Foreign residents help keep Suzhou safe

Ellen Touchstone, a US citizen who works at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University since 2012, has been working as a volunteer at a COVID-19 testing site for several days. She helps with taking temperatures and checking health codes.

Able to speak English, French and German, she helps other residents with the language barrier.

"One hundred years ago, my American grandparents came to Suzhou to serve the community," she said. "Today, by doing this volunteer work, I kind of feel like I'm doing what they would have wanted me to do."

Bethany and Jeff Sootheran, a couple from the United States, have been living in the Chengbang residential community for several years, and both have stepped up to protect the city.

"We've chosen to make Suzhou and this neighborhood our home," Bethany Sootheran said. "The people here have always welcomed us as family. They have helped us many times in the past when we truly needed support."

The couple applied to volunteer when the virus first broke out in 2020 by helping publicize protection information and deliver food.

Wang Jun, one of the leaders of the industrial park's foreign volunteer team, said that after seeing many foreigners struggling due to the language barrier, she and her team immediately worked on translating government pamphlets to put them at ease.

She said that 80,000 volunteers, including foreigners, have served in Suzhou's communities.

Zhou Furong and Hang Xuefei in Suzhou contributed to this story.