Huaqiao University (HQU) claimed two gold medals and one silver in the seventh National Finals of the Chinese Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition on December 1 in Shantou, Guangdong, marking its best performance to date.

Fujian Province secured three gold medals this year, with both golds in the higher education category awarded to HQU’s teams.

The gold-winning volunteer service projects include: HQU’s Youth Spirit: Promoting Overseas Chinese Culture and History, organized by the HQU’s Youth League Committee, and Awakening Memories: Using Minnan(Southern Fujian)Family Letters to Tell the Stories of Home and Country, led by Business School. The silver medal went to the Starlight Dream: AI-Powered Music Therapy for Children with Autism, organized by the College of Engineering.

The HQU’s Youth Spirit project engages faculty and student volunteers in grassroots communities to explore overseas Chinese culture and history. This initiative promotes the spirit of overseas Chinese and supports the country's efforts to enhance the new framework for overseas Chinese affairs in the new era. They embrace innovation and progress, continuously exploring new service models that improve personalization and precision. In addition, volunteers also use social media to share stories of returned overseas Chinese, ensuring their experiences resonate with the public and breathe new life into the cultural heritage of the returned overseas Chinese community, providing new pathways for the continuation of the overseas Chinese spirit in contemporary society.

The Awakening Memories project involves collaboration between HQU’s Business School and the Quanzhou Archives, establishing a volunteer service base that broadens dissemination channels both domestically and internationally. Volunteers conduct storytelling activities both on-site and in the community, aiming to effectively convey the stories of their hometowns, foster a deep sense of national identity, and create a "new bridge" for the preservation and promotion of these narratives in the modern contexts.

The Starlight Dream project, led by faculty and students from the School of Engineering, combines AI with music therapy to help children with autism connect with their inner voices, providing essential support for special families and facilitating their integration into society.

The Chinese Youth Volunteer Service Project Competition is jointly organized by several organizations, including the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Health Commission, the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and the People's Government of Guangdong Province. A total of 1,001 teams advanced to the national finals, with the top 501 projects competing for gold and silver awards through offline presentations and defenses.

Team of HQU

(Editor: Wei Linying)