Global Linkage, Thousands of Miles to Help-In the face of the epidemic, the WKU people do their best to contribute

At WKU, there are faculty members from 28 countries, as well as alumni and exchange students scattered around the world.

In the face of this epidemic, they are our most solid foreign aid force! The WKU people at home and abroad acted for the first time, helping Wenzhou in their own way, and cheering for China.

Line up with family members to purchase supplies in the Philippines

Candy Chiu, a marketing teacher from WKU, is spending her Chinese New Year holiday in her hometown of Manila, Philippines. These days, she runs between the major drug stores on the streets of Manila.

On January 28, when Candy learned that Wenzhou was facing the shortage of medical materials, she immediately contacted the WKU Education Foundation and expressed her willingness to purchase some medical materials at her own expense in the Philippines and mail them to Wenzhou.

After days of running around and long queues, Candy has bought 100 pairs of goggles and 4,000 pairs of gloves at her own expense in the Philippines.

On the afternoon of the 30th, when the reporter contacted Candy, she was still busy purchasing for supplies. In order to transport boxes of supplies, she also brought her family to help.

Candy told reporters that there was a volcanic eruption in the middle of January in the Philippines. On January 30, the Ministry of Health of the Philippines announced that it had confirmed the first case of new coronavirus infection. Therefore, it is very difficult to buy medical supplies in the Philippines, such as ordinary masks and N95 masks. Many stores are out of stock, and there are long lines of stores with goods.

In addition to shopping at local stores, Candy and her family are also contacting local suppliers of medical supplies in the hope of raising more supplies.

Candy said she was sad to learn about the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia in China because so many people have been affected by the virus. And she hopes to do her part in fighting the epidemic in China and that it will get through the crisis soon.

The gloves and goggles purchased by Candy have been given to Wenzhou Chinese in the Philippines. They will be transferred back to Wenzhou tomorrow on a flight from Manila to Xiamen.

Candy said she will continue to seek and contact new suppliers to raise more medical supplies.

Fighting！Wenzhou

This is not just the battle of China

“Working on to buy necessary stuffs for Wenzhou in South Korea ……Let’s collaborate”. On January 29, Jerry Choi, a Korean foreign teacher at WKU Business School, sent a message in Moments of Wechat.

Choi first learned about the new coronavirus around Jan. 21 via Facebook of a professor at the University of Kansas. At that time, he realized something was wrong and prepared 100 masks for use when he returned to school.

But on January 28, he suddenly received a message from the Wechat group of the WKU foundation. Secretary General Meng Jun of the foundation is seeking medical supplies overseas on behalf of WKU. In response, Professor Choi immediately bought 600 kf94 masks of the same grade as N95 and 400 disposable masks online.

He admitted that because of the sudden outbreak, even in South Korea, both online and offline channels of medical supplies are very scarce. He once tried to order Tyvek protective clothing from a Korean supplier, but got a reply that could not be supplied in time. At the same time, he asked the other party to supply as soon as possible, and at the same time, he expanded his search channels. Through his colleagues, he contacted a Chinese doctoral student who was doing business in South Korea, where he ordered some medical supplies. As of January 31, Professor Choi has received 20 more protective clothing, more than 600 kf94 masks and 1000 pairs of medical gloves.

In the interview, Professor Choi also mentioned that in South Korea, the fear of the new coronavirus is spreading rapidly, masks and other related medical supplies are also in short supply, more than half of the people on the street choose to wear masks to travel, and the government, experts and mass media are trying their best to spread the truth and facts through social platforms and mass media.

Professor Choi believes that China will better control and defeat the epidemic. In his view, this epidemic is a battle faced by all human society, and we should show due solidarity and cooperation. He thanked and paid tribute to those fighting around the world against the new coronavirus. “If we can do something to help these fighters, we will help them regardless of borders,” he said.

Before going to press, the reporter saw a new message from Professor Choi’s Moments: “Solidary is our word. WKU and Wenzhou fighting. I am with U.”

Global online supplies search

The WKU alumni volunteered to ship supplies by themselves

These days, because of the epidemic, WKU freshman Ma Xinyu in Hangzhou home, “grounded”, but he is still busy. As a member of the Overseas Materials Purchasing Group of WKU Youth Association, he is busy searching for “sources” online all over the world every day, taking advantage of his foreign language.

“There are currently three people in the overseas group. We are looking for overseas shopping platforms, as well as some overseas suppliers of masks and protective clothing, such as Neobits. When we confirm that the materials searched are qualified, we will place an order. We will email the manufacturer and wait for the manufacturer to reply to us. ” According to Ma Xinyu, they have purchased a total of 750 pieces of protective clothing that meet the requirements on Amazon platform and are waiting for the seller to deliver them. These materials will be sent to the United States first and then transported back to China. “A lot of WKU alumni and exchange students who are studying in the United States have offered to help us bring materials by themselves.” Ma Xinyu said。

Every day, Ma Xinyu would take the initiative to go to the major e-commerce platforms to “grab goods”. BaganMart in Burma, 3M in the US, Gmarket in Korea, E-bay… It seems that there are many channels, but the fact is also very serious. “Often there are still goods in one second, and they will be gone after refreshing.” even so, they have not given up and are still looking for various channels. “See what else we can buy, and then place an order quickly,” Ma said.

By 5:00 p.m. on January 31, 2020, the total amount of funds raised by the platform was 43,703.01 RMB, and the total expenditure for purchasing materials was 53,309 RMB. The number of participants reached 530. At present, 1000 medical N95 masks (Korean standard KF94), 3000 pairs of disposable sterilizing gloves, 800 pieces of protective clothing, 100 pairs of protective goggles, 600 bottles of disinfectant and 400 ordinary civilian masks have been purchased.