Vincent Mbonihankuye is an international student from the Republic of Burundi, majoring in International Journalism and Communication at Communication University of China. Recently he has published an article on the official newspaper of Burundi, Le Renouveau, sharing his experience in Beijing during the epidemic caused by COVID-19 and his thoughts upon China’s efforts in this special period.  

Vincent Mbonihankuye’s article on Le Renouveau about his experience during the epidemic

When the epidemic of the novel coronavirus pneumonia broke out in China, Vincent had thought about returning to Burundi but eventually decided to stay in China. He wrote in the article, “The health system in Burundi still lags behind that in China. What if I went back being infected and possibly caused further contagion to the rest of my family? How would this affect Burundi?” After repeated discussion with his family, Vincent convinced them that it’s better for him to stay in Beijing than returning home as it could cause unnecessary panic. 

Vincent Mbonihankuye in Communication University of China

Vincent has faith in the Chinese government in taking proper care of foreign students and believes that it will certainly win the war against the epidemic. “In order to efficiently deal with the epidemic, Beijing took swift action ,with which I experienced the changes on campus and in the city.” Vincent commented.

 Communication University of China has strictly implemented various prevention and control measures to prevent every foreign student living on campus from being infected. The school has maintained a log system to track students’ health condition and everyone is asked to check  temperature every day. And if anyone needs to go out to buy food, they have to sign their names, carry an access card and be back in two hours. Vincent said, “To avoid the inconvenience caused by frequent check in and out of campus, each time I go shopping, I would buy food for one week. Before entering campus, I need to take  temperature check one more time. All these measures make me feel reassured.” 

Vincent accepts temperature check when returning to campus 

“I have been constantly comforting my family and shared my experience with them, telling them the university is sparing no efforts to ensure the health of international students here.” Vincent witnessed China’s determination to combat the epidemic, “During this difficult time, I firmly stand  with the Chinese people. Although I couldn’t be directly involved in the fight, I can at least be a person who keeps delivering hope and energy to the outside world.”

CUC distributed masks to the international students living on campus

Over the past few days, the number of new confirmed cases has been falling and more and more people have been cured in China. The data show that the situation is developing in a positive direction and China is capable of overcoming the epidemic. And CUC will continually strengthen its prevention and control, making sure of the logistics support in the meantime. 

(Editor: Zhang Xu    Arshad Bhatti)