AFHK - Home


Lisette Schouten & Hidde Bart (HB) de Vries

Co-Chairs

Lisette and Hidde Bart (HB) have been calling Hong Kong home for ten years. They became adoptive parents in 2015 when they were matched with a baby girl with Indonesian roots, just like her mother Lisette. Two years thereafter Lisette and HB welcomed another wonderful girl with a Hong Kong Chinese background to their family. The girls are pretty close in age and are considered ‘artificial’ or ‘virtual twins’ and started primary school this year. Lisette and HB have been involved as coordinators for AFHK Waiting Families since 2018. Advising and guiding prospective Adoptive Families  has been, and still is, an immensely grateful and humbling experience. Lisette and HB enjoy Adoptive Families’ lunches and outdoor gatherings.  Both Lisette and HB work in the banking sector and are very honored to be appointed co-chairs of AFHK. They are looking forward to working with the talented and motivated volunteers of AFHK to continue to build a community of loving adoptive families in Hong Kong. 

Maria Wong

Treasurer

Maria was born in Hong Kong. She finished her undergraduate studies in Australia before pursuing her MBA degree at University of Wales, UK. She is currently the Asia Regional Financial Controller of a leading British law firm and a full member of Institute of Public Accountants and Institute of Financial Accountants in Australia. She is married with one teenage daughter. Maria joined AFHK as Treasurer in early 2015. 

Lucas Renzi

Audio-visual Technician/WebMaster

Lucas was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia and has been an expatriate since 2012. He is a primary educator, teaching at schools in Singapore and Laos. In Singapore, Lucas heard about AFHK and joined upon moving to Hong Kong in 2016. He continues to volunteer with AFHK but lives in Laos. Lucas assists the adoption community through facilitating conversations, and with his web and technical knowledge. The ongoing education and support network from AFHK has offered invaluable guidance for this stay at home dad of three beautiful children (two biological, and one adopted) and he encourages those interested in adoption to come along to an AFHK event and become members for the same reasons. Along with his wife, this family of five loves the outdoors, and are advocates for all things health, judo, cycling, collective consumption, and reducing their carbon footprint. When Lucas can squeeze it in he supports, moderates and consults with various online and offline committees, adoption and education communities, and with small businesses and start-ups.

Vivian Ip

Roots Tracing Coordinator & Waiting Families Co-coordinator

Vivian is a registered social worker in Hong Kong. As a teenager, Vivian volunteered for a non-profit organisation serving pregnant girls facing crisis pregnancies and children in need of temporary and/or permanent care. She later joined this organisation, first as an adoption social worker, then supervisor. Vivian is passionate about adoption advocacy and volunteers her time to help adoptees and their families on their roots tracing journey.


Teresa Lai Docherty 

Assistant Treasurer and Waiting Families Co-coordinator



Louise Garnaut

Secretary

Louise has proudly called Hong Kong home 20+ years. She's been a members of AFHK since 2008 and immediately found the parenting support and network offered invaluable guidance for her family's adoption journey. She joined the steering committee in 2010 running events. In 2013 she took over the role of Chair. Louise and her husband are the proud parents of 2 children; a daughter by birth and a son adopted as a toddler from Cambodia. Louise is passionate about supporting, connecting, informing and educating those who are touched by adoption. Her favourite AFHK events are the picnic on the Peak and the Holiday Party. In her business life Louise works as a real estate consultant. She is originally from Melbourne, Australia and holds a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology).


Catherine Durant

External Liaison - Community Relations

Originally from Wales in the U.K., Catherine moved to Hong Kong in 2019. She and her husband are proud parents to their son, who they adopted in 2021. She began her involvement with AFHK through their information and support for “waiting parents” and then she supported AFHK as it’s Administrative Assistant before joining the Steering Committee. She has long had a personal interest in foster care and adoption and has learned much over the years through relationships with adoptees, children in foster care and other adoptive parents. Since moving to Hong Kong she has found the AFHK community invaluable in better preparing her and now continually equipping her to support her son and advocate for those touched by adoption.

Catherine’s professional background in the U.K. was as a legal advisor for NGOs and she currently works in Operations for a HK charity that supports migrant workers. In her “free time” she enjoys being a part of her church community and hiking remote parts of the new territories.

Becky Holdaway

Adult Adoptee Coordinator

Becky is a Hong Kong adult adoptee who at 18 months was adopted into a British family. Hong Kong was home until she went to Secondary school and then college in the UK where she qualified and trained as a Nursery Nurse. Since 1997 she has worked in the childcare field in HK and the UK. Recently she has branched out into other work interests and she has her own business in trading/shipping. After joining AFHK in 2008 Becky came onto the committee in 2010. She is interested in bringing together and connecting adoptees from all over the world and more importantly adoptees from HK. She can often be found helping at AFHK functions and is a central point for adult adoptees wanting to know more about adoption in Hong Kong. Becky is grateful for the support, friendship and community that AFHK offers to those touched by adoption.

Steering Committee Support

May Pendraat Kredner

Outreach, Programme & Admin Assistant

May comes from a hospitality background with specialty in marketing and business management. After a sabbatical from the pandemic-stricken industry, she now looks to apply her skills and experience to serve a different purpose. Being an adoptee, May has had a multi-cultural upbringing and calls Hong Kong and Australia home, together with her husband and two grown sons. She is fluent in Cantonese and proficient in Mandarin. May is excited about the AFHK families and community.

Non-Steering Committee Team Members

Janice Henderson

Single Parents Co-Coordinator

Jan has been supporting the Single Parents group at AFHK now for over 12 years.  As a single parent with an adopted daughter, she is happy to share many years of experience with our AFHK members.

Liana Johnson

Single Parents Co-Coordinator

Liana has been a co-coordinator since 2021. She is a single parent of an adopted daughter. Liana is happy to talk about her experiences with adoption in Hong Kong, raising her daughter, or find someone who can help answer your questions.

Volunteering

If you have been touched by adoption or are interested in adoption, please partner with us by giving your time to volunteer with our steering committee or any of our other programs and initiatives. Chinese speaking volunteers are also needed to help support bilingual programs. For more information about volunteering with AFHK please visit our Volunteer Page.

We are currently looking for new people to join our team:

Marketing Coordinator

Outdoor Events Coordinator

Fundraising

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