When a compound becomes a community
Print Edition
Our family had just completed 14 months of living in Shanghai when a neighbor in our compound tested positive for COVID-19. In November 2021, we faced our first lockdown in China.
The entire compound quarantined for 14 days. In a second, everything changed. Everybody was kind of lost, and we were worried about Building No. 6, the only building completely sealed.
We decided to volunteer to help. Maybe we could, at least, help to pass on information to other foreigners living in the compound. I remember one of the first things we did — we went to the outside of Bldg 6. The residents there couldn’t leave their building. We stood there with a sign that said “Stay strong” and got their attention with a microphone. We called other kids and adults around us to help, and everybody was happy to do it. That moment was the beginning of so many wonderful things we could never imagine would happen to our family.
Someone took a photo of us, and a journalist who lived in Bldg 6 published it in a newspaper. Another neighbor decided to create a painting of that same scene. Everybody started to say to each other, “Stay strong!” We ended up in the newspapers and on Weibo, Twitter and Facebook.
Everything got even bigger when I decided to bake cupcakes for the children in Bldg 6. One mother in the building recorded the moment her daughter collected one of the cupcakes. The video got more than 3 million views that week.
My husband was also asked to deliver food to the elderly. Carrying deliveries, I helped to relay messages to foreigners. We created daily playtime activities with the kids. We even recorded a bedtime story for kids and shared it with parents. My girls cooked dumplings for the volunteers. And every time we needed to be tested, my kids would hand out messages to volunteers in the queue to “Stay strong,” just to lift everyone’s spirits.
My husband was invited to be interviewed by a local TV station, and there was also a video to support another compound in the district. The months passed and here we are once again: same community, another lockdown and again we volunteered to help.
Each member of our family helped in different ways. My girls delivered antigen tests. My husband and I delivered bigger packages all around the compound. My son delivered parcels and shopping bags inside our building.
But during the second lockdown something was different. Now, we have such an incredible team of foreigners volunteering. Language is no longer a barrier! The kindness we paid forward has been returned to us 1,000 times over.
Before the great lockdown, my husband was classified as a close contact. Therefore, our family was sealed inside our home for 14 days. When people in our compound learned of this, we started to get fruits, veggies, eggs and even flowers on our doorstep. Today, I still don’t know who sent us many of these things.
At some point I needed coffee. Another volunteer helped me find it. At the end of our chat, she mentioned that she was really happy helping me. “Do you remember those cupcakes you baked for Bldg 6 months ago?” she asked, “That day was my daughter’s birthday. She was so excited about getting one of those treats. Thank you for that.”
Today, I don’t see where I live as a compound anymore. It’s a community. We’re engaged and we look out for one another.
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