Jiading volunteer named to China’s list of ‘Good Samaritans’

Salamu Mamati runs a roast lamb store in Jiading’s Fengbang Town.

Mamati (center) and his volunteer team — Photos by Dong Hong

Mamati has received many thank-you banners for his benevolence.

I met many kindhearted people when I came to Jiading to open a shop. I received a lot of assistance from them. Now I want to try my hardest to pay back to society.

Dong Hong and Zhu Jilong

Salamu Mamati, a Uygur who has lived in Jiading District for more than 10 years, was chosen for the list of “Good Samaritans of China” in the fourth quarter of last year because of his acts of kindness and benevolence.

He is focused on improving the health and environment of the com-munity and is a frequent visitor to the neighborhood committee of Yangliu Community in Jiading’s Jiangqiao Town. He is part of the volunteer ser-vice team that supports community environmental sanitation.

The primary duties of this team, which was established in early 2022, include sorting trash into different categories, cleaning the green belt and corridors, and setting up public bike sharing stations. Wearing green vests, they have won over the community.

“Mamati is our ‘old friend.’ He often brings his Uygur compatriots to help the community. He usually speaks little and rushes off to work,” Ding Lin, a community worker, said.

Mamati runs a Xinjiang roast lamb store in Fengbang Town. Even though it’s a small business, he gives gener-ously to charity. He has helped children in need for years under the direction of the National Minorities Federation of Jiading District, giving more than 70,000 yuan (US$10,142) to 15 orphans in southwestern Guizhou Province.

After learning about the severe floods in central China’s Henan Prov-ince in 2021, he took the initiative to contact the United Front Department of Jiangqiao and donated 30,000 yuan; during the COVID-19 pandemic, he gave roughly 130,000 yuan to the anti-epi-demic volunteers in his community. He and his family regularly visited Feng-bang Nursing Home for five years in a row. His team also started a charitable campaign at the same time, sending about 7,400 pieces of handmade Xin-jiang naans to community volunteers and local residents.

He has been subsidizing Xiaojiao’s tuition fees since 2020, a junior high school student in Zhijin County, Gui-zhou. His father had died, and his mother was critically ill at home. He relies on the government’s monthly subsistence allowance and lives with his elderly grandmother.

“I will study hard and hope to join your team to help more people in the future,” he wrote in a letter to Mamati.

Mamati said that when he first arrived in Shanghai, he had trouble renting a house. He got a lot of help from his friends, the United Front Department and the Jiangqiao education depart-ment. When his father was diagnosed with a brain tumor, medical experts from Shanghai traveled to Xinjiang to help. Countless unidentified people also sent food and clothing to him, which helped him feel the warmth of the city.

After the business started to show signs of improvement, Mamati yearned to give back to society. “I met many kindhearted people when I came to Jiading to open a shop. I received a lot of assistance from them. Now I want to try my hardest to pay back to society,” he said.

Many of his fellow Uygur people in Jiading have been inspired by what he has done and have decided to volunteer with him. As a result, the volunteer service team was created. Kaiser Mush-etar, a fellow Uygur on the team, said that it is incredibly meaningful to fol-low Mamati in carrying out good deeds to benefit society.

This young team is currently actively involved in community environmental governance, caring for elderly people who live alone, providing financial aid to deserving students, and perform-ing other volunteer services to defend national harmony and unity.