Badi Foundation Macau SAR, China
About Badi Foundation
Mona Partner Since 2010
The Badi Foundation offers the Moral Empowerment through Language Program (METL) to three local schools in Macau. The curriculum is offered to junior high school students during school hours and as an extracurricular activity facilitated by older youth.
In a joyful environment the students explore their purpose in life, consult about challenges they are facing and strategies to overcome them, and find concrete ways to serve each other and the wider community. The program content covers a series of themes such as confirmation, intellectual and spiritual excellence, hope, and the power of speech.
The Challenge
Macau has undergone rapid changes over recent decades, particularly with the expansion of the gaming industry. Many parents are employed in the industry, and their work often involves long and irregular hours. A government report indicated lack of communication between parents and children as being a concern, and another study indicated that “research also reflects a dramatic increase in youths’ stress levels, originating from pressure at school as well as family conflicts” (Luk et al., 2013, p. 1). Recently, the Director of the Education Bureau in Macau expressed his concern about the phenomenon of suicide among youth in Macau, and commented on the need for the underlying causes of this phenomenon to be addressed through a broader “social effort” involving the collaboration of a number of actors in Macau, including educational institutions and families.
The Solution: Badi Foundation Programs
Moral Empowerment through Language Program (METL)
Macau's rapid material development has raised the need for educational programs that can develop in young people a broader understanding of the purpose of education, equip them to counteract the negative forces at work in society, and assist them to channel their energy into service to the community.
The Badi Foundation’s Moral Empowerment through Language Programme seeks to provide junior youth and youth with an opportunity to interact and explore meaningful ideas in a relaxed and joyful environment.
Program objectives are to:
- Empower junior youth to develop a sound moral structure that will help them become agents of change for the betterment of their
communities
- Increase their capacity to identify community needs and plan and carry out service activities that grow in complexity over time
- Enhance their powers of expression in English
- Build the capacity of youth, ages 15 – 30, to nurture the development of junior youth through peer mentoring
How we help
Mona Foundation has supported Badi Foundation since 2010. The METL program relies on one full-time staff and volunteer coordinators to support the scores of youth mentors who work directly with the junior youth.
2024 Achievements
- Collaborated with 2 schools
- Engaged 41 teachers in action research
- Empowered 175 junior youth
2025 Plans, $23,153
- Continue to support 175 youth aged 12–15 through the Moral Empowerment Through Language Program, including in organized camps and intensive study
- Continue to deepen teachers' understanding of the moral empowerment of youth through the "Teachers as Researchers" program
Updates
During the "Teachers as Researchers" program, Ms. Esther explored this idea: “Trust students to have the capacity to engage diligently in worthwhile endeavors and to overcome difficult challenges.” Noticing that one student was having difficulty focusing in class, Esther engaged her in conversations that eventually led to the topic of social media usage. Together, they looked at the student’s screentime statistics and found that she was on her phone 9 hours/day, mostly on TikTok and YouTube. Reflecting on this, the student decided to set a goal to reduce her screen time to 5 hours/day. Ms. Esther offered encouragement and support throughout the next week.
The result? The student reduced her screen time to under 5 hours/day and began reading books instead of constantly looking at her phone. She felt encouraged to continue her efforts and further decrease her screen time.
Ms. Esther reflected on the importance of trusting in students' capacity to make positive changes and conveying this trust in conversation with students.
Moral Empowerment Through Language
Badi Foundation offers the Moral Empowerment through Language Program (METL) to local schools in Macau. The content of the program invites the participants to explore a series of themes such as confirmation, intellectual and spiritual excellence, hope, and the power of speech.
Below are a couple reflections shared by students in 2021:
“I have learned that confirmation is like a wind that pushes us to achieve our goals in daily life. I also learned that unity in diversity is very important because if we don't have it, then our communities will tear apart.”
“In METL, our animators give out questions and discussions for us to "train" our brain. I think I have improved in expressing my ideas, opinions and emotions in these discussions.”
Minnie
Minnie participated in the METL program while attending middle school and encountered the program again through a university service club at the Institute for Tourism Studies. Minnie joined the university program, became an METL volunteer mentor, and spent the next two years helping to expand the program at a local high school. She also helped recruit other volunteers from her university to run the program with her. After she graduated, Minnie worked briefly in the tourism industry, but then decided to join the Badi Foundation full time. She has been working with Badi to empower younger generations ever since.
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