The final review of the Fifth China Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition was held in Dongguan, Guangdong Province from November 22 to 24. Itwas jointly organized by the Central Communist Youth League, the Central Spirit Civilization Office, the Ministries of Civil Affairs, Water Resources, and Culture and Tourism, the National Health Commission, the China Disabled Persons' Federation and provincial and municipal Party committees and governments. The Hand in Hand volunteer project for the disabled of the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) at Tongji University won a national silver prize! The project also won a gold medal of the second Dedication Cup in the Shanghai Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition of Youth Impact on Society.

Two decades have passed since the Hand in Hand volunteer project for the disabled of the SFL was launched. Over the years, the project has witnessed tremendous changes in society. More than 800 teachers and students from SFL devoted their time and energy  to the volunteer service. They encouraged the disabled, warmed their heart and enlightened their life with volunteering spirit, which showcased  Tongji’s aspirations of “serving the people and the world with one heart, on the same boat, and with the responsibility of rejuvenating the Chinese nation”.

About the Project

In 2001, the SFL at Tongji signed an agreement with the Yangpu District Disabled Persons’ Federation and established a “Hand in Hand” volunteer service center for the disabled. Volunteers offered language tutoring to children of the disabled and organized  a wide variety of social services such as seminars, summer practices and charity sales. The tutoring has gone beyond teaching English by motivating the children to change from accepting knowledge passively to acquiring learning skills actively. In the past 20 years, our volunteers have contributed more than 16,000 hours in over 8,000 volunteer programs, benefiting nearly 1,000 families.