(Photos: Retirees in Beijing hutongs cheerfully make sure cleanliness and traffic safety are up to Olympic standards.)
Mao stated the aim of the People's Republic of China was to "serve the people," or, wei renmin fuwu. The Olympic events have been dazzling for us; we yesterday saw the US Men's Volleyball team grasp victory over Russia in semi-finals, and today we saw Lionel Messi and his fellow Argentines dance around an equally adept, but alas, scoreless, Nigeria to win the gold medal in men's football. (Nigeria won silver, Brazil won bronze. Think about it: THAT's where the future of football is, Latin America and Africa!)
And yet, at the Olympic venues, about town, and even in the suburbs it's the people serving the people I keep seeing and thinking about. Volunteers abound and most volunteers working at the Olympic venues are college students, the majority from Beijing. Yet there are also blind masseurs
volunteering to massage atheletes and journalists. There are volunteer retirees watching out for safety, cleanliness and traffic propriety in their Beijing hutongs. There are volunteers in the suburbs who man information booths 12 hours a day. This is a country of 1.3 BILLION people and service, as in people, is both plentiful (because of the numbers) and sincere (because service is drilled in from birth). (Photo: Suburban volunteers man info booth.)
Can London, our next Olympic host, match these numbers? Can any of us match the enthusiasm or sincerity these volunteers have shown the world in Beijing? I hope so. As we wind down to the closing ceremony Sunday evening I hope that the world says Xie Xie, or thank you, to all these volunteers. It's been a job well done, my friends.
(Photo: Young volunteers share a light moment outside the Olympics Sports Center.)
No comments:
Post a Comment