Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    A GROUP of 35 students and five faculty members from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) paid a visit to a local special school in Longhua District yesterday, bringing gifts and hugs to the children with mental or physical disabilities at the school.

    The students, between the ages of 18 and 28 years old, are visiting China from Saturday until Saturday, in a function of the Denning and Technology and Management Program at Georgia Tech.

    The visit was organized by a local charity called “A Heart for China,” which was founded by a Belgian named Ronny Verdoodt who lives in Shenzhen.

    Upon arrival yesterday afternoon, the American students were briefed about the school, called Huayang Special Children Rehabilitation Center, before they interacted with the children there.

    Most of the kids at the school are orphans who suffer from serious cerebral palsy or Down syndrome.

    “When we eventually visited the kids, they (the students) were a bit shy to enter the rooms, but after a few minutes they interacted well with the children,” said Verdoodt.

    Like most volunteers who visit the school under the arrangement of the charity group, the students hugged and played little games with the children.

    “It’s hard to capture the idea that charity is still possible in a simple way in these times in this world,” said one of the students known as Zach Abrams.

    A professor from the university, Zhang Han, said that he was happy to see the students getting involved with the kids yesterday as they are always either working or studying. “Most of our students have high degrees and are very smart people. I am happy to see that the students see the world through these kids’ eyes and hope they learn from it,” said Zhang.

    “It was difficult for them to say goodbye when the kids had dinner. Many of them were touched after the event and I think that we made an impression by how we do charity volunteering in China.”

    Apart from attending a charity event in Shenzhen, the students will also visit some companies in the city and attend a course at Shenzhen University as a function of their studies in marketing.