[Tanzania] Saitoti Emanuel Elibariki, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology
I come from Tanzania, a country in eastern Africa. I chose to study in China because of its tremendous architectural achievements and good reputation around the world. Besides, China’s rapid progress in science and technology has attracted me a lot. Just as bees are attracted to beautiful flowers, I want to witness the rise of this emerging power. China is the most beautiful red rose in my heart.
When I was in the fifth grade, my history teacher told us that China, together with the Tanzanian and Zambian governments, jointly built the Tanzam Railway. A total of 56,000 Chinese people overcame the harsh environment and unfamiliar way of life to build and operate the railroad. Sixty-eight Chinese people even sacrificed their lives for this project. I was deeply moved by the fact that they were so eager to help others, and at the same time, I was impressed by their abundant knowledge and skills. This history lesson left a deep impression on me, and I made my mind to visit China when I grow up.
On November 22, 2019, I finally arrived in China. I saw the busy and orderly Beijing airport, the crisscrossing highways and neon lights–flashed cities. China is more developed than my Tanzania. I hope my homeland can be like China one day. So I was more eager to learn more about this nation. I went to visit many places in China and I am fond of watching Chinese news.
Earlier this year, China lifted 80 million people out of poverty, which is a major achievement and great milestone in human history that has never been achieved anywhere else in the world. It turns out that the Chinese people are united closely to lift themselves up together.
One more thing comes to mind. When the Western world completed the first and second industrial revolutions and made various technological breakthroughs, China was bogged down in frequent wars.
When the Western world had already achieved greatly in nuclear weapons and space exploration, China still had less than 50,000 scientific and technical personnel. After 1949 when the new China was founded, China started to catch up, from detonating the first atomic bomb, launching the first artificial Earth satellite, to building its own space laboratory nowadays. It turns out that the Chinese people have never been afraid of difficulties and have always worked hard, which is why they keep making progress.
I think Chinese people’s natural reserve make them ready to help each other. I realized this even more when I participated in my school’s teaching activities at Huaishuguan Middle School in Yangxian county, Hanzhong city.
I gave students a class at the school to introduce my country, college life and my major. I think they love our world and civil engineering, just like me. They can be engineers or realize their respective dreams in the future. They thought my Chinese was very good and asked me how I learned Chinese.
I told them some methods, such as spending as much time as possible to remember words, understand sentence patterns and usage, listen and speak as much as you can, etc. They were very excited and I felt happy too. This is the joy of helping others. I am very moved that college students’ volunteer teaching has helped solve the problem of teacher shortages in middle schools and broaden students’ vision toward the world. It was the first time I realized that my life experience can also inspire others. It turns out that every step of life is worth it.
I’m excited about my engagement with China, because it has met all my expectations since I was a child. The people, environment, technology and culture here are excellent. I hope I can continue to stay with China.
The story is from "My Beautiful Encounter with China" Essay Competition organized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges (CSCSE).
