founded by a group of parents and educators who strongly believe that through well-informed choices and wise actions, parents together with the society could support children of different talents, potential and needs to become healthy, well-learned and ethical citizens. “My team at EDiversity and I felt that this book could change the world as it offers a lot of insights on how child-rearing customs have shaped societies and major world events, how children adapt to and are influenced by different parenting styles, and how safeguarding their emotional development is the key to creating a more peaceful, harmonious, and sustainable world. And that’s why we were so determined to translate this parenting masterpiece into Chinese for Hong Kong parents and those who care about children’s emotional and social wellbeing.”

Greatly appreciative of EDiversity’s efforts and their valuable experiences in parenting education, the Foundation also trusted that this amazingly resourceful non-profit could help make the book accessible to less-resourced parents who aspire to build healthy relationships that based on understanding and respect with their children. Hence, following the publication of the book, EDviersity will partner with the Foundation to turn the book into a three-year community-based Program (the “Program”), supporting parents, social workers, school teachers and carers to acquire the needed skills, values and attitudes to help children of 0-8 years old build a positive and connected childhood. Collaborating with more than 60 local schools and NGOs, the Program will adopt a three-tier service model comprising 1) training of practitioners; 2) parenting education workshops and 3) parent focus groups, all supplemented by a Chatbot app which offers timely parenting advice through instant messaging and collects useful data. Having his book translated into Chinese for a Chinese-speaking community for the first time, Robin will also come to Hong Kong to deliver a series of talks and workshops with the aims to influence more professional childcare workers, children welfare policy makers and like-minded change makers to join the force. As the first parenting endeavor of the Foundation, the Program indeed complements our other initiatives of diverse objectives and strategies to advance positive character and value education as well.

“Parents are empathy farmers. Nobody can escape life’s struggles and traumas, but those who have experienced the empathy that helped them build a strong sense of self in childhood tend to have a strong foundation for emotional resilience and can draw on positive internal resources to help them resolve and rebound,” says Robin in PFPW. This insight from this groundbreaking parenting book and EDiversity’s vision perfectly align with the Foundation’s goal in instilling positive values and attitudes in our community, building a more empathetic, respectful and harmonious Hong Kong. More info of the Program is available on their website or their Facebook page.