What we are talking about when we talk about public welfare?

What do you think of when it comes to public welfare?

Donation, voluntary teaching or poverty alleviation?

In fact

Public welfare turns out to mean far more extensive.

Now

NJUer Focus will show you the public service societies on the campus of Nanjing University

Tell you about public welfare activities on sign language and cats,about what public services we have been doing for history and for the environment, about our unique perspective on public welfare,and about our motive and commitment to public welfare.

They say

What can I help with?  

Your heart only we hear

“Here in this sign language society, we work cohesively in public services. People in public services have a beautiful heart. As for campus public welfare, just a little kindness can help many people. When we are together, we are like a ball of fire, and when we go out, we will be like tongues of flame in the sky that warm up many who are in the cold.”

The sign language society focuses on those with hearing and speech impairment and stays in communication with them.

The Xianyu Sign Language Society was established by Zhou Xiayue, a 2012 student from the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The society was set up to promote the sign language and help to the best of its ability people with hearing and speech impairment.  

The society has many traditional activities, for example, the annual sign language cultural month in May. Featured activities and parties are held during the cultural month. It holds voluntary activities every week and offers sign language courses from Monday to Friday. Members of the society frequently participate in various kinds of performance in the school.  

In addition, the sign language society has been trying to to cooperate with organizations such as the Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in order to become part of the public sign language services. NJU’s sign language society is also interacting with sign language societies from other universities in an attempt to hold a city-wide sign language exercise completion in Nanjing next semester.

Share the world with them, and treat them as friends.

What is the routine work like in Pet House, NJU’s only society that deals with animals?

Pet House was established in 2011 by Gu Lin and Shi Rui. Its predecessor was a project on stray animal protection managed by the Student Union of the School of the Environment, and later it became part of this union. Pet House is aimed at protecting and saving animals on campus and at promoting a harmonious environment of equal coexistence for students and campus animals.  

When it comes to the most concerned topic on animal salvation, Tong xin, the incumbent president of this society, said, “When students find an injured or sick cat, they inform us and we arrange to have members of the society send it to a pet hospital for treatment. We will illustrate the situation on Wechat. Many students have made donation to sick or injured animals.”

Such work of service sounds simple, but it has brought her many unforgettable stories.  

“Last term,” she recalled, “I sent to hospital a cat with an injury on its front leg and the veterinarian told me that she had atrophy and had to have amputation. I could hardly describe my feelings at that time as I knew she was pregnant.  

“She had the surgery in the pet hospital the next day, without any company because I had no time. The hospital sent us photos of the surgery. Fortunately, she is now adopted by a senior and has had her babies. I feel happy for her.”

Apart from basic salvation services, Pet House has hosted other activities such as jumble sales, cat house making competitions and, in cooperation with Nanjing Agricultural University, public lectures on diseases communicable to both humans and animals.  

“We sold on the Internet postcards and badges of cats of NJU campus,” said Tong Xin. “We held a cat house making competition after the society was established.  

“This term, we plan to have campus stray animals spayed or castrated, maybe beginning in October. And next term we may hold the activity of an ‘Adoptions Day.’”  

As a campus public welfare society, Pet House has the same nature of dedication and assistance as other public welfare societies despite their different activities. It offers help to animals in trouble and calls for equal and kind treatment for the animals around us.  

Stories Worth Being Heard by More People

The Oral History Association of NJU only has a history of one year. Over this year, however, its members explored historical stories and events by visiting and interviewing people who had experienced them, such as old professors of the university and survivors of the Nanjing Massacre.  

To members of the association, “public service” means spreading, that is, spreading stories, culture and voices.  

“What we do is the cultural aspect of the public welfare,” as they put it.  

“In the beginning we did our work within the School of History,” recalled a head of the association, “but later the university found us, hoping that we could help us with the work on the history of the university, especially with collecting oral history, so we began to interview professors and other well-known people, including those from other schools.

“I think all of us from Nanjing University should take the work of history seriously, not just us from the School of History.”  

This is exactly the aim of the association; that is, to let more people understand that history is where we come from and where we finally will enter, that each of us is closely tied up with history like a drop of water in a sea and that to know history is our responsibility to the past, the present and the future.  

The head of the association hoped that it can grow larger in the future.  

“We will hold more activities like documentary shows to involve students and teachers from different schools,” he said, “because everyone can do our work which has no professional barrier and is beneficial to the whole society. For example, our interviews with survivors of the Nanjing Massacre represent not just the association’s contributions to society, but Nanjing University’s.”  

However, he is clear and confident about the position of their association.

When asked about the oral history research by Cui Yongyuan, a TV host in China, he answered, “To Cui, making documentaries is the main task while oral accounting is just a supplement. By contrast, we take oral accounting to be our main task. In addition, as a university team, our understanding of oral history is not the same as Cui’s, so his work is more popular while ours is more academic.”  

Sustainable Development Starts Now with You and Me

Recycling junks and collecting donation from dormitory to dormitorydormitories, doing publicity in animal protection and environmental protection in cooperation with some businesses, and now carrying out related research and science popularization activities, the Environment Association always has new ideas of environmental protection.  

After the military training is over, they collect the discarded army uniforms and donate them along with other chemical fiber products. With the paper items collected through donation, they sent to recycled paper companies, and with collected plastics, they give some to old men working for the recycling companies and the rest to the aunties to use as raw materials to make handicrafts.  

The Environment Association of NJU has had exchange with an environment society at Tsinghua University.  

“An environmental protection society in Tsinghua has always been one of the best ten societies in their school since it was founded,” said the head of the NJU association, “and today it is very mature in its organization.  

“However, our association is faced with ‘talent loss’ due to the short cycling of membership renewal. Many first year students join us, but it is hard to carry out activities when some of them find the society no longer interesting or when they become busy with other things.”  

For the future of the association, the head said they were planning a transition. They will organize social practice teams that combine public service with entertainment. Also, they will carry out investigation and research activities and raise the quality of their activities.

The University never lacks public service

With so many individuals and teams

With characteristics and with public spirit.

Meaningful activities are many more

Awaiting you to find and join.

Last, the BGM

✿

We are the world

There is a time when we should heed a certain callCause the world it seems it’s right in this lineCause there’s a chance for taking in needing our own livesIt seems we need nothing at all

I used to feel that I should give away my heartAnd it shows that fear of needing themThen I read the headlines and it said they’re dying thereAnd it shows that we must heed insteadWe are the worldWe are the childrenWe are the ones who make a brighter daySo let’s start givingBut there’s a chance we’re takingWe’re taking our own livesIt’s true we’ll make a brighter day just you and me

From《NJU Youth》