Written by: Geoffrey Schofield Giving back to your community is never easy, and this is particularly true when you are living in a foreign country. There has been a noticeable dearth in volunteer programs in Shenzhen, particularly for foreigners. That is why Bruno Schuyten established the H.O.P.E program jointly with the Shenzhen local authorities, which stands for “Help One Person Everyday”. It is a great way to help others and make new friends. The program emphasizes giving back to the local community, entrepreneurship, as well as forging a stronger connection between locals and foreigners living in Shenzhen.
The program has three weekly events, which includes English classes on Monday’s and Tuesday’s from 12:45 to 13:45, a Chinese corner on Tuesday evenings from 19:00 to 20:00 and a cultural exchange on Friday’s from 12:45 to 13:45. The program also has special events every Saturday, the last of which included a cleanup of Nanshan mountain on July 13th.
Future events that are planned include meeting with local service centers for constructive discussions, an introduction to all natural solutions do-it-yourself, and going to local hospitals to volunteer. The program will also be offering free translations for community service centers involved with foreigners, opportunities for foreigners to share stories and information about their home countries with locals, and for the particularly brave, donating blood. In order to replenish your vitamins and minerals to help recover from all of that hard work, tea, kombucha, coffee and beer brewing classes are planned as well.
If you have volunteering ideas of your own about how to make our shared community better, or just want to get involved, you can scan the QR below to follow the H.O.P.E programs official WeChat account.