As an African youth representative, Mendu’s task this time is to assist the Cameroon delegation in providing relevant services. Mendu has lived in China for nine years since he came to China to study in 2015. From the beginning when he knew nothing about China and even had some misunderstandings and misunderstandings, today Mendu is already a China expert. He is the co-founder of the China-Africa Youth Federation and the head of the African Youth Delegation in China. He is also listed on the "2023 United Nations List of the 100 Most Influential Celebrities of African Descent in the World."
But originally, Mendu's path was not like this. As early as 2005, Mendu, who was only 12 years old, was sent to Germany by his parents to study.
reporter: What are your plans for your future and your family’s plans?
Mendu: From the perspective of my parents, they just want me to travel around the world and learn more, because they are very international people. However, I want to benefit the people because I am very practical. Not everyone has that opportunity in Cameroon or even in Africa. So you have the opportunity to go to school, you have the opportunity to go abroad, you have to be very serious and study hard and then benefit the people, repay the society, and even help my country.
Cameroon is located in central and western Africa, with the Gulf of Guinea in the southwest. Agriculture accounts for a large proportion of the economy, and industry and infrastructure are relatively weak. In 2013, Mendu ended his study abroad career in Germany and returned to Cameroon. At that time, China had just proposed the Belt and Road Initiative.
In Cameroon, Mendu felt that among the Chinese elements, is not only more versatile, but also faster.
Mendu: is being built very quickly, and we ordinary people can feel it, we can see and touch it, including the latest China is building a new parliament hall for Cameroon, which will be done soon. Implemented, it will be fixed soon. So I feel more and more curious, and I want to come to China to understand its roots.
Mendu immediately signed up for a local Confucius Institute, starting from learning Chinese and getting to know this country that he had never met before but that he “sees everywhere”. Six months after enrolling in school, Mendu passed the Chinese Proficiency Test with the highest score in the country and received a Level 5 certificate.
After more than half a year of preparation, Mendu got his wish and set foot on Chinese soil. This was Mendu’s first time in China and also his first time in Asia.
In September 2015, after passing many exams, Mendu officially enrolled in Peking University and began his life of studying abroad in China.
Mendu stayed at Peking University for seven years, first studying languages, and then studying for a master's degree and a doctorate. While completing his studies, Mendu often participated in social practice and charity activities, made friends with Chinese people, and witnessed the development and progress of Chinese society. In October 2017, Mendu chose Huamao Village in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province as its first stop to explore China's implementation of poverty alleviation plans.
Reporter: I would like to know why you chose Huamao Village as your first stop, and why did it attract you?
Mendu: Because when I was learning about Gansu and Guizhou, I saw that there was a relocation for poverty alleviation, and it happened to be a relocation for poverty alleviation that year. So, I want to see it, I want to understand it, because development and poverty alleviation are my main focus.
reporter: Why is your main line?
Mendu: Because I want Africa to develop, and development-related issues are our biggest problem.
reporter: so you want to see how China does it in China.
Mendu: is right, let’s see how China does it.
Huamao Village is located in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province. Because the mountainous areas where some villagers originally lived were not only remote, but also had the risk of geological disasters, the local government implemented relocation of these villagers.Later, through the development of rural tourism, Huamao Village achieved overall poverty alleviation in 2019. In 2021, the per capita disposable income of Huamao Village will exceed 21,000 yuan, more than three times that of 2012, and more and more villagers are enjoying tourist meals.
In addition to Huamao Village, Mendu also visited Shahao Village in Xing County, Shanxi. In July 2021, young people from 13 African countries, including Mendu, went deep into the fields and interacted with the villagers in Shahao Village, Xing County, Shanxi Province. learned experience in grassroots governance such as poverty alleviation through the experience of being a "first secretary".
Over the past eight years, Mendu visited 20 provinces, 74 cities, and 48 grassroots villages in China, looking for the code for China's prosperity, development, and rural revitalization.
