Teacher among pioneers in Cameroon

Woman who wanted to teach chinese language and culture discovers a new world in Africa

When Zhang Juan heard in 2013 that she was being sent to Cameroon, her knowledge of the country was almost non-existent.

Before she went there, the native of Henan province, who is now 33, would be required to read up on the country, its people and its customs before taking up her post as a teacher.

Now she teaches Chinese language and culture at the Institut Universitaire du Golfe de Guinee, one of the biggest private universities in Cameroon. It is in Douala, a city with a population of more than 3 million and the economic capital of the country.

Zhang, from the city of Zhengzhou, spoke with China Daily in mid-January in her office, before she was due to teach one of the 13 first-year classes of Chinese at the university. She came to Cameroon through the Confucius Institute, the organization of nonprofit public institutions affiliated with China's Ministry of Education that promote Chinese language and culture.

The first branch of the Institute in Cameroon was established in November 2007 at the Cameroon Institute of International Relations within the University of Yaounde II, in the country's capital, Yaounde, and they have continued to spread since then.

An agreement was signed in 2012 to open a Confucius Institute branch in the Institute of International Relations.

As such, Zhang is one of the pioneer Chinese teachers on the campus situated in the PK8 Bassa quarter of Douala, and she has become quite well known.

As she passes by a big group of students sitting in a tent to watch a soccer game, both male and female students try to get the attention of the Chinese teacher by saying something in Mandarin.

You hear, "Yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu, shi" as students count to 10. Also, "Ni hao", "Ni zenme yang", and "Shenme shi ni de mingzi?" as students say, "Hello, good morning", "How are you?" and "What is your name?"

Zhang smiles, seemingly touched. "When I see the enthusiasm with which the students are busy learning Chinese or want to know about China, I am very moved," she says.

She remembers teaching English to Chinese youth for more than 10 years in Zhengzhou. "They liked English," she says, "but remained anchored in Mandarin and Zhongyuan (a dialect spoken in Henan province).

"Then I began to ask myself about my contribution to the Chinese Dream. And after much reflection, I came to the conclusion that I should teach other people my language, my culture, after having taught a foreign language for a long time. Fortunately, the Confucius Institute in 2013 recruited teachers in Henan. I decided to apply and passed the tests to teach Chinese culture outside China," Zhang says.

Once she was selected, she learned she would be posted to Cameroon. At the time, it seemed to her like bad luck since she was going to an unfamiliar Francophone country and she had dreamed of teaching English-speaking students in the United States.

She started reading about this new country that would be her host for her first experience abroad. As she searched, she learned about the legendary Roger Milla, the Cameroonian striker who was one of the first African players to become a major soccer star on the international stage. She also learned Cameroon is a beautiful country.

"The national soccer team, 'The Indomitable Lions' is better than that of China. And the food is better than in many countries because it is still produced according to sound environmental standards," she says.

Once the paperwork was completed in Beijing, Zhang departed from China during winter a little more than a year ago, and landed at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport in Cameroon's capital, where she started adjusting to the much more humid tropical climate at her assigned post. Four days after landing, she arrived in Douala, where she is housed in a residence not far from her job.

Once there, she had to adapt. There was no washing machine, so laundry must be done by hand. The furniture is basic. There's no television, so it's impossible to watch the Africa Cup of Nations soccer competition, which is a passion in the neighborhood. But in the house there are many books and a computer for research. Nevertheless she has found a sense of peace in the tropics.

After a year in Douala, her schedule has become routine. She and her colleague Lu Shuwei are responsible for teaching Mandarin and Chinese culture to around 1,000 first-year students at the IUG campus.

"Some of our students can sing the classics of Chinese traditional songs such as Tian Mi Mi (Sweetie sweet)," Lu says. They also have evening classes, where they give lesson to workers and others interested in learning Chinese. They also teach four sessions of courses for Cameroonians who want to obtain HSK or Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi certificates by passing Chinese proficiency tests in order to study in China.

Zhang also practices Taichi, the Chinese martial art. She has also got to know a security officer from the IUG campus who was a curious spectator of her morning or evening sessions of Taichi. The officer, Sama Paul, decided he wanted to learn, and has become an avid practitioner of Taichi himself.

Paul now has a dream - to continue developing his Taichi skills in China, and perhaps to even learn kung fu, all of which he says gives new meaning to his life.

"Practicing Taichi with this Cameroonian allowed me to better understand the society in which I live," Cameroonians are warm, hospitable and sincere. Rich or poor, they are in a good mood. And music is an integral part of their lives."

In order to spend more time with the people of her district, Zhang does not hesitate to go shopping at the market and in small shops in the PK8 neighborhood. With one or two students playing the role of guide, she goes to the market primarily to buy tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and other fruits and vegetables.

She has learned to negotiate prices and haggle using the CFA franc, the currency of 13 former colonies of France, including Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.

Asked how much students pay for evening classes, without hesitation she gives figures in francs, without having to convert them from Chinese renminbi.

Zhang also has shown she is not afraid of solitude. She left her three-year-old child behind in Henan with her parents. Her husband, a high school teacher in the same province, is also in China. He flew to Cameroon last year to visit his wife, and they spent six weeks together last July and August. She has good memories of their strolling along the streets of the business district of Akwa-Douala, along the Bonanjo administrative center and the cultural sights of the city.

The couple now keeps in touch through the Chinese social networking WeChat. Zhang has another 10 months in Cameroon before she is allowed to visit family in China.

For now, she does not worry about what will happen when she returns, but instead concentrates on leaving traces in the minds of her young learners. Asked to compare the impression she got of Cameroon through the media and books with the one she has lived for more than a year, her answer is straightforward.

"Cameroon is a peaceful country, and the environment is beautiful. The trees grow well in lush landscapes in some places. I have not yet had the chance to get to know people very deeply, but I think some Cameroonians would benefit from being very diligent. They need to be more motivated and engaged in their work."

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 02/06/2015 page29)