In association with Foróige:

The Hong Kong Youth Exchange programme is a collaboration between EIL Explore, Foróige and the Hong Kong Commission on Youth. Each year, 10 Irish young people from Foróige’s Youth Development Projects take part in a reciprocal youth exchange with 10 young people from Hong Kong.

The Foróige group travels to Hong Kong for 8-9 days of fun cultural activities in this exciting Chinese city. They are hosted by the Hong Kong Commission on Youth and spend time with their Hong Kong counterparts. The Hong Kong delegates then come to Cork for a return visit coordinated by the Foróige young people and their leaders with an emphasis on a fun, engaging cultural experience.

Participants are selected by specific Foróige Youth Development Projects. Foróige coordinates and selects the Irish participants.

“The exchange to Hong Kong was such an incredible, life-changing experience! The trip itself was extremely educational and fun. The schedule might have been intense/packed but it was definitely not enough for us as we found ourselves falling for the charms of this complex yet beautiful city! The trip really opened my eyes and gave me insight into a city and culture I wasn’t familiar with.

It was an absolute honour and privilege to have our Hong Kong friends come to Ireland and introduce them to our culture. Having them in our homes, eating our local food, playing our local games made the information we gave in our cultural presentation in Hong Kong come to life.

Overall the trip was amazing but for me the best thing was the friends we met and the memories we made through this exchange.”

(Kelly Choy & Darcy Faye, 2017 )