Jiading volunteers honored for their public service and care
Volunteers are everywhere in Jiading, doing everything they can to improve the district. We spoke with three of them, all of whom have been honored with municipal volunteer awards for their dedication to public service and generosity in assisting those in need.
Zhu Weihong: A bus conductor who passes on love and warmth
For the past 17 years, Zhu Weihong has been working as a bus conductor on more than 20 routes across the suburban district. With her passion and kindness, she has made the bus a warm and welcoming space for all.
Wearing a smile on her face, Zhu is always ready to help passengers with big or heavy luggage and remind them when it’s time to get off.
And she is willing to go above and beyond her duties to help those in need during work, such as helping a child with a burn injury and taking care of an elderly passenger who went into shock.
Zhu Weihong is on duty for the No. 69 bus route that runs from Jiading North to Anting stations.
“Bus attendant is an ordinary job but as far as I dedicate myself to it and serve the passengers from the bottom of my heart, I will be able to receive warm feedback from them as well,” Zhu said.
She once received a present form one of her passengers who bought the gift with his first-month salary to express his gratitude for her acts of kindness.
“That made me feel that I have been treated as their family and I have been really touched,” she recalled.
In her spare time, Zhu also volunteers to help. Every year, for example, she would join the volunteer campaign to collect garbage and clean up the mud to improve the environment in the district. Last year, she became a registered volunteer to better serve the people in her community.
Jiang Zhengqiang: A volunteer in the dark
Jiang Zhengqiang is a visually impaired volunteer. He often participates in various summer volunteer services and plans, and implements campus activities to promote the integration of visually impaired people.
Jiang enrolled as a freshman at East China Normal University three years ago. During his studies, he organized an interactive activity on the campus, allowing more students and faculties at the university to understand the needs of visually impaired people and ways to assist them.
This activity was later hosted in several other universities across the city which include Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Normal University, benefiting a total of more than 100 people.
Jiang Zhengqiang is hosting an interactive activity on the campus.
In August 2021, Jiang and several of his classmates evaluated barrier-free facilities such as tactile pavements, sound prompts, barrier-free elevators, and Braille signs at a number of large public transportation venues in Shanghai, as well as Ningbo, Hangzhou and Nanjing in neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.
Their findings were compiled into a pamphlet and was later sent to the national office designated for the improvement of barrier-free facilities who highly appreciated their efforts.
Jiang also discovered that there were very few entertainment options available for the visually impaired, such as the accessible movies.
He and his classmates then formed a team, uploading accessible movies onto various platforms including WeChat and Bilibili. More than 800 people from all over the country have benefited from it.
For years, Jiang has been devoted to motivating the visually impaired to be self-sufficient and better integrated into the society.
His hard work and perseverance is seen as a perfect demonstration of the power and strength of the disabled community in making positive contributions to the society.
Wang Zhe: A thoughtful companion for persons with visual disabilities
Wang Zhe is a full-time committee member for disabled people in the Taoyuan community and also the chairman of the Jiading District Association of Persons with Visual Disabilities.
He has been responsible for providing assistance for more than 230 disabled people in Taoyuan, as well as over 3,000 visually impaired people in the entire Jiading District over the past 17 years.
Wang, visually impaired himself, truly understands the difficulties encountered by disabled people in their everyday lives. Every year, he encourages the visually impaired people in the district to take part in the national and city-level writing competitions. Some of them have won multiple awards.
Wang Zhe (right) keeps Zhou Lixin company during the online courses.
Due to his efforts, many visually impaired individuals in the district have finally stepped out of their homes and become an active part of the society.
During his many years of volunteering, Wang has continuously honed his skills and learned new things. After receiving certain training, Wang in 2010 passed the exam and became an authorized instructor helping visually impaired individuals to better use their canes. By doing so, he has made it possible for many visually impaired people to join in community activities. He also took the initiative to offer assistance for senior visually impaired people who find it difficult to use electronic devices such as audiobooks.
A caring enthusiast who is always ready to help those in need, Wang and his fellow volunteers bought groceries at their own expense and delivered handmade dumplings door-to-door to people with disabilities during the pandemic. He would also visit the homes of some visually impaired people to offer a helping hand in their year-end household cleaning before the Spring Festival holiday.
