Shao Jingfeng and Tan Yifan

windysjf@hotmail.com

FRANCIS KWESI HAGAN, a Ghanaian educator, dedicated volunteer and Shenzhen Global Communication Ambassador, died of an illness in Ghana on Oct. 1. For two decades, he served Shenzhen with kindness and enthusiasm, helping neighbors, bringing people together and sharing the city’s stories with the world.

Born on Oct. 1, 1975, Hagan came to Shenzhen in 2004 and began his teaching career in the city. Over the years, he became a familiar figure in the community, known for his willingness to help and his commitment to volunteer service.

“He was always there for everybody, with good advice, ready to help, ready to offer his time to others,” said Sava Tomoiaga, a Romanian who first met Hagan in 2004 at Shenzhen Bao’an China-UK College. They both began teaching at the newly opened school and worked together for 10 years.

Tomoiaga recalled that Hagan encouraged colleagues to volunteer and had a particular talent for bringing people together.

“His passion for volunteering was contagious,” she said. “He knew how to mobilize people for many interesting activities and events.”

Wang Xueyong, principal of Shenzhen Bao’an China-UK College, said Hagan was a dedicated teacher who volunteered for many years and inspired fellow foreign teachers to join him.

Teodora Pesic, a Serbian artist and longtime Shenzhen resident, remembered Hagan as a gentleman.

“Everyone called him ‘Papa Ghana,’” Pesic said. “He was like a gentleman.”

Hagan was the first foreigner to lead an international volunteer team in Shenzhen, Pesic said, adding that his example sparked her interest in the city’s volunteer culture.

“I have been engaged in volunteer work in my home country since high school, working as a peer educator and continuing my service through university,” she said. “It is inspiring that this kind of volunteer culture is also thriving here.” Pesic now volunteers in Futian District.

Hagan registered as a Shenzhen volunteer in 2007 and served in environmental protection, recycling education, cultural promotion, activities for older adults and major city events.

He saw volunteering as a way to give back to Shenzhen, which he considered his second home. In an interview with Shenzhen Daily, he said: “The beauty of this experience is the joy that you’re serving your neighbors and that’s the richest experience one can ever have, which I count as a blessing.”

His kindness also reached people who did not know him. In June 2023, while on duty at a volunteer station near Bao’an Stadium, Hagan helped a delivery worker who had fallen on a rain-slicked road. Videos of the encounter spread widely online, drawing praise from thousands of viewers.

Beyond volunteering, Hagan helped share Shenzhen’s stories with international audiences through the Shenzhen Daily-initiated Shenzhen Global Communication Ambassador program. In 2024, he visited the Sunon Asogli Power Plant in Ghana, Shenzhen Energy Group’s first overseas infrastructure project. He filmed a video about the plant’s role in supporting electricity supply and clean energy development. The video received a merit award in 2025 at the third Micro-Video Contest on Global Green Development Stories.

Hagan was invited to share his story at the 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province.

His honors included Bao’an District’s 3rd Rose Medal for volunteer service and the title of Shenzhen’s Most Beautiful Expat Volunteer in 2022.

“Francis called Shenzhen his second home because he said that when he stepped onto the land of the city, he felt very welcomed,” said his sister, Dorcas Nkrumah. “He is everything to our family. It’s difficult for us to lose such a person at this young age. He will forever be in our hearts.”

Those who knew “Papa Ghana” will remember him not only for his awards, but also for the time he gave, the people he helped and the sense of belonging he helped create in Shenzhen.