Recently 25 international students from the College of International Education at Wenzhou University have actively involved in volunteer work and made great contribution to the pandemic control work in the university and we highly praise their pandemic control work.

On 25 March morning inside the international students dormitory of Wenzhou University, our international student volunteers were knocking on each door in the dormitory to take the temperature of all international students and hand out COVID-19 prevention flyers in Chinese and English languages; at the entrance to the College of International Education of Wenzhou University, volunteers were reminding students entering the college to wear masks and advising the students that masks were available at the reception desk.

Currently Wenzhou University accommodates over 200 international students from over 70 countries including Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Tanzania. In answering the call of the university, 25 international students voluntarily formed the international students pandemic control volunteer team and they provided important services in taking temperature daily, promoting pandemic control policies, organizing daily schedule and providing precautionary reminders. “I have always enjoyed helping others,” said Weiwei Jin, a member of the volunteer team from Nigeria, “by volunteering I have also learned a lot of pandemic control methods. Each time when I video chat with my family, I will teach them those methods as well, such as frequent handwash and mask wearing and so on.”

In face of another round of COVID-19 outbreak, international students are no longer panicking. Instead they are much calmer, more confident, and quicker to respond and act. Their sense of responsibility and inclusion has greatly increased. “Every day in the morning and evening, we have volunteers at the door to take our temperature and teachers regularly come to the dormitory to advertise pandemic control policies as well. Thanks to the strict pandemic control measures, we feel very safe due to the excellent control of pandemic outbreak in China. To tell you the truth, this is something my country should learn from.” Said Feifei Ai from Malaysia.

“Same as domestic undergraduate and postgraduate students, international students are an important part of the pandemic control program at Wenzhou University. In the beginning of the pandemic control process amongst international students, we came across some difficulties as they felt that their privacy had been violated by checking their contact tracing codes.” Said Jianxiao Fang, Deputy Secretary of College of International Education at Wenzhou University. Thanks to the continuous efforts of the school, the international students not only fully understand the importance of the pandemic control measures but also actively involve themselves in the epidemic prevention and control work. From the initial outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 up till now, three years have passed. Lots of our international students haven’t been able to go back to their home countries to reunite with their family. Therefore, during summer and winter break each year, the College of International Education at Wenzhou University would organize colorful activities to help soothe the homesickness of our international students.