Inspirational deeds: Liu Jie - Chinese volunteers in Nigeria

In 2019, I accidentally saw that VSO began to recruit overseas volunteers from China. Resume screening, telephone interviews, and waiting for job matching... The whole process was incredibly smooth. During the period, VSO also helped me with a series of preparations before going abroad, such as vaccination, round-trip air tickets, and international emergency medical insurance. In March 2019, I arrived in Kaduna, Nigeria, and volunteered for a year at a local charity, SHED. SHED mainly supports women and children affected by AIDS. As the only Chinese volunteer in the organization, I experienced the wonderful things that are different every day.

"Motorcycle Queen" in Kaduna City

I became the only woman in the area to ride a locomotive. Cycling on the road every day, regardless of the locals who know or don't know, they greet me voluntarily, and there are drivers who yell "women, flashing away" far away.

Supporting the AIDS program is my main job. There are up to 700,000 adolescents in Nigeria who are carriers of HIV. Lack of basic prevention knowledge is an important cause of AIDS.

Our project is designed to provide AIDS prevention training from the three main community volunteers served, and then led by these volunteers to carry out AIDS prevention and treatment services in the community, as well as the AIDS-affected children's test, for all Children affected by AIDS are registered. In three months, we visited more than 1,200 children and selected 500 children from special hardships to help them continue their studies.

It’s interesting to say that during the project, I also did something that was not common in the local area. There is no public transportation in the small town. I first asked local friends to help buy a second-hand "Fenghuang" bicycle. However, because I could not challenge to ride for 50 minutes at 40 degrees per day, I asked my friend to buy a locomotive and become the only local rider. Women on the locomotive. When I was in the dust of the project team and the children, they sent me the nickname "the queen of bike."

Big Smile in the camp

Whether in the refugee camps in Kaduna or in the orphanages, I see the most smiles, and the laughter from time to time makes people feel that life is good.

After the presidential election in April 2019, the northern part of Nigeria suffered a riot, and both Muslims and Christian communities were looted by mobs. Subsequently, the city of Kaduna built a refugee camp to house homeless refugees. In the first month after the riot, the small refugee camp actually accommodated more than 3,000 people. The first time I visited my refugee camp with my colleagues, I imagined what kind of misery would be seen. After I arrived, I saw the most smiles: the smiles of the children playing in the shade, the smiles of the women who cooked the fire for the camp, the smiles of the men, and the smiles of the volunteers in the camp...

My colleagues in the office and I started the simple game with the children: the eagle caught the chicken, skipped the rope, and jumped the lattice... That afternoon, I couldn’t believe that I was in the refugee camp, and I lost my parents and lost. Most of my loved ones and children who have lost their homes are together. And after each visit, I can always see the children's big smiles.

Four fundraising returns to the country to do photo exhibition

Lack of activity funds, visa problems... The process of running a photo exhibition is very tortuous, but as long as you work towards the goal, you will eventually realize your dreams.

Living in this quiet little town for a long time, I slowly got to know dozens of Chinese people here. During the chat, everyone mentioned that they wanted to do something for the local, but they didn't know how to do it. Suddenly, I came up with the idea of ​​going back to China to do a photo exhibition: let more people know about Nigeria and let more people see the smiling faces of the children.

Then start raising money to implement the activity. The Beijing Office of the UNAIDS is committed to the cost of hosting a photo exhibition, but the nearly $3,000 round-trip ticket to Beijing-Nigeria has become a problem. I also found the Chinese Embassy in Nepal. They have no budget for this year's activities. I suggest that I contact the Chinese-funded enterprises in Nigeria, so I will run on a family unit. Finally, the last company visited promised!

Unexpectedly, Aisha’s visa was in trouble again. In order to win her to Beijing before December 1, I went to the Chinese Embassy again and again to introduce them to our work in the community, the upcoming photo exhibition in Beijing, and finally Aisha's visa was successfully obtained.

On December 9, 2019, the photo exhibition was held as scheduled. Through the photo exhibition, we raised a total of $1,600 for children affected by AIDS. CCTV has also made an exclusive interview to introduce the life of VSO volunteers. At the same time, we also received the support of the Nigerian Embassy in China. The ambassador not only donated money to our activities, but also promised to support related activities in the future.

Conclusion

In a blink of an eye, in April 2019, just one year of volunteering was over. Liu Jie returned to Beijing, which should be familiar, but always had a strange feeling. Sometimes I think of life in Africa, she will not be able to breathe for a few seconds. One day in the future, she will return to Africa.