Recently, the French public radio service RFI, and the Beninese newspapers Bénin Intelligent and La Perche du Nord, all ran a coverage about “Iron Man” team’s voluntary work during Wuhan’s epidemic. Their coverage in French were translated from Changjiang Weekly’s report “‘Iron Man’ team helps fight COVID-19 on Wuhan Campus.”
▲Both La Perche du Nord (left) and Bénin Intelligent run a whole coverage about the “Iron Man” team.
Many netizens thanked Damien for authentically showing the world Wuhan in 2020. Actually, like Damien, there are more foreigners contributing their impressions of Wuhan in 2020. You can find their stories on the Facebook account @Discover Wuhan.
Last week, Changjiang Weekly published a letter titled “‘Iron Man’ team helps fight COVID-19 on Wuhan campus.” Readers were moved, and gave their thanks to the “Iron Man.”
▲Story of “Iron Man” posted on @Discover Wuhan
The writer of this letter is Tiando Damien from Benin, Africa, a PhD student at the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). During the COVID-19 epidemic, he and 22 international students from 13 countries, including Nigeria and Tanzania, gave a helping hand to their fellow students.
▲Members of “Iron Man”
Damien said that he wrote this letter during the Chinese National Day holiday as his blessing to his second home.
In the letter Damien explained why he didn’t leave Wuhan during the epidemic. “I had lived in Wuhan for six years and Wuhan was like my hometown. If I went back home how could I be happy when my ‘hometown’ was suffering?” Then, he saw teachers busy organizing materials for the students. “The teachers were not afraid and they would accompany us international students when it was time for their family reunions.”
▲Damien in the library
“Iron Man” delivered meals, food and supplies every day to teachers and more than 400 international students during the period. Damien wrote: “Though the work was very tiring, we continued on because what we did was meaningful.”
▲Members of “Iron Man” Photos by Xu Weiwei
He also mentioned that at the end of April, to share with the world China’s experience, nearly 20 volunteers from his college spent 10 days translating two booklets related to the construction and operation of makeshift and emergency hospitals for COVID-19.
（Source: Changjiang Weekly)
