XIAMEN Mason Cole Jersey , Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Zheng Jinxing, 54, and his friendsconduct nightly patrols along the roads of Jin'an community in thecoastal city of Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province.


In 2013, when Zheng began the patrols, burglaries were oftenreported within the community.


"Thieves are skillful, they can open a door with a plastic card.Some of the locks in our community are inadequate, so we oftenencourage residents to change their locks," he said.


Zheng and his team of volunteers never take a night off, theirpatrol takes place from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., even during a typhoon orwhile their neighbors celebrate the lunar new year. They see it astheir duty to the community, which is made up of mainly low andmiddle-income families.


"If we see car lights on or doors unlocked, we let the ownersknow. We return lost bags, mobile phones and drivers' licenses orhand them over to the police," he said.


As a sanitation worker, Zheng's day begins at 3 a.m. When hefinished work, he returns to the community to guide traffic. Afterdinner, he goes out to patrol.


But when he moved to the community in 2009, Zheng was known as a"troublemaker."


"I always got drunk and got into fights, nothing in thecommunity was good in my eyes," he recalled. "The head of thecommittee said I should change my behavior. It took time, buteventually I was able to change."


Zheng has now been acknowledged as a star volunteer within thedistrict. His story is typical of many of the 2,562 registeredvolunteers in Jin'an.


Covering an area of 310,000 square meters, Jin'an is Xiamen'slargest government-built community for low-income families. Thecomprehensive volunteer system earned it an award as one of China's" most beautiful communities" last year.


In the morning, a group of red-coated grandmas collect garbagein the community and teach the benefits of sorting recyclables.


During the day, basketball, choir and Taichi clubs - allorganized by volunteers - fill Jin'an with laughter and song.


The residents have free access to almost any service theyrequire from water and electricity maintenance, psychological andlegal counseling, to medical treatment and translation services, aspart of the voluntary services within the community.


They can even request a specific service by posting their needsonline or leaving a message in a suggestion box. If the request isreasonable, the residential community committee will check thevolunteer schedule and arrange for someone with the relevantprofessional knowledge to assist.


To meet the needs of the more than 2,000 elderly residents wholive alone or have mobility issues, a group of middle-agedresidents formed the "Sunset Red" team. They regularly visit andchat with those in need, read them newspapers, clean their homes orhelp them buy groceries.


Chen Liming, director of the Jin'an residential communitycommittee, said all of the community's meeting rooms are availablefree of charge for activities.


"On weekdays, most of our volunteers are middle-aged and elderlypeople, while younger people often serve the community at night andon weekends," Chen said. "We have volunteers in every building.They collect the residents' suggestions to help us evaluate ourservices on a regular basis."


The volunteers help resolve disputes often seen in othercommunities such as parking issues and noise complaints.


Wu Xiudan, 63, is a retired judge. She enjoys dancing with herfriends in the evenings but knows the younger generation dislikethe loud music.


"Previously, young people often called the police saying themusic was disruptive. But if we turned down our music, dancers atthe back couldn't hear it, causing problems for us," sherecalled.


Wu volunteered to become a mediator between the different groupswithin the community.


"The community committee decided to set up a surround soundsystem to direct the music inwards and the problem was resolved,"she said.


Wu later opened a free legal consultancy service, using herexperience to settle disputes within the community.


For Wu, Jin'an is a model community as everyone contributes andbenefits.


"We are all volunteers as well as beneficiaries, we live inharmony within this community," she said. Enditem


(Sun Muzhen also contributed to the reporting)


NAIROBI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- While growing up, Reagan Mdogo Amalemba would never imagine that one day he would become a popular chef in an exotic restaurant located in an affluent suburb of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.


The 33-year-old father of two grew up in the rugged hills of Western Kenya where access to modern trappings was a mirage.

China[/url]