Chinese volunteers ready to contribute to the Olympics
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-09-05 17:15

Luo Xianqiu, 64, has actively involved herself as a volunteer. "Chairman Mao told us that we should be a kindhearted person all our lives, " she said. "We still believe in what he said."

Luo has taught Taiqi Ball exercise to more than 1,000 senior and physically challenged citizens in four cities around China. The exercise, which combines Taiqi and tennis, improves both their physical and mental well-being.

She hopes that in this way, she can have a role to play for theOlympics and her biggest dream is that the sport will be included in the Paralympics one day.

Luo Xianqiu is among those Chinese who start to make voluntary work an important part of their lives.

Enthusiasm began to surge for joining the Olympic volunteers, after Chinese have learned how volunteers can contributed to the games in Sydney and Athens.

Aged people in their 80's and school kids are all among the enthusiasts. It is expected that at least half a million applications will be available in when the enrollment begins next August.

Beijing needs a record number of 120,000 volunteers: 100,000 asfrontline volunteers and at least another 20,000 as reserve volunteers during the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics.

More volunteers will assist the celebrations before the Games or work as tourguides in streets and on roads of during the Games.Students in Beijing based universities are expected to fill up most of the locations, while the rest will include senior citizens, the physically challenged and international applicants.

Beijing Volunteers' Association, in collaboration with Beijing Olympics Committee, has drawn up programs aimed at picking candidates suited for each voluntary job.

The total hours devoted to voluntary work is the major qualification for each application, according to Beijing Volunteer Association.

Beijing hopes that by underlining commitment to voluntary work,more citizens will be actively involved in voluntary campaigns and finally make voluntary service part of their lives.

"We will have millions of hours devoted to voluntary work more than before. That will make a huge difference to China," said Zhang Yanchun of Beijing Volunteers' Association.

But some volunteers and experts question the fairness of this qualification. "Hours devoted to voluntary work show us whether wehave hardworking volunteers," Professor Ren Hai, director of Olympic research team at the General Administration of Sport of China. "But we are not picking the best volunteer. We are choosingthose fit for the jobs."

Prof. Ren suggested public opinion be heard during voluntary application. "Let one's neighbors, colleagues, or classmates decide whether he or she will be an ideal Olympic volunteer."

Prof. Jin Yuanpu at Renmin University in Beijing also proposed giving "blitz tests" for volunteer candidates to see if they couldmake it for an urgent job in strict time limit.

"diverse people should be invited into the team of Olympic volunteers, including the senior and the disabled. I would even give away my chance so that more people will experience how a volunteer works." said Zhang Xue, volunteer for Fortune Forum in Beijing early this year.

Voluntary programs are especially well-received by young peoplein China, who will feel proud if they have included volunteers' experience in their resume.

Students at Beijing Foreign Studies University are lucky enoughto learn about the true story of Millard Fuller, founder of the Habitat for Humanity International. "Many in my class, including me, find his life story inspiring," Li Jing, a student said.

But for most Chinese, voluntary work is still deemed "unessential", as compared with bread-earning or even watching TV.Voluntary service is yet to be popular, and development of voluntary campaigns staggers without a mechanism that provides guidance for voluntary service in general.

Voluntary groups have contacted public institutions, including public libraries, to offer voluntary service, but only to find that there's a big possibility of being declined. "Sometimes we feel like begging them to offer help," said Ji Lu, a volunteer at Beijing Volunteer Association. "Are we really burdens for them?"

There are also cases when the association enlists more volunteers than that is needed, so that many of them are left bored with nothing to do.

"It's important to keep volunteers motivated and make them stay," Zhang Yanchun, deputy secretary general of Beijing Volunteer Association, said.

Beijing announced that the sweet smile of its Olympic Volunteers is the best name card. With future programs still to come, China hopes its volunteers will not only smile, but smile confidently.

"As Olympic volunteers, we need to show the same enthusiastic welcome to both Michael Jordan from the United States and an ordinary citizen from a small town in China." said Prof. Ren. Enditem.

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