November 20, 2008
Warm Hearts in the Cold Chill
Warm Hearts in the Cold Chill
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Chen Wen, a YICT volunteer, shares her experience of helping Luohu Station passengers stranded by snowstorms.
The worst winter storm in 50 years hit China on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year in February of 2008. Trains were either cancelled or delayed as heavy snowfall disrupted power supplies, and most of the highways were blocked, stranding millions of travellers, especially the migrant workers who were heading home to their families for the most important festival of the year.
Deciding to lend a helping hand to these passengers stranded at Shenzhen Luohu Station, my ten colleagues and I took part in the relief efforts at the station over a weekend.
Most people at the station were worn out and feeling cold after waiting for days for their homebound trains; some got very impatient and were visibly upset. Fortunately, medical services and food and water supplies were on hand. We joined the services teams from the Shenzhen Volunteer Association and were assigned in turn to several aid groups. One group helped distribute food, hot water or ginger soup; another gave out newspapers to help ease the crowd’s anxiety. And a third provided directions for taking the next trains and for ticket returns and helped carry passengers’ luggage.
In the chilly cold hours of a weekend, our offer of help was able to warm many hearts, as a number of trapped homebound passengers greeted us with smiles and xie xie (“thank you”). I think at that moment I understood what the true joy of giving and helping others felt like.