A man with a heart for China

Zhang Qian

Ronny Verdoodt walked into a downtown café on a sunny morning last week wearing a white polo shirt with “A Heart for China” printed on it and the word “Belgium” printed on his cap. The words on his clothing represent Verdoodt surprisingly well.

After living in China for more than a decade, Verdoodt, 52, now calls Shenzhen home and is contributing to the city by organizing charity events.

The Belgian started a group called “A Heart for China” in Shenzhen last year. The group has expanded from a few members to around 1,100 followers of the group’s official WeChat account.

Business in China

Before organizing charity events, Verdoodt was involved in the trading business in Futian District.

Business opportunities in China brought Verdoodt here and he decided to settle down permanently about 12 years ago.

The idea of moving to China first came to Verdoodt as early as 2006 when he had been flying between Belgium and China for two years. “I like the quiet and happy life back in Belgium, but the exciting life in China made me want to move to here,” said Verdoodt.

In 2009, Verdoodt came to Futian to open a branch office of his company. Back then, Verdoodt traded IT products with European clients.

Verdoodt said that although he did not directly purchase the products at Huaqiangbei, the area was a perfect location for him to look for sample products. He bought products from factories before exporting them to Europe.

Verdoodt said that to do business in China requires some “techniques,” such as maintaining good relationship with business partners by “giving face” and drinking while doing business.

“I did not like being forced to drink while doing business, but I showed my respect to Chinese suppliers by drinking the same amount as they did,” said Verdoodt.

As the markets got increasingly competitive, Verdoodt said that his company business began to decline.

“I did not want to trick my clients with products of lousy quality and low prices,” said Verdoodt. With more and more people entering into the foreign trade business and making the market chaotic, Verdoodt chose to quit.

Charity in Shenzhen

In 2014, Verdoodt devoted himself to sports and became a regular at the gym. Verdoodt was thinking about what to do next.

During the yearlong break, Verdoodt taught himself some graphic design. “Everyday I wanted to learn something new and do the things I like,” Verdoodt said.

Verdoodt said the Nepal earthquake made him decide to help the people around him.

“The whole community was attempting to help in their own way and it inspired me to organize meaningful events in areas that need people’s attention,” said Verdoodt.

With a few friends’ help, Verdoodt founded a charity group and named it “A Heart for China” in April last year. He organized visits to a special school in Bao’an District and a nursing home in Bao’an District. The group also brought people to visit poor villages near the city and private schools with poor facilities.

Members of Verdoodt’s organization, both local and expatriate residents, spend half days every one or two weeks accompanying people who need care.

The Shenzhen Daily also covered a few visits, such as a visit to a nursing home and celebration of Halloween at a special school. The past year saw more than 40 events held by the organization.

Participants of Verdoodt’s events usually give hugs to the orphans who suffer from diseases or elderly people who are eager to talk. They also perform for people there.

“The children at the special school have nothing to do all day long but sitting or lying on the beds and they actually need people to simply give them a hug,” said Verdoodt.

“It’s easy to make a few clicks on the computer or the phone to make money donations, but it is hard to devote one’s time to chat, play and interact with these children and the seniors,” said Verdoodt.

Providing charity events for normal people is what Verdoodt wants to do. “Rich people can do charity and normal people with normal incomes can also make their life meaningful by helping others within their own capacities,” said Verdoodt.

“It does not take people a lot of money to do charity. In fact, donating money is not the only way to do charity. Of course donations matter to a lot of needy people, but what they [the needy people] need also is constant care and love,” said Verdoodt.

Support from the community

The past year was not totally smooth for the Belgian, but Verdoodt said support from his Chinese wife and friends kept him going when things didn’t go well for his charity events.

“Sometimes people doubt if the group is going to last because we don’t ask people to donate money and do not make a profit,” said Verdoodt. There were times when team members disagreed with him, but Verdoodt insisted on keeping the events as they were.

“The small NGOs are suffering from negative news made by some big corporations, so it’s hard to gain people’s trust sometime,” said Verdoodt.

Thanks to the experience of doing business and the understanding from his wife, Verdoodt is still operating the group and he has bigger plans for “A Heart for China.”

Verdoodt thinks the large number of members of Shenzhen Volunteer Alliance, the municipal volunteer federation, are doing great things by doing small but meaningful volunteer jobs around the city.

“Doing charity is like doing any other thing, it’s all about persistence,” said Verdoodt.

The charity group celebrated its one-year anniversary May 5 at a local hotel.