On a Sunday morning at 8am, our Keeping Hope Alive volunteers gathered at a 9th-floor rental flat. The uncle's daughter had reached out to us through a social worker who knew his situation. When we spoke with the uncle, it was clear he's a very independent person who doesn't like troubling others - which explains how things got to this point.
When we stepped inside, the reality hit us hard. No bed, no sofa, no furniture. Just newspapers - stacked from floor to chest height in every corner. Uncle had been sleeping on newspapers for over a decade. When they got dirty, he simply laid fresh ones on top. Layer after layer, year after year.
We kept the windows closed while working - standing on thick layers of paper with our heads nearly touching the ceiling, we couldn't risk anyone losing balance on the 9th floor. The house was filled with cockroaches, bedbugs, and lizards. In the kitchen, a flask of rotting liquid spilled, forcing everyone to rush out for air. Near the toilet, water-soaked newspapers had turned into thick, slimy bricks that we had to break apart with sticks and gloved hands.
The most challenging part wasn't the smell or the mess - it was the origami-folded notes hidden throughout. Uncle had folded money into intricate shapes, making it nearly impossible to tell paper from paper. After 7 hours of careful searching, we gathered one large bag full of notes and coins. If we'd simply thrown everything away, we could have finished in 2 hours. But going layer by layer, checking each fold - that's what left all our volunteers with aching backs.
By 5pm, we'd filled nearly 40 large bins and hundreds of bags. We painted the walls, changed light bulbs, cleaned the floors. Nothing fancy - just creating a clean, safe space for uncle to return to.
We didn't know this uncle before his daughter connected us. But we were given the opportunity to be useful, and that's enough. "感谢您让我们做有用的人" - thank you for letting us be useful people.
The work was hot, smelly, and exhausting. But we walked away knowing we did what we could, and uncle now has a livable space waiting for him.