Love to combat merciless Harvey--- TSUCI Provides Volunteer Service for Harvey victims in the NRG Shelter Center.

September 1, 2017

On September 1, volunteers from Texas Southern University Confucius Institute(TSUCI) came to the NRG hurricane shelter in Houston once again. Led by the Chinese director Prof. Xiao Yi. TSUCI brought a panda clothing, as well as calligraphy water cloth, clay, origami, face painting and other materials. Volunteers made use of what they are good at in order to make the victims forget the harms and sorrow brought by the disaster.

The volunteer Heng Zhang from TSUCI put on Panda costume and became a lovely panda. The Kid Zone was suddenly full of laughter. The excited and pleasant expression came upon children’s faces, having the panda around. They first tentatively bumped the panda's ears and face, in the workers who played the panda, Heng Zhang 's friendly response, they led the panda by the hand and invited the panda to play with them. Some children who heard about the coming of the panda, led the police from the rest of the venues to see the “real panda”.

When The volunteer Heng Zhang from TSUCI put on Panda costume and became a lovely panda, the Kid Zone was suddenly full of laughters. First, the children tentatively touched the panda's ears and face. After they got friendly response from the panda Heng Zhang, they hugged the panda warmly and invited the panda to play with them. Hearing about the coming of the panda, some children followed the police across the stadium from to see the “real panda”.

The panda was welcomed not only by the children but also by the adults. When some NRG staff saw the panda, they screamed out loud in surprise, embraced the panda and take photos with it excitedly. An old man injured in Hurricane Harvey came in a torn wheelchair and held a photo with the panda. "The panda will surely bring us good luck!"

TSUCI’s hard work in the post-disaster relief was also recognized by the public. A group of police officers took photos with the panda and praised the TSUCI’s work in disaster relief. Mr. Beau Dee and his wife, who had lived in China for 4 years, came to the panda and the volunteers and shared with them their life in Sichuan, China. Finally, they expressed their appreciation to the volunteers in Chinese.

In the Kid Zone, the children lined up to do facial painting. Chinese director Prof. Yi Xiao painted their faces first and several volunteers took turns. Later, the boys became Spiderman, Batman and so on while girls became Cat girl and Hello Kitty. All of the children beamed with happiness and excitement.TSUCI also offered clay that allows children to take imagination and make small items such as ladybugs, tigers and pandas. Also, they gave fantastic origami work to the children.

Making use of its strengths, TSUCI designed a series of activities with Chinese cultural elements to give a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere for the victims. By doing this, TSUCI also hopes that the people of Houston can be encouraged by the panda to maintain an optimistic and positive attitude in the post-disaster reconstruction.