Cross-cultural relationships boost mutual understanding

Poverty alleviation

Since arriving in China in 2015, Nabuliya has witnessed the progress of the poverty alleviation program in Yangzhuang. She said that in the past eight years, she has personally experienced the rise in living standards.

"When Xie Xiaowei is working away from the village, I help him by cooking and doing household chores. During the day, I take care of the peppercorn fields," Nabuliya said.

Peppercorns are not grown in Uganda, so sometimes she video calls her mother to say she is picking the crop, which has led her mother to become curious about the plant.

Nabuliya uses pinyin for Chinese characters to spell out her name, but Xie Xiaowei has also given her a Chinese name, Yongmei, which means "to praise plum blossoms" and is also the title of a famous Chinese poem.

The line, "A few plum blossoms at the corner of a wall, blooming alone in the cold," is a good description of Nabuliya's situation when the couple first met.

In Uganda, Nabuliya originally lived with her parents. However, her father and brother-in-law died of illness, so her widowed sister took her three children, 15-year-old Nabuliya and their mother to live with their grandfather. As there was no male breadwinner and her sister was taking care of the children, Nabuliya started working to support the family.

"I mainly worked as a server, helping in the kitchen and washing clothes. I earned about 200 Ugandan shillings a day (approximately half a yuan according to the exchange rate in 2010). Then in 2013, a friend asked me if I wanted to cook at a Chinese construction site, where the income would be five times higher — so I went along," she recalled.

There, she met Xie Xiaowei, who impressed her because he was reliable and capable. At the time, China Communications Construction was helping to build a highway in Uganda, and Xie Xiaowei was operating a pile driver with the construction team.

Despite the language barrier, he showed that he cared about whether Nabuliya had eaten and if her family had any difficulties. He also helped her through some tough times. Gradually, the two developed a romantic relationship and expressed their love for each other.

"One time, my mother got sick, and I told him about it. He immediately gave me his salary to have her treated. I was deeply moved. Later, I started making local delicacies for him as a way of showing my gratitude," Nabuliya said.

In 2014, they were married in Uganda, and their eldest son was born later. In 2015, when Xie Xiaowei's term of work ended, they bid farewell to Nabuliya's hometown and headed for Henan.

In addition to learning how to cook local dishes, such as various types of noodles, grow peppercorns and raise chickens and ducks, Nabuliya has integrated well into the community.

Sometimes, she and her female friends in the village discussed online shopping for clothes. She also learned Mandarin so she could discuss their children's education with them.