Marriage in Burundi

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

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

　　After my graduation， I opened a kids clothing store.One day， two students from Burundi told my now-husbandthat the shop owner was a Christian when he passedby the front door of my shop. He was very surprised，because rarely did he see Chinese people having faith inJesus. He came in and chatted with me. I found that wegraduated from the same university， and shared similarideas and values on many issues. But I had never thoughtof marrying an African then. I turned him down at thebeginning due to huge differences between African andChinese culture and life. Yet， he had prayed for God everyday to allow me to become his wife， and I gradually foundthat he had many good characteristics. It makes mebelieve that perhaps God has a plan for me. That’s why wegot 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 theworld. He loves his country， so he is eager to contributewhat he has learned in China to Burundi. That is why I amhere.

　　How did you adapt to living in Burundi？What do you do now？

　　In the past four years， I have gradually fallenin love with this country， and now I amaccustomed to life here. The climate is verymild， neither too cold nor too hot throughoutthe year. We eat healthier and naturalfoods. Usually we cook by ourselves if wemiss Chinese food very much. Generallyspeaking， each family has hired at least twoworkers due to the cheap labor. Male workersmainly do chores including cooking，laundry， dishwashing and car-washing.Female workers are responsible for cleaningand taking care of kids.

　　My husband and I are doing business together.We run a small café， which is now undergoingrenovation， as we plan to expandits scale. It will fully reopen next month. Inaddition， we have devoted great efforts andtime to international trade， exporting Chineseproducts to Burundi， as the productsare quite popular here. In recent years， Iwould like to try to export Burundi’s goods to China， suchas world-famous coffee and tea， which I believe would bevery popular among Chinese customers.

　　What are the major differences between Chinaand Burundi？

　　I think the major differences between the two countriesexist in culture， lifestyle and diets. For example， localpeople are always friendly to the Chinese people， and theyprefer meat and vegetables that are boiled soft. I haven’tbecome accustomed to the local food yet. Currentlymy husband and kids prefer to eat Chinese food. I alsotaught workers how to cook some simple recipes， such asscrambled eggs with tomatoes， steamed eggs and boilednoodles. Our opinions sometimes are divided on children’seducation due to different cultural backgrounds. Headvocates that parents give much freedom to kids so as toensure a happy childhood for them.

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

　　The Burundian people are renowned for their singing anddancing. The most interesting thing was that my husbandtaught me how to dance as he does， but he always laughsat my poor performance. Normally， Chinese people learnfrom dance teachers at training schools， but people hereare simply born with the ability for music. My children haveinherited their father’s love of dancing and music. Besides，it is interesting that locals laugh at me because I don’t pronouncethe local language very well.

　　My kids bring a lot of fun into our life. I keep speakingChinese here， and teach my kids Chinese as well. Due tothe environmental constraints， my three-year-old son canspeak only a little Chinese， but he is able to understandthree languages： Chinese， English and Burundi languages.

　　My one-year-old daughter can speak the Chinese wordsher bother masters. We prefer English schooling， so wesend our children to English schools.

　　What are your future plans？

　　I am willing to make efforts to promote bilateral trade.I was told that in the United States， a bag of Starbuckscoffee goes for $100， but in Burundi， you could only payabout $10 for the exact same coffee. Another Chinesefriend told me that Burundi’s tea can be comparable withDa Hong Pao Tea in China. Thus， I try to drink tea， andsince then it has developed into a habit of tea drinking. Inaddition， it is a mountainous and mineral-rich country， butlacks mining equipment. The country’s infrastructure is indire need of rehabilitation， which also means business opportunitiesexist. I also suggest charities come to help thepoor people， especially the war orphans here.