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Operations
“Hello, my name is Lucia.”
Ye Xiao-qun, an agricultural
marketing volunteer, says that every
time she introduces herself to local
people using her English name, they
tend to be surprised at the coincidence
of finding her here on the island of St.
Lucia.
Asked why she gave up her position
as an experienced marketing analyst
at a foreign company to serve as a
volunteer in an unfamiliar country, Xiao-
qun’s answer is calm and composed: “I
just wanted to perform some meaningful
service for others before I reach middle
age.”
As such, having registered for
overseas volunteering and then
participated in post-recruitment
training, Xiao-qun fulfilled her wish by
commencing two years of overseas
service.
St. Lucia, located at the heart of the
Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean,
is well known as a tourist location,
although the country’s agricultural
sector remains undeveloped due to the
hot climate, limited space for farmland
and the small-scale of domestic market
demand.
Marketing Volunteer Wins Praise of
A Partner Country through Expertise
Xiao-qun studied for her master’s
degree in the United States and has
practiced marketing for years. Although
agriculture is not something she is
familiar with, she has devoted herself
with the same spirit as she did in her
own career, learning and working at
the same time, and introducing her
marketing expertise to farmers and
local officials. Besides visiting farmers
and holding farming lectures with her
colleagues at the Ministry of Agriculture,
Xiao-qun personally promotes local
crops among supermarkets, visits
traditional markets, trains local market
researchers and interviews vendors,
and analyzes the latest sales information
for farmers. Her work has successfully
reversed a past dependency on
imported vegetables, engendering a
shift toward local production and sales.
Xiao-qun’s success in implementing
her project has won her much praise
from colleagues in the Ministry of
Agriculture, as well as built a consensus
around team work. And when asked
about the challenges involved in cross-
cultural work, Xiao-qun’s response
remains typically measured.
“People are the same; the only
difference is the color of the skin,” she
says. “The working environment might
look different, but my attitude to work
has remained the same.”
After nearly 700 days, Xiao-qun
says her biggest gain has been the
cooperation and consensus she
developed with her local colleagues.
She has really cherished the rare
opportunity to acquire cross-border
working experience in an all-English
environment.
Here on this beautiful island, Xiao-
qun enjoys spending her leisure time
playing piano, reading English literature
and watching foreign films. She also
invites friends to travel during holidays,
enjoying the beaches, the sunshine
and the beautiful landscape. This,
Xiao-qun says, is the biggest bonus of
being a volunteer in the Caribbean. It’s
been a journey that has allowed her to
understand the possibilities in life.
Perhaps “Lucia” was always
destined to come to St. Lucia.
Ye Xiao-qun, Agricultural Marketing Volunteer, St. Lucia
Getting Back to the True Meaning of
Service
Interview
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