Profile: Joshua Li

Joshua Li is the Operations Manager at Anken Green in Shanghai. He spent much of his own childhood growing up in a Chinese orphanage after losing his parents at age nine. He shares his story with Sophie Loras.

For me charity is not strange. In fact most of my life I’ve been interacting with charities either in receiving or giving.

I lost my family at the age of nine and grew up in a government orphanage in Xi’an, China. This is where I got to understand charity and the need for it. However, today the circumstances have changed, and now I would like to give back as a volunteer.

When I was about 12 years old, I got to know Aishling – a volunteer from Ireland who came to help at my orphanage. She not only brought me hope and love, but also helped to build up my confidence towards life. She showed me someone, somewhere cares about me. And now in return, I want to bring the same hope and love to others to build up their confidence in their life, and to let them know someone, somewhere actually cares about them.

How do you choose the charities you work with?Joshua Li Xunan Dec2013 IMG 7918 WEB

I don’t choose the charities. I feel they have always chosen me and always at the right time. As you may know, we had a big scandal with the Red Cross in China the past few years, which discredited the charities that work here in China. As a result, people are hesitant to give, not because they don’t want to, but they are afraid to give to the wrong hands.

*Pictured right: Joshua Li with children from the remote village of Sancun in China’s western Yunnan Province in December 2013. (Courtesy Joshua Li)

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Therefore, for me personally, I would like to get my own hands involved with the charities I’m in, knowing that what I do will truly benefit someone, somewhere.

Do you think the way people donate their time and volunteer work in China is changing?

Yes, definitely. I have come across many articles and reports about the progress of charity work in China, which also excites me to see this is actually happening around us, in our daily life.

More than that, I am glad to see this charity work is actually shifting from the foreign communities into the local Chinese circles. More and more people want to get involved and to contribute in different ways.

What do your friends think about the work you do?

I am very grateful all my friends are very supportive and they all believe this is the right thing to do. Especially the people in my office – a co-worker donated a box of torches towards my recent Christmas trip teaching under privileged kids as a volunteer in Sancun, Yunnan Province, China. Another co-worker donated six boxes of toys for the kids, and many others have helped too.

What has been your most inspiring charity work in China to date?

One of the main charities I have been involved with is Community Roots China. (http://www.communityrootschina.org) What I like about Community Roots China is the way they involve corporate company giving versus personal giving.

Joshua Li Xunan Dec2013 WEBThey not only act as a bridge between you and the charity of your choice, but also allow the companies to get involved and share in social responsibilities in education, healthcare, shelter and even a simple Christmas gift bag to kids in need.

In Sancun, the theme of the visit was “Love, Joy and Peace.” So not a lot of teaching, but a lot of laughing, playing, and engaging with the kids to get a better understanding of what they were going through. It was a very poor village and many kids had lost their parents to migrant work in the big cities. When I first met the kids, you thought they were very naughty, but actually they were just shy. It brought back a lot of memories of my own past growing up in the orphanage. I was asked to give a speech about hope. When I told the kids I was an orphan, there was complete silence. Everyone was waiting to hear what I would say next. I told them: Where you are today, is not where you will be tomorrow. 

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*Pictured above: Joshua Li with children from the remote village of Sancun in China’s western Yunnan Province in December 2013. (Courtesy Joshua Li)

** To read more about charity in China read Karen Tye’s story by clicking here.

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