100 years ago, my grandparents, both Americans, came to Suzhou to serve the community. Today by doing this volunteer work, I kind of feel like I’m doing what they would want me to do. Fighting for Suzhou!
"It’s fun to open my WeChat to all of these messages from people asking, 'Is that you?'"
The volunteer in the video is Ellen E. Touchstone from the U.S. She came to live in Suzhou and work at XJTLU in August, 2012. When asked how she feels after her video went viral online, she said,"Being featured in different social media channels has allowed me to encourage more people to volunteer and hopefully promoted the idea of global cooperation. It’s also put me back in touch with people I hadn’t spoken with in several years!"
Ellen's family, even back several generations to when her grandparents worked at Soochow Hospital and Soochow University 100 years ago, have always believed in community service whether paid or as a volunteer. When her friends asked her to volunteer yesterday, she thought it would be a great opportunity to support her community at a very difficult time.
Ellen contributed significantly to the testing. She made certain that each person in line had a green code and did not have a temperature.
Ellen is explaining matters for attention.
She also served as an interpreter for the expat community members explaining the directions in English, French and German.
Ellen is keeping order at the sampling site in her community.
"We all worked together really well even though we came from different professions and perspectives. Everyone in line and working or volunteering was very kind to each other; at one point I saw a policeman kicking back the football to one of the young international boys who was waiting in line. I thought that was very poignant and a sign of respect and cooperation. We really are all in this together!"
Ellen feels good about Suzhou’s ability to fight this outbreak.
Ellen thinks that Suzhou is doing a great job combatting this outbreak. "Information from the government and our local communities is being communicated in a timely manner and the testing even seems to be quicker as we all get used to and improve the procedures."
As Ellen said, we believe we can fight this outbreak, all we need to do is to be smart, listen to the science and help each other through this! Suzhou together!
Up to now, Suzhou has recruited 120,000 volunteers, providing a total of 139,000 voluntary services to fight against the pandemic.
