Pat: Volunteering Service Justifies Self-worth

By Zhou Xianxian

The first time I connected with Sadi Patrick Makangila (Pat for short),I texted him my Chinese name.Considering he was a Congolese man, I added pinyin to my name because the character “xian” is not often available in our daily life.

“Does xian of fengxian(dedication) need to beromanized?” As soon as my message was sent out, Pat replied me with this question.I suddenly felt that I had underestimated his Chinese.I was a little embarrassed and quickly apologized for it. How could I suspect that a person who has been volunteering in Wuhan,China for nearly five years would not know the word “xian”(dedication), a word stamped into the volunteering spirit?

Being a doctoral student,Pat is now the leader of the International Students’ Volunteer Team of Central China Normal University. He came to Wuhan from his native country of Congo(DRC) for further studies. When he first arrived in Wuhan, Pat could neither speak Chinese,nor adapt to the Wuhan climate,often feeling depressed and helpless. Later, his roommate recommended him to join the International Students’ Volunteer Team. Pat felt better after participating in activities and communicating with others.

華中師范大學(xué)洋雷鋒志愿隊總隊長帕特Sadi Patrick Makangila, leader of the CCNU International Students’ Volunteer Team

The volunteer team consists of international students from dozens of countries. It is the uniform hats, vests and volunteering service that pool them together. “We’re all the same, and each of us can make the world better,” Pat said. “We’re a small world and we’re all sisters and brothers.”

Lei Feng is a household name in China. He was an ordinary soldier who was willing to help others when he was alive. Mao Zedong once wrote, “Learn from Comrade Lei Feng,” and called on all citizens to learn from him.However, it is not easy to serve the people as wholeheartedly as Lei Feng. Pat searched for Lei Feng’s stories on the Internet and watched Lei Feng’s movies. He said that he was deeply moved by Lei Feng’s spirit of being helpful and sel fl ess, and that he wanted to do good deeds in China.

華師洋雷鋒志愿隊在漢馬CCNU International Students’ Volunteer Team serving at Wuhan Marathon 2018

華師洋雷鋒志愿隊在小學(xué)支教CCNU International Students’ Volunteer Team volunteering in a local primary school

“A leadership role is 1% honor and 99% responsibility.” Pat became a leader in 2015, when the team was in “infantry training.”In order to foster a team spirit,he engaged in designing the team uniforms, flags, and emblems to attract more international students to join in the volunteer team.

Pat, with his teammates,often works at different subway stations, offering help as a translator, guiding the way,carrying things for the disabled,and buying tickets for the elderly.During the Spring Festival,they go to train stations where volunteers are more needed.Volunteers are required to be on duty at eight in the morning. Pat lives far away, and often gets up atfive, setting off before dawn.

During the Spring Festival the railway station is a sea of passengers coming and going,and returning home with heavy luggage. Volunteers are needed to help the old and the disabled to carry their luggage to the train.Pat once shouldered more than 100 kilograms of luggage. After a day of work, his hands and feet ache. Even so, he would still lend his seat to the elderly on the subway. “Though very tired, we feel very happy because we do what we like and it makes sense,”Pat speaks to us in fl uent Chinese.

So far, Pat has provided more than 200 hours of volunteering services at different subway stations in Wuhan. At the very beginning, he was questioned about his ulterior motives,and now he has become an acquaintance at the subway stations and reaped countless thanks.

In addition, Pat and his teammates are engaged in many other volunteering activities,such as being volunteer teachers,donating blood, and visiting the elderly and orphans. Currently,they also provide volunteering services for international events such as Wuhan Tennis Open and Wuhan Marathon. Pat said their next goal was to strive for volunteering work for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 and other international events.

Pat worked hard on his Chinese, hoping to succeed in his volunteering services with a better command of the language.He said that volunteering service enabled him to encounter many people and things. In doing so, he can understand Chinese people and society better. Furthermore,his actions have changed people’s attitude to his work. He has,become more cheerful and openminded, and finds more value in his volunteering activities.

華師洋雷鋒志愿隊在春運期間提供志愿服務(wù)CCNU International Students’ Volunteer Team serving during the Spring Festival

Pat has become a part of the city. He can eat with chopsticks,navigate with Baidu maps, and hail a taxi on Didi.He hopes that his future spouse is also a volunteer because he believes that volunteers are goodhearted people, and he likes people with a kind heart.

