When teaching and sharing ACTAsia's Care For Life courses, he feels that they are not merely teaching students empathy, but rather, supporting them in understanding the processes that lead to an empathetic world where humans and animals can live in harmony.
Qiang Zeng at the 2024 10th Annual International Sustainable Fur
Free Fashion Forum
For nearly twelve years, Qiang has been a valued supporter of ACTAsia by
generously offering his amazing skills and resources. Originally from
Guangzhou, Qiang currently lives in bustling Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.
He was a university student when he began volunteering for ACTAsia in 2012,
acting as one of the first-ever educators for our
Caring for Life children’s education programme.
I have always believed in the inherent goodness of human nature, that
people aspire to create beauty and harmony in life.
Student, educator, lifelong volunteer
Qiang traces his earliest exposure to questions of animal welfare and compassionate philosophies back to his childhood. He remembers watching animal cartoons and anime shows and these early on-screen representations and personifications of animals left a lasting impact on Qiang, fostering in him a deep empathy for non-human creatures who are often mistreated and misused. His interest in the wellbeing of animals, the environment and general citizenship continued into his adolescence; the more books he read, stories he heard and news he consumed, the more invested he became in these ideas. However, “my understanding of these issues was vague,” Qiang notes.
During his years as a university student at Shenzhen Polytechnic, Qiang established a student association called the Perception Group (Gan Zhi), geared towards creating awareness about and compassion for animal welfare. Founded in 2012, Qiang recalls being motivated by encouraging his peers and to develop a deeper sense of understanding and empathy for animals.
His student association emphasises hands-on collaboration and creative activities to fully engage students. Much of the association’s early initiatives involved shifting perspectives away from the “human centre” concept “We wanted to look at the world from the point of view of animals as a way to understand others,” he says. “Understanding others definitely always involves some contradictions, but it is about meeting each other in the middle and collaborating towards consensus.”
Understanding others definitely always involves some contradictions, but it
is about meeting each other in the middle and collaborating towards
consensus.
Making an impact through Caring for Life education
Qiang first found out about ACTAsia in 2012, a few months after founding his student association. At the time, ACTAsia was in the early days of launching its highly influential Caring for Life (CFL) Education for Children programme. “I was very impressed,” says Qiang. “It was very professional, both in terms of conduct and training.” When Qiang found out that ACTAsia was looking for volunteers, he immediately signed up. As he explains: “I have always loved volunteering. I always loved children and had volunteered at the Shenzhen Stray Dogs’ pet association.
Prior to becoming involved with ACTAsia, the domain of children’s education was completely novel to Qiang. “I was curious: how could we go about doing this new kind of education for children and for animal welare?”
This is when Qiang’s long collaboration with ACTAsia began. His student association became an early CFL partner, using ACTAsia’s framework to spread compassion and a better understanding for animals, people and the environment. Nearly twelve years later, ACTAsia regularly provides training to new students joining the university association.
I felt that becoming a Caring for Life volunteer would be very enriching.
Fostering empathy through Caring for Life
Since 2012, ACTAsia’s Caring for Life education programme has reached over 380,000 children across China who are learning how to question conventional beliefs and embrace responsibility for their world. CFL addresses humane education, environmental stewardship and interpersonal relationships to help children understand the interconnected nature of everything on our planet. ACTAsia’s CFL education for children teaches students fundamental life skills such as empathy, compassion and leadership, equipping them with the tools to change the world.
FFor Qiang, the most fulfilling part of being a volunteer CFL educator is
watching students truly absorb and grow from the concepts he shares with
them. When teaching and sharing CFL courses, he feels that they are not
merely teaching students empathy, but rather, supporting them in
understanding the processes that lead to an empathetic world where humans
and animals can live in harmony. And “these processes of empathetic thinking
are incredibly important throughout one’s life.”
Since becoming a CFL ambassador in 2012, Qiang is now a successful business professional, but he has remained deeply involved with ACTAsia. He provides support wherever and however he can and recently assisted with tech at the 2023 and 2024 Compassion in Fashion Forum.
Thank you, Qiang for your long-term devotion to Caring for Life! ACTAsia relies on amazing volunteers and donors such as Qiang for the success of our revolutionary education initiatives. Please join Qiang and be part of ACTAsia’s compassionate movement and support ACTAsia today.