Kenyan Student Noah: Telling China's Stories Well as an Envoy Connecting the Friendship Between China and Kenya

Noah, a doctoral student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, comes from Kenya. As a Chinese culture lover, he enjoys recording and showcasing local customs and rural development of China with video. During the 2018 China International Import Expo (CIIE), he served as interpreter for the President of Kenya. In 2022, he was invited as an outstanding youth representative to the World Youth Development Forum.

Going into Beautiful Villages as the Sharer of China's Stories

In 2016, Noah came to China to study, the dream of his childhood. He met many interesting Chinese classmates and friends in China, felt the different cultures and customs of various regions of China, and was deeply attracted by the colorful cultures. Among international students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Noah is affectionately called "China hand". He has visited villages in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Henan, Zhejiang and other places multiple times, talked with local farmers, researched on and experienced local customs and traditions with Chinese classmates, and observed and recorded the new look of China's beautiful villages.

Noah said that the immersive experience of the Chinese countryside revealed the differences between the one he had imagined. "I have been to a village in Henan, which is very beautiful and comfortable, and all the villagers beamed with joy. The improvement of China's villages has set a great model for my country and the world." Noah felt the strong local human touch, which would help him better understand China's traditional culture and modern social development, as well as the real effects of rural revitalization. "One character of my Chinese name means 'promise', the most important thing for Chinese people. The Chinese government has made a promise weightier than one thousand bars of gold to the people, that is, to revitalize the rural area and achieve common prosperity. I have witnessed how the promise is fulfilled step by step, which is really great," said Noah. As a new media major student, Noah likes to record and show China in photos and videos. He said, "I want to share China's stories about beautiful villages with more people."

Utilizing Professional Competence as an Envoy to Promote Cultural Exchanges

During the 2018 CIIE, Noah served as an interpreter for Kenyan President Kenyatta, who affirmed Noah's professional ability, and asked him to well serve as envoy of China and the "Belt and Road" to jointly build national dialogue and actively contribute to friendship and cooperation between the two countries. "I am very excited by the opportunity to such an event. I told President Kenyatta that I was studying new media at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In the future, I want to tell more people about China based on my major, and use what I have learned to contribute to youth's efforts to the 'Belt and Road'," said Noah. In 2022, he attended the first World Youth Development Forum as an international student representative, where he shared his achievements and growth in China with young people from all over the world.

The Nairobi-Thika Highway built with Chinese aid connects Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, with the main agricultural areas in the country. Also, the Mombasa - Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway contracted by Chinese enterprises, which was opened to traffic in 2017, is the largest infrastructure program in Kenya since its independence. It has driven the people and goods exchanges between Mombasa Port and South Sudan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African hinterland countries. With the help of China, wide transportation arteries have been built one after another, and Kenya's strategic position in Africa correspondingly enhanced. "The 'Belt and Road' railway programs have benefited Kenya in an essential manner. I, a beneficiary of the 'Belt and Road', look forward to being its builder in the future," said Noah. 

In the future, Noah hopes to stay in China and contribute to cultural exchanges between Kenya and China on the international stage. He said, "I plan to stay in China and apply the new media knowledge I have learned to programs between China and Kenya. I also hope to introduce them to Kenya to build a bridge between China and the world."

（Video Source: yangshipin.cn）