When did you first become interested inBurundiand how did you start your life there?  

My personal experience, from the perspective of ordinary people, is somewhat exceptional. After two years of study at a health school in my hometown, in 2004, I got funding from a Christian to further my study at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, majoring in Business English. For this reason, I converted to Christianity, which had a great impact on my life.

After my graduation, I opened a kids clothing store. One day, two students fromBurunditold my now-husband that the shop owner was a Christian when he passed by the front door of my shop. He was very surprised, because rarely did he see Chinese people having faith in Jesus. He came in and chatted with me. I found that we graduated from the same university, and shared similar ideas and values on many issues. But I had never thought of marrying an African then. I turned him down at the beginning due to huge differences between African and Chinese culture and life. Yet, he had prayed for God every day to allow me to become his wife, and I gradually found that he had many good characteristics. It makes me believe that perhaps God has a plan for me. That’s why we got married.

Before marriage, my husband decided to settle inBurundi. He told me that the country is small, but beautiful, with Lake Tangenike, the second deepest lake in the world. He loves his country, so he is eager to contribute what he has learned inChinatoBurundi. That is why I am here.

How did you adapt to living inBurundi? What do you do now?

In the past four years, I have gradually fallen in love with this country, and now I am accustomed to life here. The climate is very mild, neither too cold nor too hot throughout the year. We eat healthier and natural foods. Usually we cook by ourselves if we miss Chinese food very much. Generally speaking, each family has hired at least two workers due to the cheap labor. Male workers mainly do chores including cooking, laundry, dishwashing and car-washing. Female workers are responsible for cleaning and taking care of kids.  

My husband and I are doing business together. We run a small café, which is now undergoing renovation, as we plan to expand its scale. It will fully reopen next month. In addition, we have devoted great efforts and time to international trade, exporting Chinese products toBurundi, as the products are quite popular here. In recent years, I would like to try to exportBurundi’s goods toChina, such as world-famous coffee and tea, which I believe would be very popular among Chinese customers.

What are the major differences betweenChinaandBurundi?

I think the major differences between the two countries exist in culture, lifestyle and diets. For example, local people are always friendly to the Chinese people, and they prefer meat and vegetables that are boiled soft. I haven’t become accustomed to the local food yet. Currently my husband and kids prefer to eat Chinese food. I also taught workers how to cook some simple recipes, such as scrambled eggs with tomatoes, steamed eggs and boiled noodles. Our opinions sometimes are divided on children’s education due to different cultural backgrounds. He advocates that parents give much freedom to kids so as to ensure a happy childhood for them.

What interesting things happened to you in daily life? Can your kids speak Chinese?

The Burundian people are renowned for their singing and dancing. The most interesting thing was that my husband taught me how to dance as he does, but he always laughs at my poor performance. Normally, Chinese people learn from dance teachers at training schools, but people here are simply born with the ability for music. My children have inherited their father’s love of dancing and music. Besides, it is interesting that locals laugh at me because I don’t pronounce the local language very well.

My kids bring a lot of fun into our life. I keep speaking Chinese here, and teach my kids Chinese as well. Due to the environmental constraints, my three-year-old son can speak only a little Chinese, but he is able to understand three languages: Chinese, English andBurundilanguages. My one-year-old daughter can speak the Chinese words her bother masters. We prefer English schooling, so we send our children to English schools.

What are your future plans?