Foreign manager happy to join the fight

David Gravier, a manager at BOMESC Offshore Engineering Co, a privately run Chinese company in the northern port city of Tianjin, has been featured on local TV as a result of his efforts to twice help facilitate a large number of nucleic acid tests. 

"We can say it's kind of voluntary work, but I think it's 'part of my job' to do it," the French national said. 

He also applauded the efforts of some foreign colleagues. "I should say that wasn't just me. Four other French managers and one Canadian manager also joined the efforts during the tests last year. It was a commitment to everyone in our company, including workers and managers, as well as to our community," he said.

Gravier arrived in China in January last year, "just one week before the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic", he recalled.

The first test was launched in February last year, when the company needed to resume business in a bid to get back on schedule for a project that began in October 2019.

Following government requests, a massive nucleic acid testing effort was launched for all BOMESC's staff at its different sites, including Tianjin's coastal Binhai New Area.

The second test was launched in November, when the area saw another outbreak and new tests were required everywhere within the area.

"We have some 300 international staff, and they have about 20 children with them. We hope to build a 'family environment' for all the staff members, so I asked the volunteers, including David, to help," said Chen Yankui, a manager for BOMESC's international staff.

Gravier said: "We five members just helped to provide guidance in terms of times and locations for the tests, and in particular, help to keep the kids (in line) in the big and cold courtyard during winter. The local government has done a great job in epidemic prevention."

Foreign volunteer joins community service

Every afternoon, Nami Moallem puts on a mask, wears a red band around his arm and checks residents' temperature at the front gate of a community with an infrared thermometer in Northern China's Tianjin Municipality.

He has volunteered to help with epidemic prevention and control in his community every day for more than a month. He takes the temperature of the residents, checks their entry permits and writes down records of entries and exits.

The 58-year-old is from Canada and has coached student football teams at schools in Tianjin since 2007.

Nami and his family traveled in Southeast Asia during the Spring Festival holiday when the epidemic became serious in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province.

"My brother asked me to come back to Canada directly, but my home is in Tianjin right now. I just had to come back here," he said.

After arriving in Tianjin, Nami told local district officials about his family's travel history, underwent quarantine for 14 days and got his own health QR code.

"If I had a fever, the local people can check my mobile phone and trace my movements based on the health QR code, which is necessary for the epidemic prevention and control," Nami said, adding that the facts proved these anti-epidemic measures were very effective.

Then, Nami joined a local volunteer team. Many of his foreign friends asked Nami why he did this as he would have an increased chance of exposure to the virus.

Nami thought it was a good opportunity to educate his two sons and let them know about the spirit of unity by working together to fight the epidemic regardless of backgrounds.

"I did the volunteer work not only for me or my family but for the whole community. That's meaningful," Nami said.

"Though I just did little, I hope more foreign people will see what I am doing and work together with the Chinese to fight the epidemic," Nami said, as many cities in China recently reported imported cases from overseas.

Zhao Ming, who established the volunteer team with 51 members, said the community has about 300 foreign residents.

"Nami can help us with translation," Zhang said. "It is so much easier with his help to communicate with foreign people."

"I believe that I'm a world citizen and that the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens. We are stronger when we are united," Nami said. 

Foreign volunteer helps facilitate nucleic acid test

On Aug 7, the Nankai district of Tianjin launched a nucleic acid test for COVID-19. The scope of the test included all construction site workers in the district, all workers in the Gulou commercial area, and residents of surrounding communities.

At the testing area, people waited for the test in orderly lines. Pawel from Poland, a former foreign teacher at Maple Leaf International School-Tianjin Huayuan, was a volunteer. Since starting his volunteer work, he had been busy helping maintain order at the site, making sure that people stayed 1 meter apart from each other while waiting in line. Pawel remained in Tianjin throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that his life and work were here, adding that staying in the city gave him a sense of security.

After hearing that volunteers were needed, he decided to pitch in. The volunteer work became meaningful to him.