Rwandan student ready to embrace life again

Emmanuel Nisingizwe, 23, an international student in Wuhan, Hubei province, has stayed in his dormitory for more than two months due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

He's delighted to hear that the city will end its lockdown on April 8 and plans to ride on his bicycle on the streets to see Wuhan's beautiful springtime views.

"Cycling will help me realize that it's true the lockdown is over. I take my time in self-isolation as a life experience. My daily life is always the same, and sometimes I don't remember the day of the week," he says.

"When the novel coronavirus first happened in the city, I was worried about whether I would get infected but gradually calmed down within the following month. If the situation has changed, we have to adjust ourselves to the changes," he says.

He came to Wuhan in September to pursue his postgraduate studies in the South-Central University For Nationalities. It's also his first time visiting China. Before that, he studied Chinese for four months at the Confucius Institute in his hometown Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.

When Wuhan cut itself off from other regions on Jan 23, Chinese university students were already back home celebrating the Spring Festival with their families, while international students were still living on campus.

Nisingizwe says the university has done its best to protect students from infection, like providing free masks and checking their temperatures every day.

At the early stage of the outbreak, international students at the university were asked to stay in their dormitories, but were allowed to go outside for a short period of time to go grocery shopping.

However, when the pandemic became more severe, they had to stay in the dormitory.

The university staff have been delivering free meals to their dormitories. They also buy daily necessities from the supermarket on behalf of international students to ensure their basic needs. For some international students who are not used to Chinese food, if they want to cook on their own, they can also add the ingredients that they need to their shopping list.

Nisingizwe has become familiar with Chinese food and has also been cooking his hometown dishes like lamb and chicken once or twice a week.

Because of the time difference between the two countries, he sometimes stays up late at night to chat with his family and friends back home, who are concerned about his life in Wuhan.

As Chinese universities postponed their new semester, like others, he has been learning through the university's online courses. He also studies to brush up his Chinese language skills.

He aims to improve his Chinese during the pandemic, to prepare for later studies in Wuhan. In February, he was going to take the HSK, or Chinese Language Proficiency Test, but it was postponed.

He started to record his life on short video platform Kuaishou about five months ago, and improves his oral Chinese by chatting with other users via livestreams.

Some foreign countries had earlier withdrawn their citizens from Wuhan via chartered airplanes. He says some international students went back to their countries, but some chose not to board a plane due to health concerns. The Rwandan embassy did offer them some money.

"You may get infected with the virus on your way to the airport or on the flight," he says.

There is a table tennis table in the dormitory building, where he can play against his roommate, and both wear masks. He's an avid sportsman, and is eager to play basketball, badminton and go to the gym when the lockdown ends.

"When someone survives a battle, they will cherish their life and always do their best in all things," he says.

He likes the city's local snack, hot dry noodles, and beautiful scenic areas such as the Yellow Crane Tower. He hopes that his fellow international students will come back to continue their studies after the pandemic.