July 14 - Organized by the Guangdong Committee of the China Communist Youth League, 24 volunteers from GDUFS, together with other volunteers from all walks of life in Guangdong Province, underwent training last weekend at Guangzhou San Yu Hotel, and are now ready to leave for the Beijing Olympics at the end of this month.
24 GDUFS Olympic envoys
According to Cindy Hu Zhaofang, the only GDUFS administrator to volunteer, the GDUFS team is larger than any of the other university teams from Guangdong Province. The team consists mainly of elite students from GDUFS who have gone through several stages of testing, including online application, college recommendation, test of basic knowledge on voluntary services and interview. All 100 Guangdong volunteers were dispatched to the National Aquatics Center, commonly referred to as the "Water Cube".
According to Shang Heshun, director of the NAC, the Guangdong volunteers are highly valued for their Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka, as well as foreign language skills, which are essential for communication between Beijingers and overseas Chinese and foreign friends who will visit the city during the Games.
The two-day training period, tightly scheduled and demanding, was challenging to every volunteer both physically and psychologically. After registering on Friday evening, the volunteers immediately got down to etiquette training. The next day they underwent practical service training in categories such as Sports, Doping Control, Spectator Services, and Press Operations. The training lasted from 8:30 am to 9:30 pm, except for the mealtimes and the short lunch breaks.
Training materials for the volunteer
Enrolment offer for volunteers
Though exhausted, nearly all the trainees said they had benefited tremendously from the training. Being the only Guangdong volunteer dispatched to the Accreditation FA, Susan from the GDUFS Faculty of English Language and Culture, said she was surprised by the large number of specialized FA skills that must be memorized and mastered.
Although the training program lasted only two days, friendship had been developed between GDUFS volunteers and their counterparts. Many students interviewed believed that working in such a strong team, they could successfully fulfill their duties in Beijing.
Photos provided by Yang Shuchao
