At present, overseas pandemics are spreading rapidly. As one of the first entry points for international flights, Tianjin has received a number of confirmed cases from abroad. A few days ago, NKU quickly set up a voluntary translator army for pandemic prevention. The first batch of 25 volunteers made up of teachers and students from different language departments of CFL assembled and marched to assist relevant departments to do the translation work of customs clearance, personnel registration, and diversion and transference. In addition, the second batch of teacher and student volunteers will also continue to provide services.
Quick Assemble within Three Hours
Knowing the needs of language service volunteers, leaders of NKU and CFL attached great importance to it. They immediately made the plan, contacted students in Tianjin through counselors, and called on all students to carry forward the spirit of Nankai and get prepared for pandemic prevention. In just 3 hours, more than 80% of the students in Tianjin majoring in the needed languages resolutely joined the army—
10 in Italian, 7 in German, 9 in Russian, and 1 in English (because there are not enough students majoring in Russian in Tianjin, students majoring in English will replace them). In addition, according to the urgent needs of relevant departments, leaders of CFL took the initiative to ask for a battle, with a teacher and a student from French department going to the scene to work as translators on March 22nd. CFL finally selected 25 people (including 4 teachers) as the first batch of the army, and the remaining students enrolled will be the second batch.
Teachers and students with CPC identity volunteered. Among the 4 teachers who act as language guides for the voluntary translators in the team, 3 of them are members of the CPC, who belong to the Party branch of the Non-Universal Language Teacher of CFL. Teacher Zhao Chunmei, from Russian department, who serves as the branch secretary, agreed to join the army without hesitation after receiving the notice. “Yes, no problem! I am on standby at any time when facing against the outbreak”. Shi Dou, teacher from Italian department and a committee member of the branch, also agreed gladly, saying “It is totally fine to send me to the scene as I am free from self-isolation”. French teacher He Mengying, a member of CPC, even received the notice of the emergent service on the next morning that night, and became the first batch of volunteers of the team. Besides, since there were few Russian majors of our university in Tianjin, an English language major graduate student is need recruiting. Zhang Yawen, a Ph.D. student of CFL, signed up for the first time. She said, “The epidemic is an order. I used to work in airlines with foreign affairs experience. At this point, I should clarify my identity as CPC members and stand at the frontline if it is needed.
China Communist Youth League members responded positively. There are totally 32 students majoring relevant languages in Tianjin, of which 26 responded soon and joined the voluntary translator team. Liu Si, a 2018 undergraduate majoring Italian, expressed her willingness on the phone after learning about the needs of volunteers. She said, “The soul of NKU is the soul of patriotism. It is my practice of the spirit of NKU that I devote myself to the country when it needs me. In the face of the common battle shared by the global people and when the trend of overseas imports becomes worse, countless nameless heroes will come back, and I will also strive to provide accurate and efficient language services, to contribute the strength from youth to the frontline of epidemic prevention.” Among them, some students even need to take care of their grandparents because of their parents’ business trips. Even so, she still insists on participating in this voluntary translation work. “It doesn’t matter. I can handle it.” There are also students whose family members are affected by their pioneering consciousness. Yue Daiyao, the 2016 undergraduate in Germany major, conveyed her mother ’s enthusiasm of being volunteer to the counselor through WeChat. Her mother states that “I graduated from Japanese department of CFL. If there is any help I can do, please inform me at any time and I don’t need any subsidies and meals.”
This is the patriotic quality and devotion spirit of NKUers passing on from generation to generation.
On the Posts in 12 Hours
At around 10 p.m. on March 21st, NKU received the urgent needs from the relevant departments, and actively arranged a teacher and a student from French department to work on the spot as translation services on March 22nd.
At 10 a.m. on March 22nd, the first batch ofNKU Voluntary Translator Army for Pandemic Prevention—teacher He Mengying and student Wang Peidong, took up their duties immediately. They gathered at the designated location and headed to Tianjin Binhai International Airport. After knowing the working procedures, the staff of airport instructed them to put on the protective clothing to receive the international flight from France that day. Under the physical discomfort caused by wearing the protective clothing for the first time and the psychological pressure caused by the first work, our volunteers worked for five hours and successfully completed the mission of picking up and shunting the foreigners on international flights. They applied the most professional language skills of NKUers to serve the country’s pandemic prevention, and demonstrated China’s efforts in anti-epidemic to the world.
Teacher He Mengying was responsible for the translation for the foreigners in the flights from Paris to Beijing. “I was in charge of two sets of translators today. I met a French kid who intentionally drew a picture that portrayed the working status of me and other staffs, which makes me feel very warm.” “Good translations can facilitate a more effective communication and understanding between passengers and airport staffs. Facing the unknown and challenges, one requires a brave heart and a sense of responsibility. I feel rather honored and proud to be at the frontline of pandemic prevention and to devote myself” said He Mengying, a young Party member.
“The sultry protective clothing triggers mental torment. However, when I was thinking that the medical staffs who wear protective clothing and fight on the frontline against the epidemic all the day are so determined, I could hang on. I hope that the volunteers can work actively to assist the airport staffs to complete the task and make contribution to the first hurdle of China’s pandemic prevention.” This is what volunteer Wang Peidong said after completing today’s work. Born after the millennium, he is the monitor of 2018 French Class and an applicant for the Communist Party membership as well. “Boy Yesterday, Great Man Today.”
Get Ready in 24/7
The main task of the voluntary translator team is to provide multilingual translation services for foreign travelers and to assist frontline epidemic prevention workers to do the prevention work for the foreigners entering the country. Therefore, the service time needs to be determined according to the flight situation, which means the services are mostly urgent and temporary tasks.
All departments of NKU have fully supported the team, instantly maintaining the accommodation, transportation, medical protection of the volunteers. They have also carried out volunteer management training, psychological counseling, etc., to be the strongest backing for the army.
CFL has quickly established several professional services WeChat groups to assign teachers to give overall guidance to the student volunteers. Professional teachers and counselors conducted pre-job training and language guidance for volunteers in the WeChat groups. “I hope you can overcome the difficulties as much as possible and NKU and CFL will provide you with the best protection.” The counselors who are responsible for matching with the volunteers encouraged and supported them in the WeChat group. “The two links above are the related vocabularies. There are a lot of contents directly related with COVID-19 in the PDF files and I hope everyone could learn these.” The professional teachers in charge of language guidance have successively sent everyone different languages materials.
“Get Ready in 24/7 with Intensive Preparation.” This is the response and commitment made by NKU Voluntary Translator Army for Pandemic Prevention.
t is firmly believed that the first batch of volunteers of the army will be able to complete the language service with the most professional ability, the greatest enthusiasm, and the most determined fighting spirit in the following tasks! The second batch of volunteers is in its recruitment and is ready to match.
Let’s look at the list of the first batch of NKU Voluntary Translator Army for Pandemic Prevention:
The second batch has now been partially recruited and is waiting for departure at any time. They are:
The outbreak is an order, and prevention is the responsibility. Confronting the most important pandemic prevention, teachers and students of NKU deserve to be respected for their spirits of sacrificing self-interests and dedicating to the public.
