by Misbah Saba Malik, Jiang Chao

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A group of volunteers from China is winning hearts in Pakistan through their continuous humanitarian assistance to the people in Pakistan in their hour of need.

The volunteers are working under the name of the China-Pakistan Youth Exchange Community (CPYEC). They collect donations from overseas Chinese in Pakistan to provide necessary help to poor communities in the country.

In a conversation with Xinhua, Ma Bin, the head of CPYEC, said they keep on taking several initiatives to donate to the locals including the flood-hit people of Pakistan, children living in orphanages, and providing food and other necessities to poor people living in underprivileged localities of the country.

"During Ramadan this year, our Chinese volunteers donated food relief packages to more than 6,000 poor local families and each package contained edible worth nearly 4,000 Pakistani rupees (around 20 U.S. dollars) and they were enough to meet over 24,000 locals' food needs for over one month," he said.

This year so far, the volunteers have sent relief packages to over 50 local families, Ma said.

To reach flood victims, the CPYEC volunteers teamed up with an Islamabad-based non-government organization "Al-Khidmat Committee" to send humanitarian relief packages to flood-hit people.

Talking to Xinhua, Muhammad Suleman Butt, the chairperson of the NGO, said that the Chinese volunteers have always been a great support to Pakistan in difficult times.

"They not only give donations for people devastated by calamities, but also take special interest and sometimes help us with packing food or other items for them, and also visit locals themselves to deliver the packages prepared for them," Butt said.

The Chinese volunteers also often go to local orphanages and Afghan refugee schools to donate a large amount of stationery, cotton-padded clothes, shoes and food supplies. These are all humanitarian activities regularly organized by them since the CPYEC was founded in 2013.

"Besides donating the supplies, we encourage our volunteers to spend time with orphans or refugee children and hug them so they can feel our warm hearts," Ma said.

In a conversation with Xinhua, Sheikh Ahsan Farid, national manager of Aghosh Homes, where Ma Bin and his fellows' donated goods, said that the kids were very impressed by the gesture of the Chinese and cherished meeting them and receiving gifts from them.

"The Children told their teachers, after meeting the Chinese that they were very happy and it made their day to receive good quality gifts...They felt loved and such attention boosts their self-esteem," he added.

Farid said that by meeting the Chinese, the kids, who already knew about the China-Pakistan friendship, have witnessed and experienced it themselves.

"We at the orphanage always love such kind gestures. The initiative taken by the Chinese volunteers also encouraged local donors when we shared their stories, so we are highly thankful to them for helping out and giving the kids a reason to smile," he said. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)