American inspires local children with 6-year voluntary journey

American Gannet Wystix, an active international volunteer in Nanshan District, shared his six years of volunteer service in Shenzhen with local students at an international exchange event at Nanshan District Youth Activity Center on March 7.

Gannet Wystix (5th R), Feng Jingwen (5th L), a student volunteer from Shenzhen College of International Education who served as Wystix’s translator at the event, Yang Yan (R), director of the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats, and local students pose for a group photo at the Nanshan District Youth Activity Center on March 7. Photos courtesy of Shekou MSCE.

The event, organized by the Nanshan District Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Working Committee of the Chinese Young Pioneers of Nanshan District and the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats (Shekou MSCE), served as the opening session for the 2026 Spring term of  the Nanshan Red Scarf Public Welfare Club. The activity highlighted APEC’s principles of openness, cooperation and mutual benefit.

Gannet Wystix shares his volunteer experiences in Shenzhen during an international exchange event at the Nanshan District Youth Activity Center on March 7.

Wystix recounted his long-standing volunteer work in Nanshan District since early 2020, shortly after he relocated from Los Angeles in 2019. He described activities ranging from English proofreading support for Shekou MSCE to serving as an English guide volunteer at the Yuehai Subdstirct International Enterprise Service Exchange Center, helping foreign professionals better understand local enterprise services and gain a foothold in Nanshan’s fast-moving economy. In 2024, he was appointed a Nanshan International Volunteer Experience Officer, a role that deepened his involvement in the district’s international service initiatives and helped make public services more accessible to non-Chinese speakers.

Gannet Wystix (in navy blue) poses with local student volunteers after a sharing session at the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats in Shekou in August 2019.

In 2025, Wystix took his experience to a broader stage at a Nanshan international volunteer team-building event. Standing alongside volunteers from the United States, Russia, Rwanda and more than a dozen other countries, he shared his story and co-designed ways to weave international volunteerism into enterprise service delivery. The session produced several actionable proposals, including improved orientation for foreign employees, multilingual volunteer liaisons for companies, and joint volunteer-business pilot programs.

Gannet Wystix (front R) takes part in a coastal hiking event organized by the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats in December 2025.

Wystix emphasized that volunteering has allowed him to help overseas residents integrate into local life and to promote friendly cultural exchange. “Shenzhen is my second home,” he told the students. “Nanshan’s inclusiveness and vitality have made me want to stay. I hope my efforts can  help more people feel the warmth of this city and build bridges between cultures.” He encouraged the students to become young ambassadors of cross-cultural exchange, forming friendships across borders.

Gannet Wystix (right) poses with a fellow international volunteer during the Chinese/French Artists Exchange Program Season III in Shekou in November 2024.

The interactive Q&A that followed was lively, with many students asking about his daily volunteer work and how to communicate across cultures. Organizers closed the event by urging students to carry APEC’s open, cooperative and win-win spirit into their daily lives and to grow as globally minded citizens.

The 2026 spring term of the Nanshan Red Scarf Public Welfare Club will offer more than 30 courses across five categories: science popularization, sports and culture, arts, labor and reading.