On 12 May 2008, a huge earthquake struck Wenchuan county in Sichuan province, China. Since that time, we have worked together with the local community, implementing an alternative model of community reconstruction. Our 'rural-urban alliance' is an action research project devoted to postdisaster community rebuilding, which not only restores local livelihoods but also creates sustainable economic development. This article examines the role of social workers in disaster intervention, the theoretical background of our new model and the history of the intervention itself.

We examine the lived experiences of foreign domestic helpers (FDH) working with community-dwelling older people in Hong Kong. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 11 female FDHs, and thematically analyzed. The theme inescapable functioning commodity represented the embodied commodification of FDHs to be functional for older people in home care. Another theme, destined reciprocity of companionship, highlighted the FDHs’ capacity to commit to home care and be concerned about older people. The waxing and waning of the possibilities of commodified companionship indicated the intermittent capacity of FDHs to find meaning in their care, in which performative nature for functional purposes and emotional engagement took turns to be the foci in migrant home care. This study addresses the transition of FDHs from task-oriented relation to companions of older people through care work. Discussion draws on the development of a kin-like relationship between FDHs and older people with emotional reciprocity grounded in moral values.

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A B S T R A C TWhen women from mainland China are newly arrived in Hong Kong, their first difficulty is usually environmental stress. Their socio-economic situation often limits their ability to express their expectations related to their living space. In order to enable the women to voice their views and become participants in urban planning, our research group adopted interdisciplinary participatory action research, including non-participant observation, in-depth interviews, focus groups, photovoice, visual simulationmodelling workshops, etc. In the process, we asked these newly arrived woman to 1) offer comments on their current living situation; 2) describe clearly their preferred housing environment; and 3) propose suggestions to the Hong Kong Government in respect to housing and neighbourhood planning. This article intends to demonstrate the validity of the use of these methods to promote participatory democracy in the context of an urban living environment. Action ResearchVolume 6(3): 261-283 Copyright© 2008 SAGE Publications

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