A total of eight expat volunteers who chipped in to help the city’s recent fight against the pandemic were invited to visit the volunteer exhibition hall located in Shenzhen Youth Square, Futian District, on Friday.
One of the eight volunteer representatives, Susan Kim, a Canadian who currently works as a teacher at an international primary school in Shekou, Nanshan District, has been a member of the Zhaoshang subdistrict international volunteer team for two years.
“I helped at vaccination site and dressed as an Easter bunny during Easter. The center has helped us to be involved and made us feel at home so I think it is a great way to give back to the community by being a volunteer,” said Kim, adding that “the exhibition hall is amazing with detailed records of volunteer work.”
When asked about the significance of being an international volunteer in the city, Sofia Alvarez, another international volunteer from Mexico, said that although the work is unpaid and sometimes quite laborious, every time she finishes the job, her heart feels warm.
Alvarez began doing volunteer work this year and assisted in body temperature checks and vaccine administration at a vaccination site designated for foreign nationals and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots in Shekou.
The Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China organized Friday’s event in a bid to let foreign volunteers learn about the city’s history and spirit of voluntary causes in the past 30 years.
Gao Dawei, secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, appreciated the volunteers’ contribution to the fight against the virus during the visit.
Partial statistics showed that Shenzhen has roughly 2,000 expat volunteers from all walks of life, with more than 500 living in Nanshan.
“In addition to local residents, international friends were seen filling the gaps in the city’s recent effort to stem new COVID-19 infections and administer vaccines. We appreciate their efforts and hope that their experience as a volunteer in Shenzhen can help them learn more about the city so as to spread their stories globally,” said Yuan Zhixiong, deputy secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.
Shenzhen is now in process to build itself into a city of volunteers and continue to attract more international volunteers to help spread China stories.