DM Monitoring
GUANGZHOU: After having been working as a volunteer in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou over the past several months, Tawfik Al-Qalisi, a Yemeni, finally has time to enjoy a vacation as the virus abates.
Al-Qalisi is happy to see the city he has been living in for 12 years going back to normal. “I am also on track to resume my business and try to recover the loss caused by the epidemic,” Al-Qalisi said. In 1998, Al-Qalisi’s father came to Guangzhou for business. Ten years later, he arrived in the city as a student.
Al-Qalisi, 30, has married and bought an apartment in the city of Foshan. He also runs a company and sells Chinese products to global buyers.
“You throw a peach to me, I give you a white jade for friendship,” Al-Qalisi always keeps this Chinese proverb in mind, which he learned at university. He said that both Chinese and Arabs are friendly and value gratitude.
In February, Al-Qalisi joined local Chinese volunteers to help fight the virus. “As a foreigner, Chinese kindness made me feel at home. When I was in difficulty, they always offered a helping hand,” Al-Qalisi said.
When learning that there was a shortage of masks, Al-Qalisi ordered 200,000 masks from abroad and distributed them to people in need on the streets of Guangzhou for free.
Measuring the body temperature of travelers in and out of Guangzhou, helping translate anti-epidemic guidelines, interpreting local epidemic prevention policies for foreigners, and participating in voluntary blood donation… Al-Qalisi said that he would like to do his part to help the city recover.
He then served as a volunteer in the community near his home, and went to a hotel where foreigners were under quarantine according to local measures, to help take their body temperatures and explain the instructions of the government.
Al-Qalisi said he had close contact with 10 foreign nationals each day. “What I have seen is that foreigners in Guangzhou have been well settled, and many of their needs have also been met by the local government,” he said.
He noted that the Chinese people are very friendly, and they treat all foreigners equally.
“Seeing is believing” is what Al-Qalisi often mentioned to his family and friends in Yemen.
Al-Qalisi said he has seen every step taken by China to contain the virus. “At the very beginning, China acted quickly. The country closed entertainment venues and popularized all kinds of anti-epidemic measures, and actively mobilized all kinds of medical resources and medics to carry out treatment,” he said.
“Wearing masks when going out, reducing gatherings, washing hands frequently, this is what I learned in China, and these are very basic but useful tips,” Al-Qalisi said, adding that he has been sharing this with his friends in the Middle East.
On May 9, Guangdong further lowered its public health emergency response to the COVID-19 epidemic from the second level to the third level.
“The city’s vitality is coming back soon,” said Al-Qalisi.
