No need for superheroes, we're volunteers!
There are no superheroes coming down from heaven, only mortals bravely stepping forward.
Over the past few weeks, at the entries and exits of expressways passing through Jiading, in communities and observation sites, a myriad of volunteers gave up their holidays and other time off and stuck to their posts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their strong sense of responsibility and selfless dedication deliver warmth and gather strength for the fight.
A volunteer hands over a leaflet about the control and prevention of the coronavirus to a foreign resident in the neighborhood.
Serving the people day and night
College student Li Chao volunteered to work at his community’s call center. Li and his colleagues monitor people under medical observation by phone. Previously, each of them had to make hundreds of calls every day. Many of them developed sore throats after a day at work.
Li developed a mini-program for online health registration. After that, people under observation can fill out registration forms online and the system will export statistics automatically.
Family at the forefront
Chen Yan, a neighborhood volunteer, is on duty with her father at the entrance of Xuhang Village which houses nearly 500 migrants.
Chen and her father take the temperatures of visitors and checked their identities.
Her son is a few steps away, helping visitors fill out online registration forms.
Chen and her family do their best to ensure everyone’s health and security in the village.
An 80-year-old volunteer
Nearly 80 percent of people who live in Xingfu Village in Jiangqiao Town are immigrant workers. Hence, the village closed most of the entrances but eight major ones remain open.
Each needed a goalkeeper but there were not enough neighborhood workers. Jin Yindi, who is 80, volunteered to help.
She joined other volunteers to work at the entrances, taking visitors’ temperatures and checking their identities.
Working in various roles
Some volunteers work in a number of different roles. Bao Luhu from Nanxing Town initially checked identities of returnees, and then he helped local enterprises resume their businesses.
After that, he started working at a medical observation site to monitor people there.
One of his colleagues, Zhou Jie, is supporting local retailers and eateries to reopen their doors. It is Zhou’s third task since he became a volunteer.
Foreign volunteers
Mansoor Alam (right) from Pakistan takes the temperature of a driver at the Gelong checkpoint of National Highway 204 where he is assisting medical staff and police officers stationed there.
At the entrance to a residential compound in Jiading Industrial Zone, Kos, a Russian, takes the temperatures of visitors and spreads knowledge on prevention and control.
Kos volunteered to serve his neighbors and improved his Chinese to publicize coronavirus control tips.
In Waigang Town, Mansoor Alam from Pakistan works with community workers. Alam has lived in Waigang for two years and plays an active role in community affairs.
Apart from assisting Chinese volunteers in the community, Alam also went to the Gelong checkpoint on National Highway 204 to assist medical staff and police officers there.
Alam is one of several foreign volunteers in Waigang and the neighborhood he served is where most expats in Waigang live.
Alam, who completed his postgraduate education in Xi’an, capital city of northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province, speaks fluent Chinese.
He helps his Chinese colleagues spread knowledge on virus prevention and control among local expats.
Interpreters in action
Xia Yi (left), an English major graduate, volunteers to help community staff communicate with a foreign resident.
Volunteers who speak fluent English, Spanish and Japanese work as interpreters for foreigners living and working in Jiading.
The Qingyang Neighborhood in Jiading Industrial Zone is an international community with Japanese, Thais, Filipinos, Indonesians and Yemenis.
They are keen to learn the latest information about novel coronavirus control, government plans for business resumption and schooling.
Xia Yi, an English major graduate, answers their questions. He also speaks Spanish and Japanese which ensured smooth communication with most of the foreign residents.
The Xin’an Neighborhood in Anting Town is home to more than 200 expats. Many of them volunteered to work as interpreters in coronavirus control.
Ning Jiulan, who is able to speak English and Chinese, helps foreign residents follow the city’s rules in infection prevention and control.
Ning helped a returnee from Ethiopia through his 14-day home quarantine since the US citizen didn’t speak Chinese and had all sorts of problems when he stayed at home alone.
Many foreign residents in the neighborhood expressed their gratitude to volunteers, while others expressed their willingness to join the team.
