The Chinese Embassy in Nairobi led a group of Kenyan students who have been awarded scholarships to China on a tour of a number of Beijing-sponsored projects in the country’s capital Nairobi.
The tour of projects such as the Global Trade Centre Nairobi (GTC) and Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) by the 50 students who benefited from full sponsorships to pursue various education programmes in the East Asian nation was aimed at familiarising the group with various aspects of the Chinese way of life as they prepare to depart the country in two months time.
The Embassy extended its support to Kenyan locals in ensuring that they are educated about the Chinese language and culture in their pursuit of various other fields of study.
According to the beneficiaries, the Kenya-China relationship has contributed immensely in shaping their careers.
“Scholarship is not something that is easy to get. If you want to go (abroad) to study and pay for everything for yourself, then the school fees are quite expensive. Some of us may not be able to cater for that.” said Peter Gikonyo, one of the beneficiary students
“The Chinese government has come on board to support us and we are grateful for the sponsorship,” added Gikonyo
His counterpart Ahmed Mohamed lauded the support the Chinese government has extended to Kenya over the years and noted that the country, now the second-largest economy in the world provides great lessons in development and is a good ground for learners to pursue their education
“As Kenyans, we will acquire more skills that will help us to progress in future as they have done,” he said
“A lot of the technology that we need to borrow from China, the dispatch here is so fantastic. That technology we want to exploit it in the dispatch area” added Emmanuel Simiyu during the tour of SGR
The students acknowledged that the tour aided their understanding of the relationship between the two countries.
“To have us see some of these projects, and acclimatize to bits of Chinese culture, this is good because when we go to China, we would be faced with culture shock,” noted Gokonyo
The tour comes even as the Chinese government promised to enhance its bilateral programmes with the Kenyan Government for the benefit of the two countries.
Beijing, through the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi, says will put more emphasis on the education sector through which citizens of both countries can benefit from exchange programmes.
