AMIDST the lively chatter of youthful voices, animated slides kept flashing on the projection screen. Dressed in a red vest, Sloupova Barbora, a Czech graduate student at Shenzhen University (SZU), engaged children with English riddles, celebrating their victories with high-fives once they nail the right answers.

Sloupova Barbora high-fives with a disabled child. Photos courtesy of the interviewee

This was no ordinary classroom setting. Barbora’s students were children with disabilities, a group often marginalized in society.

Shenzhen, according to data from the Shenzhen Disabled Persons Federation, is home to over 40,000 people with disabilities.Fueled by a desire to make a meaningful impact, Barbora chose to volunteer her time to empower this overlooked segment of the population.

Her inspiration traces back to her mother, a physiotherapist who dedicated her life to working in a local hospice. “My mom used to provide physiotherapy for those grappling with mobility-related illnesses,” the 31-year-old recalled. “She shared stories about these patients, emphasizing the importance of community support.”

Barbora interacts with children in a class.

During her enrollment at SZU in 2018, Barbora met Teresa Huang, a professor at the College of International Exchange and a member of the Shenzhen Chongshang Charity Foundation, an organization that focuses on the health care of special needs children.

Huang, a volunteer for children with leukemia and osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare bone disease, invited Barbora to join her to teach those kids. Barbora said yes without hesitation.

Barbora poses for a photo with students in her class.

“So, this is how it started, how I got connected to this volunteer work,” Barbora explained.

In addition to her involvement with the charity foundation, Barbora also engages in volunteer work through other channels such as the Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation, and A Heart for China, an international volunteer group led by a Belgian expatriate.

来源：Shenzhen Daily