Reporter: Because you have been talking about how you want to see how China gets rid of poverty. What is China’s experience in getting rid of poverty? Is it possible that you could take what you saw in China on how to get rid of poverty and take it back to see if it would be helpful to your own country, or to more countries in Africa?
Mendu: Of course is helpful, but it doesn’t mean that you have to copy and paste it, but it has very, very great reference significance. Because from China's perspective, it has several approaches. First, its counterpart assistance is very valuable.
Reporter: You have learned so much and seen so much in China. What do you want to do for Cameroon when you return to your home country one day?
Mendu: I think my main responsibility is to help Cameroon get rid of poverty and get rid of poverty, just like China. I have been to so many grassroots villages, and they are now living a good life, including beautiful villages and rural revitalization, so I also hope that Cameroon can also reach this level.
has been in China for nine years and has seen the development and changes in China from cities to rural areas. The more he understands, the more Mendu feels that the distance to reach his ideal is not that far away.
Everywhere he goes, Mendu will also visit local schools and have in-depth exchanges with students to learn about the real China and tell about the real Africa.
Mendu: I went to a total of 70 grassroots schools. During the chat, when I told them about the real Africa, it turns out that Africa also has this. I said yes, it does exist, and they will be very happy to tell it. Tell me the real situation.
reporter: How important is the true information of to both parties?
Mendu: is very important, because real information can affect both parties' understanding of each other, which is very important. Because your partner is a friend or a brother, if you are biased against him, you will definitely not be able to cooperate. You may think of it in a derogatory way, and you may ignore the contribution he has made.
feels the growing need for closer communication between Chinese and African youths. As early as 2018, Mendu served as a co-founder and established the China-Africa Youth Federation .
Mendu: I am in China, and what I see at the grassroots level is that I want them to feel the real China.
reporter: can be seen with your eyes.
Mendu: is right, you have to experience it and discover the real situation. With the help of youth dialogue, a method of communication between people, we can create a good public opinion environment and encourage, for example, closer cooperation between Chinese and African media. Including some media people from Africa coming to China for training, including China going to Africa for exchanges, because I still think that the narratives related to China and Africa in must be written by both parties in , including many keywords now. It’s not something that comes from Africa, like the “debt trap”. If you look at the debt index of many African countries, China only accounts for a little bit, so where does the term "debt trap" come from? Therefore, we, China and Africa, must write narratives like these ourselves, rather than let a third party define some words for us.
After graduating from Ph.D., Mendu did not return to China immediately. In September 2023, he joined the China-Africa Private Chamber of Commerce and served as the deputy director of the International Exchange Department of the China-Africa Private Chamber of Commerce.At this Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Mendu saw different changes. These changes verified his many years of thinking, and he also had a contribution to it.
Mendu: We in Africa have always relied on Western media to understand the world, but now there has been a change, it is different. It should be a miracle that you can see today’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, because now all Africa is here , so we value China more and more, so why?
Even though the Western media is smearing it now, we can see the results. We can see and touch them. From a macro perspective, they are some big projects, such as Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, Tanzania-Zambia Railway, and even in Cameroon, we The Kribi deep-water port already has very concrete things that we ordinary people can feel and benefit from. Therefore, no amount of media can offset this style of doing things. If you look at the big projects I just listed, they will also solve the second biggest problem facing Africa, which is the employment problem this year.
Therefore, we have seen that China has a style of doing things that means what it says, what it says, and what it does. So no matter how many Western media there are, they may not be able to stop it. But dialogue must be strengthened to continue writing a new chapter in China-Africa cooperation. Just like the community with a shared future for mankind proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, we in Africa also have a similar saying. can go fast alone, but can go far together, so I hope that China and Cameroon, China and Africa can go further.
Producer丨Liu Bin Wang Huidong
Reporter丨Dong Qian
Planner丨Zhang Hongfei
Editor and Director丨Yin Jianzhang
Camera丨Wang Zhongren Wang Yang Gao Zhong
