Belgian giving back to community with ‘HOPE’

Bruno Schuyten

As soon as you set foot in Shenzhen, you should consider yourself a Shenzhener and ready to become a volunteer. Bruno Schuyten, a Belgian who has been living, working and doing business in Shenzhen for seven years, is a practitioner of the city’s loud and clear slogan.

When Schuyten first came to Shenzhen seven years ago, he lost his younger brother to lung cancer. Two years later, his mother passed away. However, during his bereavement he received great emotional support from his friends in Yanshan Community in Zhaoshang Subdistrict, Nanshan District, where he resides. Their hospitality and friendliness quickly eased the Belgian’s transition to the city.

To express his gratitude to the community, he came up with the idea of helping one person every day, which gradually evolved into the “HOPE International Volunteer Team” he initiated July 1 this year. “HOPE” is the acronym for “Help One Person Every day.” “I believe that without the community’s support, I would probably not be here anymore. The community uplifted me and has given me so much that I wanted to give back. I want to help other people who might be going through similar hardships,” said Schuyten.

With more and more people joining “HOPE,” the volunteer team has grown from 33 members to 52 in just one month. So far, the team has organized activities like a mountain clean-up, free English and Chinese courses and lectures on self-defense for women. Supported by Yanshan Community Party Working Committee, the team also hosts free lectures on Chinese and foreign cultures on a regular basis.

As an expat who is actively engaged in the community, Schuyten was invited by Yanshan Community to serve as a part-time councilor to discuss the community’s affairs and offer suggestions on building a stronger community. “I am representing the community for foreigners. We have a lot of English services, but many foreigners are not yet aware that those services exist, so my job is to be out there meeting those people and helping them be aware of all the available services,” Schuyten explained.

Schuyten regards himself as a newly found role model for expats in the community who is helping to involve more foreigners in volunteering. “I want people to see that even as foreigners we can have an impact on the community and people should not be afraid of stepping up and going out to help each other.”