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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Shenzhen -> 
Senior volunteers craft afterglow of life 
    2022-06-29  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

Wang Haolan

Holly_cn@163.com

“NEVER feel pity for the setting sun. Look, the afterglow is even more beautiful.” The verses from Liu Yuxi (772-842)’s poem, in which he called for the hale and youthful spirit in seniors, has been chosen as the slogan for 88-year-old Zhang Wenshu and her Wanxia Handicraft Volunteer Team in Shekou’s Haichang Community.

Officially established in September 2016 under the approval of Shekou Subdistrict Social Organization Service Center, the volunteer team has 30 members, who are all senior women with an average age of around 67.

When setting foot in the team’s activity room at the Haichang Community Party and Mass Activity Center in the Nanshui residential compound, a huge glass cabinet displays hand-made bead figures and wire flowers, as well as trophies and certificates commending their volunteer work, drawing visitors’ attention.

“We do handicrafts every Tuesday, and the figurines are made by our team’s younger members,” Zhang said. “The wire flowers are made by the older members, who are all in their 70s or 80s. We will sell the handicrafts for charity and donate all the money we raise to students in poverty-stricken areas in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Fujian,” she added.

“We also do voluntary mending work for the subdistrict’s residents, introduce expats to Chinese culture, learn to sing revolution-themed songs every Thursday, and assist the community in grass-roots governance such as promoting garbage classification and organizing nucleic acid tests,” Zhang said.

Zhang graduated from China University of Mining and Technology and worked as the school’s faculty member. She came to Shenzhen following her daughter in 2012 and has been serving as a local volunteer since 2013.

To better serve the people and carry out their activities more efficiently, the team was approved by the authority as a branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2018, and Zhang, who has been a Party member for about 70 years, was elected as secretary of the branch.

While being asked about the highlights of the team’s volunteer work, Zhang didn’t hesitate to recall their experience of mending clothes for shipbuilders on Neilingding Island in 2019.

“We sent four members to the Youlian shipyard on Neilingding Island in June 2019 and mended a total of 43 pieces of clothes for shipbuilders there,” she said. “Realizing that they had a lot of clothes that needed to be mended, we sent eight members and two sewing machines to the shipyard again in December, mending a total of 83 pieces of clothes,” said Zhang.

Zhang, also the former director of the foreign affairs department of China University of Mining and Technology, said that Shekou is home to the largest expat population in Shenzhen and she must introduce them to Chinese culture as a local. The team has been cooperating with Shekou International School (SIS) to teach students to make Chinese handicrafts and hold charity sales during the school’s cultural events.

“In 2017, we invited over 500 students and teachers from kindergarten to Grade 6 at the school to celebrate the Chinese New Year with us in our activity room,” Zhang said. “We taught them to make greeting cards, wire flowers and Chinese fans and encouraged them to bring the handicraft they made home as Spring Festival gifts for their parents.”

The close connections between the team and school were not affected by the pandemic.

The team has been recognized as an outstanding example for grassroots social governance in Nanshan District. It won first prize at an innovation contest for outstanding social organizations in the district in 2017.

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