China Daily Global Edition (USA)
EXPATS REMAIN TO HELP COMBAT COVID-19
Foreign volunteers show their fighting spirit
Editor’snote: Since the start of this year, China Daily has published more than 40 reports in a series titled “Novel Experience”, telling the stories of foreigners living in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. We catch up with some of them to hear their latest experiences.
Two years ago, Sina Karami, 29, became a barista in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, by sheer chance.
In 2018, Karami, who comes from Iran and at the time was an overseas student in Wuhan, was strolling along a street with friends in the city’s Optics Valley area, where a new cafe named Wakanda was being built.
The boss of the cafe was impressed by Karami’s appearance and asked whether he had an interest in coffee and wanted to work for the business. The student, who had experience in selling coffee in Iran, readily agreed.
“I knew nothing about China and the Chinese language before I came here. I was wondering why the country had developed so fast in recent years, so I came to see for myself,” he said.
“After one semester learning Chinese, I thought that if I really wanted to experience the country’s culture, it would be better to learn from real life, rather than on campus.”
After being invited to work for the cafe, Karami quit college, obtained a work visa and became a full-time barista at Wakanda.
The cafe, a 2-year-old startup, delivered some 500 cups of coffee a day free of charge to medical workers when the city was hit hard by COVID-19.
On Jan 23, a lockdown was enforced in Wuhan to curb the spread of the disease, and Wakanda outlets were closed.
The Optics Valley cafe reopened three days after the lockdown was imposed.
The company’s boss, Tian Yazhen, who is in her 20s, decided to open this outlet near Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She said many medics come to the store during the day or after work to buy coffee.
“Like many companies, we faced cash flow challenges and even bankruptcy due to the pandemic. I thought of sending the last cups of coffee to our long-time customers,” she said.
Karami was among seven workers who volunteered to help. His mother called him every day, asking him to return to Iran, but he chose to remain in China.
“After all, many of my friends were here. I was also worried that it would take a long time before I could travel to China again,” he said.
The cafe donated about 40,000 cups of coffee and other beverages to medical workers in the two months to April, with encouraging words written on the cups. “We wanted to cheer them up,” Karami said.
One doctor commented online that many stores refused to send deliveries to hospitals, fearing infection, but the cafe volunteered to help, which was “very moving”.
After media reports appeared on the assistance offered by the cafe, many netizens showed their support for medical workers by ordering its coffee online for them, with total payments reaching about 3 million yuan ($458,964). The cafe named this coffee “Wuhan latte”.
Karami said, “I felt the kindness and power of Chinese people who were willing to help each other,” adding that he shared his experience and the action taken by China to fight the pandemic with people in Iran.
He is now in charge of another Wakanda store, where he works many hours a day. Customers also visit this outlet to buy “Wuhan latte”.
Karami said he wants to stay in China for the next few years and visit Xiamen, Fujian province — perhaps with his boss — to expand the business. He added that he wants to improve himself in order to help more people.
Chongqing disruption
In Chongqing, hotel manager Sharon Fraser has had a busy time preparing for the holiday season.
“We have had many bookings for Christmas and New Year dinners, as well as parties,” she said.
However, the New Zealander said that back in January it was a different story, with business disrupted during Spring Festival due to measures taken to prevent and control COVID-19.
After the outbreak emerged, Fraser, general manager of the Crowne Plaza Chongqing Jiefangbei hotel, was determined to remain in the city to look after guests and employees. She also wanted to stay to hold down the hotel’s operating costs, despite New Zealand advising its nationals in China to return home.
With her dedicated work, Fraser led the hotel through difficult times, and it was given approval on March 3 to resume business.
She said she felt fortunate to have remained in China since the start of the outbreak, adding: “I am very grateful for the government taking good care of us. They did a really good job.”
On March 15, Chongqing was declared free of confirmed COVID-19 cases when the last patient recovered and was discharged from the hospital 55 days after the outbreak began in the municipality.
According to multiple sources, as of Tuesday morning, there had been 590 confirmed cases of the disease in Chongqing, with six deaths and 584 patients recovering.
At the start of the outbreak, the city of 30 million faced a serious battle to control the disease, as Chongqing has close transportation links with Wuhan, the area hardest hit by the virus in China.
