HELPING HAND
A Canadian man has taken to volunteer work to help local residents in one eastern Chinese city. Alywin Chew reports from Wuxi, Jiangsu.
Philosophers have for centuries debated whether humans are naturally good or evil. Few would disagree that Peter Stanleigh, who has spent most of his life in the service of others, is a living embodiment of the former.
Throughout the past 17 years of living in his adopted home of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, the Canadian has participated in a variety of community service activities in the city.
His contribution has not gone unnoticed. In 2010, Stanleigh was named among the top 100 volunteers in China as well as the most influential person in Wuxi.
The next year, he was presented with the Wuxi Teacher of the Year award.
Such is his image that locals describe him as the foreign version of Lei Feng, a legendary Chinese hero known for his selfless acts.
Stanleigh’s connection with the Chinese community, however, is one that existed even before he arrived in China.
Back home in Toronto, Stanleigh used to volunteer with community-based policing, helping Chinese residents there connect with local law enforcement agencies to prevent crime.
“When I came to Wuxi, it was about continuing what has always been an important part of my life, which is helping other people,” says Stanleigh, 72.
Born into a big family — Stanleigh is the fifth child among 13 — he cites his father as one of the greatest motivations behind his volunteer work. Stanleigh recalls that whenever his school was in need of parent volunteers, his father would always be among the first to offer help.
Stanleigh was only a high school student when he was featured on national television for his charitable efforts. He had organized a blood donation drive at his school in Canada, a rarity then.
“I wanted to donate blood but I realized that the clinics were only open on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm. It was impossible for me to do so because I was in school. And that’s when I decided to bring blood donation clinics to the school instead. We had 300 blood donors that day,” he recalls.
During his time running his own insurance company, Stanleigh also had the chance to do a part-time teaching job at a local college in Canada.
Little did he know that this would eventually become his calling in life.
In 1990, when his company’s clientele grew to almost 1,000, he had to decide if he would sell the business, bring in a partner or keep going by himself. Realizing that he had “become a slave to his business”, Stanleigh picked the first option and went on to become a full-time teacher. “No matter what I was doing, my business was always on my mind,” he says. “My phone never stopped ringing.” Sometimes he worked through holidays such as Christmas. “I used to make a lot of money but it didn’t make my family happy. Many people chase money and they lose sight of their family and friends and life purpose,” he adds. Having spent so much time interacting with the Chinese community in Toronto, Stanleigh did not hesitate in coming to China when he found the opportunity to work as an academic coordinator in a Chinese city. He arrived in 2001, bringing along his passion for helping others by volunteering in the city’s English Corner — informal gatherings for Englishlearners to improve their oral skills. Stanleigh also joined the Wuxi Health College as an English teacher and met Hu Linghan, a Wuxi native who was working as an English teacher. They married two years later.
In 2003, Stanleigh also started his own English Corner to help locals improve their English. He still hosts the group chats every Thursday at a cozy cafe called Maancat Coffee.
Apart from teaching English, Stanleigh also helps out with other community initiatives including visiting retirement homes and orphanages, picking up garbage from the streets and even taking to the roads as a traffic coordinator.
“When I tell pedestrians to stop, they stop. That’s because they usually don’t know what to say or how to react to a laowai (foreigner) who is volunteering as a traffic coordinator,” he says, laughing.
Stanleigh says his life in Wuxi is a lot more modest than the one he led back in Toronto.
He is currently living off his pension from Canada, while his wife earns money from her teaching job. He keeps himself occupied with volunteer work.
“I think that a person is judged not by what he does but by what he does for others. My life is better because someone else’s life is better,” Stanleigh says.
I think that a person is judged not by what he does but by what he does for others.”