Edwin Athanas Mmari (left) works as a volunteer in a community COVID-19 testing center in Beijing

Ever since arriving in Beijing several years ago, I have been extremely interested in working as a volunteer. That’s because I see it as a way to show appreciation and express gratitude to China for its support to the socio-economic development of African countries, as well as its efficient handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When new infections of COVID-19 emerged in Beijing in April, the city launched mass nucleic acid testing. One day when I went to take the test at our community, which is located in Wanyuan Nanli, Fengtai District in Beijing, I approached one of the testing center supervisors and expressed interest in working as a volunteer at the testing center, although I did not expect that she would take my request into consideration. 

However, after two days, she contacted me and asked if I would like to volunteer for two hours. I agreed without any hesitation, despite having some doubts about how the residents will perceive a foreigner working as a volunteer. 

On my first day as a volunteer, I arrived at the testing site early. They asked me to put on special protective clothes, mask and gloves and told me my task was to send nucleic acid testing tubes from one testing site to another. I was both excited and nervous. In the end, I did my job as instructed and, to my surprise, the residents were glad to see me helping people. Some of them complimented me with kind words such as “you are a good person.” Others wanted to know more about me, such as my nationality, and after I replied in Chinese, they were impressed by my language proficiency. My working time was two hours, but I decided to work for four hours. It was one of the happiest days in my life.  

Then on a Saturday, I was assigned to a different testing site which is just 10 minutes from my home and my task was to request each resident to scan the QR code using Beijing Jiankangbao - a mobile-based app used to check health codes and provide nucleic acid testing services. It was a sweltering day and I still needed to wear the protective clothes, mask, and gloves. My whole body was sweating. That made me realize how hard it was for other volunteers and health workers who must wear those protective clothes for hours every day. 

It was an unbelievably valuable experience. It helped me learn that Chinese people always follow the rules without making any complaint. There was not a single person who refused to scan the QR code or get the body temperature checked when I requested them to do so.  

As a foreigner living in China, I think the measures taken by the Chinese Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are necessary and have been effective in bringing new cases down and controlling COVID-19 outbreaks. 

The author is a Tanzanian living in Beijing