和帕特第一次聊天時，我把中文名字發(fā)給他，考慮到他是剛果人，而我名字中的“獻”字不常用，所以在名字后面加注了拼音。

“奉獻的獻還要寫拼音？”信息剛發(fā)出，帕特就回了這行字。我頓時覺得低估了他的中文水平，有點尷尬，連忙道歉。轉(zhuǎn)念一想，也是，一個在中國武漢做了近五年志愿者的人，怎么會不認識志愿者精神中的“奉獻”二字呢？

帕特是華中師范大學(xué)洋雷鋒志愿隊總隊長，在讀博士。2013年，他從自己的祖國剛果（金）來武漢上學(xué)。初到武漢，帕特并不會漢語，也不適應(yīng)武漢天氣，常常感到郁悶和無助。后來，室友推薦他加入華師洋雷鋒志愿隊，活動豐富多了，生活半徑也擴大了許多，帕特感覺慢慢好起來。

志愿隊里有幾十個國家的留學(xué)生，一色的帽子、馬甲，志愿服務(wù)讓他們聚集在一起。“我們都是一樣的，我們每一個人都可以讓世界變得更好。”帕特說，“我們就像一個小世界，大家都是兄弟姐妹。”

雷鋒是中國家喻戶曉的一名普通士兵，因為他樂于助人，毛澤東曾號召全國“向雷鋒同志學(xué)習(xí)”，但要真正做到像雷鋒那樣全心全意為人民服務(wù)并不容易。帕特在網(wǎng)上搜索雷鋒的相關(guān)事跡，觀看了雷鋒題材的電影。他說，雷鋒身上那種樂于助人、無私奉獻的精神深深打動了他，他也想像雷鋒一樣，在中國做好事。

“隊長只意味著1%的榮譽，剩下的99%都是責(zé)任。”帕特在2015年接任總隊長，那個時候，團隊還很不成熟。為加強團隊建設(shè)，他自己參與隊服的設(shè)計，張羅隊旗、隊徽等事宜，只為能影響更多的人，讓更多的人加入志愿隊中來。

帕特經(jīng)常和隊友一起在地鐵站提供翻譯、指路、拎重物、指導(dǎo)買票等服務(wù)，春運的時候他們就轉(zhuǎn)移到更需要志愿者的火車站。志愿者要求早上八點到崗，帕特住得遠，經(jīng)常五點起床，天還沒亮就出發(fā)了。

火車站人來人往，春運趕回家的人行李都很多，志愿者需要幫年老體弱者把行李搬到火車上，帕特有一次就提過100多斤重的行李。結(jié)束完一天的志愿服務(wù)，手腳酸痛。即使這樣，他們在回家的地鐵上遇到老人還是會讓座。“雖然很累，但因為我們做的是自己喜歡、有意義的事情，還是覺得很幸福。”帕特用流利的中文說。

到目前為止，帕特在武漢地鐵站提供了200多個小時的志愿服務(wù)，從最開始被別人質(zhì)疑，擔(dān)心他別有用心，到現(xiàn)在成為地鐵站的熟人，他收獲了數(shù)不盡的“謝謝”。

除了地鐵志愿服務(wù)外，帕特和他的團隊還開展其他公益活動，如義務(wù)支教、獻血、看望孤寡老人和孤兒。目前，他們已為武漢網(wǎng)球公開賽、武漢馬拉松等國際賽事提供過志愿服務(wù)。帕特說，他們接下來的目標是爭取在2022年為北京冬奧會提供志愿服務(wù),走向更廣闊的世界。

帕特苦練中文，在服務(wù)中大膽運用，水平突飛猛進。他說志愿服務(wù)讓他接觸了很多人和事，他能夠很好地感受這個城市，更好地了解中國人和中國社會。更重要的是，他用實際行動改變了周圍人對他的看法，找到了自己的價值所在，變得更加開朗、更加熱愛生活。

如今，帕特已經(jīng)融入了這個城市。他習(xí)慣用筷子吃飯、用百度地圖導(dǎo)航，還會用滴滴打車。他希望自己的另一半也是志愿者，因為他覺得志愿者都是善良的人，他喜歡善良。