Expat center celebrating Shanghai's return to normalcy

A total of 61 children from a dozen countries and regions who live in Shanghai joined a special online activity to celebrate International Children's Day and also the city's return to normal on Wednesday.

While doing quizzes and playing games with each other, those aged from 5 to 12 shared their stories during the lockdown and thanked people who fought the COVID-19 outbreak in the past two months.

The event was organized by The Expatriate Center, a non-profit organization that serves the expatriate community in Shanghai.

"Today is indeed a day of double happiness. I hope you had the opportunity to go out for outdoor fun and play, feel the wind in your faces, hear the birds chirp and smell the blooming flowers!" said Linda Painan, chairperson of TEC.

"May the smile on your faces be an invitation of friendship as you grow to be an ambassador of love to the world around you!"

The event was just one of many that TEC has organized in the past two months as it provided support to more than 400 families and frontline workers with food packages, medical support, mental health assistance and essential items including formula milk, diapers and medication.

The center will hold a job recruitment fair coupled with an entrepreneurship competition in the coming months and continue to help local businesses overcome challenges brought by the latest COVID-19 outbreak, according to Painan.

Filipino Jovie Narciso said the center had helped her purchase essentials during the lockdown, and David Ingram, headmaster of Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, said the support from the organization has helped the school secure many essential resources.

Jane Zhang, general manager of e-commerce company Goodbaby, thanked the organization for connecting its baby products with the Shanghai Children's Health Foundation to donate 50,000 diapers to the Shanghai Children's Hospital and the Shanghai Children's Medical Center to solve their diaper needs.

The center also made two music videos to raise the spirits of the foreign community and allow expats to share their stories.

Salyonn Koh, a Singaporean business consultant who composed the music, said she wrote the song when her community was in lockdown to encourage others who were getting really anxious facing lockdown and struggling against COVID-19.

"This song is for them－people whose lives have been affected, people who are working hard to keep the situation under control, people that are looking for that light in the darkness."

"We hope to spread love and kindness to every corner of this city, which we call our home away from home," said Painan. "The power of community cannot be underestimated, and the love and bravery will help restore Shanghai to normalcy."