Warmth in the Cold Winter: Teachers and Students of International Affairs Division Join Together to Fight the Epidemic

     2020 was set to be an extraordinary year. The school's first batch international students were due to spend the traditional Chinese New Year happily, then things turned out that they were caught up in the COVID-19 outbreak. On this special day, under the leadership of the Party Committee of the college, the teachers of the International Affairs Division stayed true to their original aspiration and stuck to their posts, shouldering the mission of ensuring the health and safety of international students, so that international students could have a healthy, safe and happy Spring Festival.

1、   Organize prevention and control network as early as possible to interrupt the "COVID-19" transmission

In the in mid-to-late January, the college Party Committee attached great importance to the  student prevention and control of epidemic. Since there are no trivial matters in foreign affairs. Under the personal command of principal Li Wenyong, the International Affairs Division took the lead in formulating a series of measures such as the epidemic prevention and control plan, the abnormal situation handling plan, and the duty management plan for international students to promote the implementation of the prevention and control work in an orderly manner.
  On the eve of the Spring Festival, Guangxi reported the discovery of suspected cases. Then principal Li Wenyong immediately instructed the implementation of closed management for international students, and earlier requested that "students should not leave school and outsiders should not enter school"; And he organized students to carry out comprehensive cleaning and disinfection to create a clean and tidy living environment; COVID-19 prevention and control education was carried out for all international students who stayed in school.Knowledge of virus transmission routes, pneumonia symptoms, prevention and control methods were well popularized; At the same time, in order to enhance the physical quality and resistance of international students, teachers of the the International Affairs Division led students to carry out physical exercises every day during the winter vacation to improve their resistance to diseases,and arranged special personnel to purchase daily necessities for international students every day to block the communication chain to the greatest extent.

2. Transfer positive energy, explore a new way for celebrating the Spring Festival

  In order to ease the strangeness, tension and homesickness of students from foreign countries during the quarantine period, the International Affairs Division used wechat groups, Tiktok and other popular information means favored by students to transmit the positive information about China's nationwide "fight against coronavirus ", forces from all sides gathering to combat the coronavirus, and all parties supporting Wuhan to them.Since those positive information help students build determination and confidence to get through tough times. In addition, the teachers also gave full play to their specialties and organized a series of folk culture activities such as New Year symposium and posting Spring Festival couplets to enrich students' life during the closed period. Teachers also purchased TV sets for students so that they could watch the Spring Festival Gala on the 30th night of the New Year and feel the authentic "New Year atmosphere". During the Spring Festival, the director of the International Affairs Division also led the young colleagues to "sacrifice individual interests for public good.So teachers sacrificed the New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and other time to reunite with their families, taught students from foreign countries to roll dough and cook dumplings. And all teachers and students enjoyed a happy Spring Festival in various ways.

3. Make use of the "Internet Plus", and the method of classes suspended but learning continues

With the increasingly severe epidemic prevention situation and the first case of infection confirmed in Nanning, then International Affairs Division timely and flexibly adjusted the student management and teaching methods to ensure the health and safety of students: the indoor centralized exercise was changed to outdoor scattered exercise, and the group activities in confined spaces were banned; Develop the two-dimensional code of questionnaire jointly with the Information Engineering School,and check the daily physical health status of students through wechat and other Internet means; In order not to delay the teaching progress, under the guidance of the director of the School Office,with the help of the Information Engineering School and the Department of modern technology, the International Affairs Division has established a wechat teaching group and a network video platform with all teachers to get the full coverage of the dormitory network. Through the remote network live teaching, the "Internet + Chinese listening and speaking" and "Internet + Chinese character learning" have been realized. Although the class was suspended because of the "anti-epidemic", under the unremitting efforts of the teachers, the students "do not stop learning". And they even made gratifying progress. A straight A student named Muhammad Wajahat Khan said"Thanks to the teacher's help and guidance, I have memorized the vocabulary of HSK Level 1". And i am currently teaching myself level 2 vocabulary.

4. A little bit of care can set foreign students’ heart at rest

Since entering the school in December, three Pakistani students have developed  symptoms of cold and acclimatization during the epidemic prevention and control period because they are not accustomed to the climate and living habits in Nanning. Dean Li Wenyong made a quick decision and ordered the sick students to be quarantined for observation as soon as possible. He urged them to take medicine and took their temperature every day. Then three students recovered quickly.

In order to prevent the students from catching cold again, the director of the International Affairs Division, who is close to retirement, led the young comrades to check the epidemic prevention situation in the students' dormitories every day in spite of bad weather , told the students to open the windows for better ventilation and pay attention to cold prevention and warmth, measured the temperature of the students every morning, noon and evening, and gave them meticulous care.
      As most of the students staying in school are Muslims, their eating habits are different from ours. Due to the absence of a halal window, the International Affairs Division tried every means to hire another chef, separately purchased kitchen utensils and tableware, and carefully arranged three halal meals a day to ensure their nutrition balance and enhance their resistance.

While paying attention to epidemic prevention,International Affairs Division also paid close attention to the ideological dynamics and mental health of students. With the outbreak, some students felt worried, anxious and homesick. In response, teachers of the International Affairs Division conducted one-to-one targeted psychological counseling for students, patiently soothed students' emotions, and helped students establish confidence in the prevention and control of the epidemic. Among them, the family members of two Pakistani students insisted that the students should return home.Then the International Affairs Division specially carried out epidemic prevention and control training for the students before they left the school.The training emphasized national laws and regulations, discipline requirements of the college, and safety protection during the trip.At the same time, our college closely tracked their journey until the students arrived in Islamabad safely.
  Through the joint efforts of the teachers of the International Affairs Division, the students sincerely thanked teachers for their care, guidance, help and care, and the best efforts of college leaders to minimize the impact of the epidemic. International student Rizwan Rafique said: "I have been lived in China for more than two months. Guangxi Transport Vocational And Technical College of China has given us a lot of happiness, love and welfare. China is our second hometown. I love you China! I wish the people of Wuhan an early victory over the epidemic!" The international students also spontaneously made blessing posters and slogans to root for Wuhan and China! Among them, the blessing posters of 16 Pakistani students were published in the special coverage of Iron Pak in the "Voice of Diplomacy".

In the end:

The virus is merciless but people are sentient. In the process of joint epidemic prevention between teachers and students, many heartwarming episodes have made this cold winter less cold. In this battle without gunpowder smoke, the high attention of the Party committee and leaders of the college, the dedication of the teachers of the International Affairs Division, and the cooperation and support of the students have increased our confidence and hope. No winter is insurmountable, no spring will not come. We will work together to overcome the difficulties. We will surely win!