Closer affection feeds on empathy and mutual help each day--A Record of International Student Volunteers in ZZU Epidemic Prevention and Control Campaign （Photo）

There was a particularly prominent volunteer team, during the concerted efforts of the whole ZZU to fight against the novel coronavirus disease. The members, coming from different countries and regions in the world, wearing masks, long coats and armband and holding disinfection equipment, chose to become volunteers of ZZU international students for epidemic prevention and control.

“The hard experience will not last long, but the strong people will never give up! Go China!” “I believe China, China is a strong country!” “Stay strong with the people around you, with Wuhan, and with China!” ...These are the slogans from the ZZU international student volunteers，voicing their support for China’s combating the COVID-19. Closer affection feeds on empathy and mutual help each day. Despite their difference in origin of countries, they chose to escort the safety of all international students staying in ZZU during this hard time.

Volunteer to set up “International Student Volunteer Service Team” for prime time

There are more than 2,500 international students in ZZU. During the winter vacation, due to the short time and high cost of travel, a large number of international students would choose to study at school. At the beginning of the winter vacation this year, there were more than 1,200 international students staying in school. After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the students voluntarily chose to stay in school or leave the country. More than 300 international students decided to stay. ZZU always attaches great importance to their physical and mental health and has taken effective measures to prevent and control the epidemic.

While actively cooperating with ZZU to carry out epidemic prevention and control work, international students also wished to do something in the anti-epidemic war. Charlton, the vice chairman of the International Student Branch of ZZU Student Union, and Sajid Gul, the vice chairman of the International Graduate Branch of ZZU Postgraduate Association, together with a few international students, proposed to the College of international education that they wished to build a “Zhengzhou University international student volunteer service team”. “We also want to do something for our school,”they expressed their wish very sincerely.

After being approved by the school authority, they acted quickly. On February 6, the “ZZU International Student Volunteer Service Team” was formally established. In the beginning, the team had 6 people. Sajid Gul served as the captain and Charlton as the deputy captain. At present, the team has a total of 10 people, joined by 4 new members.

“These international volunteers are taking the initiative to work with school. They are all typical international student representatives of “Know China, Befriend China, Close to China, love China,” said Cheng Guo, a teacher, with delight and relief.

Volunteer services: always adhering to the “four self” purpose

Introducing knowledge of COVID-19 prevention, tracking body temperature, doing dormitory disinfection and extermination, collecting students’ opinions, caring their rest time, providing psychological counseling, and dealing with emergencies, etc., are the daily work of the “ZZU International Student Volunteer Service Team”, whose organizational principle is practicing “self-training, self-management, self-service, self-supervision”.

Professional knowledge such as epidemic prevention and the use of disinfectant requires these international volunteers to learn in advance. Under the existing conditions, they are “self-training”. Mussa, one of the team members, as a postgraduate student in pharmacy, organized and trained the team members to use alcohol and disinfectants, and take the precautions when spraying. “After classroom training at school, I learned a lot of professional operation. So I can share it with our members to achieve our team goals,” said Mussa. At the same time, they would also remind international students of their personal hygiene and ensure that the dormitory environment is kept clean and tidy.

On the basis of good personal protection, international volunteers frequently move around the international student apartments on campus with a watering can. The residences of international students are scattered in Building 17 of Liuyuan, Building 2 and Unit B, Building 4 of Heyuan, and Building 12 of Songyuan, 3 buildings and 1 unit in total. Therefore, they established a stratified management system to carry out “self-management” and “self-supervision”. Two international volunteer service team members are allocated to different international students to set up a group, thus forming 4 groups. Captain Sajid Gul and deputy captain Charlton supervise the two groups respectively to promote the quality of volunteer service. Sajid Gul said that they would advise people to take some proper exercises rather than confine oneself to his room.

Besides doing their daily work earnestly, they also try to understand the psychological status of international students and better perform “self-service”. In the process of volunteer service, they found that some students were mentally depressed due to their long-time stay in the dormitory. International volunteers chatted with them to adjust their emotions, which now have returned to normal. Sajid Gul said, “We want to help other students and try to get rid of their anxiety and make them stay positive. We all believe in a better future.” He also communicated with the teachers in charge for the corresponding goods and materials, such as masks, water, etc. ZZU’s shops and Songyuan restaurant are also open to international students who living on campus, and vegetables are distributed to students twice a week.

Working together: helping others is a happy and glorious mission

While the volunteers were paying close attention to the safety of all international students, their parents abroad also were worried about them. But with their superb performance, they reassured their families and all ZZU international students.

Charlton said, “My family was quite worried about me, but I thought helping others is a great honor to me, so I told my family about my own daily life and work and let them rest assured.”Having understood Charlton, his family began to encourage him to do volunteer service, which in turn motivated him to move on. For Charlton, “happiness”, “mission” and “growth” account for why their team have chosen to devote themselves to volunteer work.

Sajid Gul leads the entire team to examine the related dormitory every day, providing mental counselling for nervous students. Although he was busy, he felt that he was also encouraged and strengthened in the process of helping others; Mussa trains the team with his own knowledge learned in the School of Pharmacy of ZZU, meanwhile he himself has gained lots of work experience and confidence in helping others; Marzieh, a master student of the Faculty of Arts, who is proficient in Chinese language, acts as a team bridge for external communication by doing translation work. When provincial and municipal leaders and school leaders came to inspect and provide guidance for epidemic prevention and control, deeply impressed by Marzieh’s performance and the whole team’s volunteer service, they encouraged them to continue their good work.

Here is the common voice from all the ZZU International Student Volunteer Service Team members, “wherever we are from, we are all ZZU students. We stand firmly with the Chinese people, resolutely respond to the call of the Chinese government, and implement the prevention and control work of school. As long as we unite as one, respond actively and overcome all odds, we firmly believe in the final victory over the novel coronavirus pandemic!”