A donation ceremony is held in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in June 2020. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Members of the Wuxi Children's Palace Choir in Wuxi City, East China's Jiangsu province, recently were honored by the Bosnia and Herzegovina government for helping the country fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Receiving such the honor brought back memories of last year to the children and teachers in the choir, when the choir tried their best to help children in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Last year, when choir leader Wang Weishu learned that Bosnia and Herzegovina was in urgent need of medical resources amid the pandemic, he immediately gathered the choir to discuss a donation plan for their friends from afar. Within a week, the choir successfully raised enough money to purchase 42,000 surgical masks.
On June 8, 2020, these 42,000 masks, carrying the love and concern of the Chinese children, were finally handed to Bisera Turkovic, the deputy chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is also the country's minister of Foreign Affairs. She was very touched by the fact that the children made the donation by pooling together their pocket money.
The friendship between these Chinese children from Wuxi and their counterparts in Bosnia and Herzegovina was established two years ago, when the children's choir from Wuxi was invited to perform in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019.
Yang Qiuming, director of the Wuxi Children's Palace Choir, said that during their stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 48 children from the choir got along well with locals and shared many heart-warming memories.
One day when the choir was performing in a pop-up show under the dome of Sarajevo Castle, a Chinese child suddenly had a nose bleed. It was one of the Bosnian audience members who stepped up immediately and helped to stop the child's nose from bleeding.
Through such an act, a solid friendship was cultivated between the Chinese and the Bosnian children and lasted even after they parted.
