International volunteer a community role model
Print Edition
TO Ricardo Blazquez, the chief trade representative in China for Spain’s Valencia, Gubei international community in is a role model for community development in Shanghai.
A dedicated volunteer, he serves as a community representatives for more than 31,000 residents from 50 nations who live in Gubei’s Ronghua neighborhood in Changning District. He has also been elected as the deputy head of a volunteer association called “Rainbow Bridge” in 2009.
The 62-year-old Blazquez has been living in the city for two decades and thinks of himself as a “bridge” between residents from different cultural backgrounds. Along with his wife, his daughter and two grandsons, he resides in one of the city’s most international communities.
In the civic center, he represents the views of foreigners in an international residents’ chamber, where problems are discussed and solutions proposed. After work and on the weekends, he helps to manage the traffic near schools, cleans the streets of his community and visits seniors living alone.
“Shanghai gives me many opportunities and develops my career, so I want to express gratitude by giving back and helping the city,” Blazquez, who speaks fluent Chinese, said.
Blazquez moved to Taiwan in 1983 and then to Shanghai in 1996. He was promoted to be the chief representative for the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness, an economic development arm of the city’s government. His job is to help Spanish companies do business in China.
“Some things in life make you happy and others disappoint you, but helping people always makes me happy,” he said. Despite his busy schedule, he began volunteering more than 10 years ago.
During the Chinese New Year, Blazquez brings food prepared by the neighborhood committee to lonely senior residents and takes time to chat with them.
“They ask where I come from and what I do, and I sit down and talk with them… the seniors are quite talkative sometimes,” he said.
The Changning government and the city’s charity foundation have named him an outstanding volunteer.
When the Ronghua neighborhood he lives established a residents’ chamber about two years ago, Blazquez was invited to be one of 12 counselors. The chamber meets once a month to discuss the community concerns.
“We have drawn up a new Pet Charter setting forth etiquette for pet owners which proved to be successful,” he said. After patrols and awareness raising campaigns, few dog owners leave poop on streets now. The counselors have also invited pet experts to discuss issues with dog owners.
“The chamber duties make me feel quite fulfilled. I’ve even made some good Chinese friends,” Blazquez said.
Recently, his focus has been on the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. “I noticed many local children are being raised by grandparents since their parents are busy at work,” he said, adding that he plans to organize activities for families.
He also proposed a public meeting area in the community hall for football fans to gather and watch games — an effort he hopes will attract more male residents to take part in the community’s social activities.
Last June, Blazquez and a friend held an exhibition of his antique map collection at the civic center. It included both originals and copies of historic maps. “I have tried to focus my collection on maps of Asia, particularly to show how Westerners like me saw Asia three or four hundred years ago,” he said.
The exhibition was a major success and popular with international school groups.
In the past years, he’s become known for being a good intercultural mediator. Last December, he was appointed a mediator of the Shanghai Mediation Center under the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
Blazquez already knows how he will keep busy after his expected retirement in three years: “I will be able to spend more time on volunteering,” Blazquez said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
