HEFEI: It was the first time for Victor Kutsaira, a 25-year-old student from Malawi, to celebrate his birthday without friends around after living in China for eight years. Shooting a vlog turned out to be an alternative way to make the day memorable during the novel coronavirus epidemic in China.
Pursuing his master’s degree in business administration at Hefei University of Technology (HFUT), Kutsaira is one of the 115 overseas students who are still in Hefei, Anhui Province, during the Spring Festival holiday, which was extended due to the epidemic outbreak.
“I check the news every morning. I know what the government is doing and have confidence in the precautionary measures,” he said. International students in Hefei have been advised to stay on campus and reduce outings as much as possible. “We send a questionnaire in the students’ WeChat group every week. If they need anything from outside, we will try to get for them,” said Hu Mengjie, an education director of international students of HFUT. “I ordered some potatoes, garlic, eggs, and Chinese cabbage last week. The school bought me the food,” said YasirAmmar, a 29-year-old Ph.D. student from Pakistan. “The vegetables are distributed by the school for free.
We are very grateful,” Kutsaira said in his video. The university purchased more than 550 kg of vegetables and 3,200 eggs in their first grocery shopping for 70 students who had filled in the questionnaire. –Agencies