Fraser said, “In spring, people were still very cautious, but when summer arrived and the COVID-19 situation had been stable for a while, they started going out, shopping and partying again.”
She said that to ensure the safety of guests and employees during the pandemic, the InterContinental Hotels Group, which her hotel is managed by, launched IHG Clean Promise, which included a deep cleaning and disinfection process.
To date, there have been no COVID-19 infections at the hotel.
After living in Beijing and Shanghai, Fraser moved to Chongqing in 2011, where she immediately felt at home. She enjoys walking around the old area of the city and also doing yoga and Pilates.
“My life has returned to normal and business at the hotel is improving,” she said.
Although the outlook for next year remains uncertain due to the pandemic, Fraser remains upbeat about the future.
“The pandemic has helped us appreciate a lot of things that we used to take for granted. I hope I can keep healthy, happy and busy in the coming year,” she said.
Shenzhen volunteer
In February, when the pandemic was at its height in China, Dushyant Kumar, an Indian cinematographer living in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, had the chance to return to his home country.
However, he turned the opportunity down and chose to stay in China.
“I just went about my business, and whenever I had the time, I also did some volunteer work,” Kumar said.
“On Feb 5, the Indian embassy contacted me, asking me to return to India. Many people were going back, but I thought this was a bad idea,” he said.
The previous month, an official from the Shenzhen government contacted Kumar and asked him whether he needed help.
“It was very, very touching. I’m just an ordinary person who nobody knows. No country — not even my own — would ever do such a thing,” he said.
“This is a war and I want to fight the virus with the Chinese people,” he added.
Kumar started doing volunteer work at his community on Feb 17.
In March, he started work as a volunteer on the frontline at Shenzhen Bay Port, a point of entry in the city for overseas arrivals.
At the time, the risk from the virus was high, and he had to wear a protective suit.
As it was inconvenient and unsafe to remove the suit at work, he had to wear a diaper the whole day and refrain from eating.
“I cannot imagine just how hard the Chinese doctors and nurses have worked,” he said.
After working at the port for the first time, he had to be quarantined for 14 days before starting his second stint.
Kumar helped dozens of foreigners from Russia, the United States, Thailand and the United Kingdom at the port.
“China has handled the pandemic very well. It’s been awesome. The people are helping each other,” he said.
He added that he had visited a community, where he found a notice posted on the front gate stating, “If you are in difficulty, we can offer a helping hand.”
Out of curiosity, Kumar asked a security guard whether he would really be helped if he was in trouble.
The guard replied: “We will do everything we can to offer help if you need it. If you do not have anything to eat at home, we will send you some food.”
Kumar said, “I grew up in the UK and have traveled to many countries, but I have never come across such a touching experience.”
To share his knowledge about combating the virus, he produced a documentary about ways in which people can protect themselves. The video was translated into more than 20 languages.
“The documentary did particularly well in India, Italy and Russia,” he said.
Kumar remains concerned about his family members in New Delhi, where the virus is still raging.
“I tell them of the experience I have learned from China about self-isolating at home. If they have to go outside, they should fully protect themselves, as my video shows,” he said.
Kumar thinks that maintaining social distancing is highly important and is a social responsibility.
He said that as the government is doing everything it can to help people, they should also shoulder their responsibilities, such as quarantining at home and scanning QR health codes whenever they visit public areas. “These measures are aimed at protecting ourselves,” he said. Rising at 5 am on workdays, Kumar spends a total of four hours commuting on public transportation between his office in Luohu district and his home in Dapeng district.
Although the traveling can be tiring, he said he is happy, as he can be with his wife each day. “It’s like Valentine’s Day every day,” he added.
During weekends, he helps his wife cook at home or listens to her singing karaoke.
“I am very happy in China,” he said, adding that he views the country as one of the safest in the world.
“You can do whatever you want and you can go anywhere as long as you abide by the law, ” he said.
Kumar added that he wants to make more videos to tell foreigners about the ideal investment opportunities in Shenzhen and the promising prospects in the city.
“The pandemic has helped us appreciate a lot of things that we used to take for granted. I hope I can keep healthy, happy and busy in the coming year.”
Sharon Fraser, Chongqing hotel manager from New Zealand
“I felt the kindness and power of Chinese people who were willing to help each other.”
Sina Karami, from Iran, a barista in Wuhan, Hubei province