Students bring happiness to sick kids

Thirty-six international students from Shenzhen University’s College of International Exchange participated in an event themed “Charity without Borders, Celebrate Children’s Day Together” at University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital yesterday, providing a special gift for sick children on International Children’s Day.

The event was co-organized by University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Longfei Children’s Aid Society of China Charities Aid Foundation for Children, and College of International Exchange of Shenzhen University.

The international students played games with and brought gifts to sick kids in three different places, namely the atrium of the hospital, orthopedic ward and the Kids Caring Corner.

The students come from 20 different countries and regions including Romania, Yemen, Russia, the Czech Republic, Iran, Norway, Croatia, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Brazil, Mongolia and Vietnam.

Many of them are frequenters of an English-language course, which is part of the Long Fei-Droplet Charity Education program organized by Longfei Children’s Aid Society.

“One of the reasons why I always come here is to bring happiness. You know many people can donate money, some people can donate toys, for me what I can donate is my time, and the happiness and the love that I can spread,” said Barbora Sloupova from the Czech Republic.

Sloupova has now joined this type of activity four or five times. “For some people, it’s just one hour, and they don’t understand why I do it. But one hour of happiness for a child is something that is so precious to me. This is why I come here. I am so thankful to the teacher Teresa who organized this.”

Rafail Allahverdiyev from the Republic of Azerbaijan said he comes here to bring happiness to the kids when he has time. This was his fourth time joining this kind of event. “I enjoy having fun with kids, even though I don’t usually have an opportunity to come,” said Allahverdiyev.

“I heard about this at Shenzhen University and I wanted to join the other students to do this activity. I have a special feeling, especially because we are helping some special-needs kids. I think that everyone should do the same because they need our help to feel like that they have the same life, that they can enjoy this life,” said Bahmed Ibrahim from Algeria.

“I want to thank Shenzhen University for giving us this amazing opportunity to see these beautiful little angels and to play with them for a while,” commented Nikolina from Croatia. Kate from Russia also loves the class because the kids enjoy it a lot.

Feng Tiantian, a mother of a 3-year-old boy with neuroblastoma, expressed her gratitude to University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital for providing such a space for children with tumors, bringing them happiness during their treatment. “My kid is a bit more than 3 years old and he has never been to school. This kind of activity provides him with the happiness of school,” said Feng.