» DJEBBA Fidele is the organizer behind the Association of Rays of Sun (Association Rayons de Soleil), and a leader in Cameroonian youth work. In 2007, she received an award for her efforts to promote exchanges between young people in Cameroon and other countries. In that same year, she was invited by Chinese national leaders to visit China. DJEBBA Fidele shared her opinions with ChinAfrica:

What impressed you most during your stay in China? 

At the invitation of Chinese leaders, I came to China in 2007. My trip gave me a chance to learn from China's experience educating younger generations. During this time, many things impressed me a lot, especially the patriotism of Chinese people.

What did you learn through your visit to China?

I saw the track of China's development and learned a lot. Chinese people love their country, and would be happy to contribute to its development. We can learn from that. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to working with the country's youth, in which the Communist Youth League Central Committee plays an important role. But the effect of enterprises can not be overlooked. At the Chinese branch of Honda, we saw that more than 80 percent of employees are around 26 years old. The company also set up an organization focusing on safeguarding the rights and interests of young people. In China, both in urban and rural areas, young people are playing a significant role. I also noticed that family planning has worked very well, with the one-child policy making sure that every child enjoys better living conditions. I learned from China's experience that having fewer children may help people achieve prosperity. Back to our own country, we hope the government can put some of this advice into practice. We hoped to set up some permanent exchange programs, but they are yet to progress well.

Do you have any future plans for China-Africa youth exchanges?  

During this visit, I was accompanied by youth leaders from many other countries. We reached many agreements, of which one is to establish an association to facilitate bilateral exchanges between Chinese and African youth. We hope to have some follow-up actions to strengthen this exchange, because both sides often have a lot of good ideas, but there are no effective channels or means to communicate and put them into practice. We are still exploring a way to maintain friendly relations and cooperation.

Could you give a brief introduction about the Association of Rays of Sun?

This organization was founded in 2006, aiming to provide services to young Cameroonians. Our main goals include promoting and protecting the rights and interests of children and young women; encouraging the career and innovation activities of young female leaders in enterprises; helping young women integrate into society; fighting against the infringement of children's and women's rights; fighting for young women's right to express their opinions on significant issues. I hope that with such a platform, we can better promote the development and progress of youth work.

You were granted a reward for youth work. Could you tell us about that? 

I received this award in 2007 in recognition of my efforts in youth work. I have been committed to youth work, and hope to be able to make contribution in this area. But at the same time, I am also very concerned about cultural work. In 2010, I won my first award in cultural work for my article on the 50th anniversary of Cameroonian independence. The award was not granted by the Cameroonian president personally, but the whole event was co-organized by French Ministry of Culture and Cooperation. CA