[Pakistan] Haneef Nourin, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan

Dreams are flying at the foot of the Great Wall, and hope is ignited in our minds. A bright light in the darkness guides us in the right direction. Socrates said: The happiest thing in the world is to fight for your ideals.

I am Xie Li from Pakistan. I have studied in China for more than two years. During this period, I learne

d Chinese and passed the HSK level 6. Currently I work in the Special Security Branch of the Pakistan Police as a senior Chinese translator. How did I get this position and achieve my dream? What is my story with China? Listen to me.

Once upon a time there was a little girl. She came from a conservative family, but she wanted to study abroad since she was a child. In her family, her father was the only bread earner, so her family was disapproving of her furthering education, but she never gave up on her dream. Despite financial difficulties and disapproval from her relatives, she still went to college and was always looking for opportunities to study abroad.

Nothing is difficult to a person who wills. Finally in 2017, she got the opportunity to study in China. One day, she read a recruitment ad in the newspaper about Chinese scholarships for the “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” project under the Belt and Road Initiative, which mentioned that the Pakistani government decided to send 500 students to China in four batches to learn Chinese, in order to strengthen exchanges between the two countries and provide more support for win-win cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. She seized this opportunity and went to China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) with 10 other students.

At the end of May 2017, she landed in China by plane for the first time. Because they didn’t speak Chinese at the time, they almost missed their flight at Shanghai Airport, and ran wildly before getting on the plane successfully. When the plane flew through the clouds to Wuhan, she felt so happy. She thought the city she was going to was not that developed, but Wuhan’s urban construction exceeded her imagination. She was surprised to see the beautiful roads and tall buildings and looked around happily like a little child who got her favorite toy.

She once read the story of “Drops of Water Wear away a Stone”, and later this story was confirmed by her. Not only did she pass HSK Level 6, she also received a Chinese Government Scholarship as a graduate student. China has provided her with many opportunities to fulfill her dreams, provided her with a broader sky and a new direction. She flew in the sky without hesitation, finally making her dreams come true. In China, she learned to appreciate traditional culture and art, and understood Chinese philosophy and thought. In the past, she had never ridden a bicycle for fear that people would make fun of her if she fell, but she learned riding a bicycle in China. In Pakistan, she never goes out alone even during the day; but in China, she is not afraid to go out late at night, and she has been to many places alone. In Chinese society, she saw the tenacity and courage of life, as well as the progress and development of mankind. These made her deeply moved and admired. Do you know who that girl is? You guessed it right! Yes, that lucky girl who came to China is “me”.

Now I am confident and brave, and my dreams have come true. After returning to Pakistan, I found a well-paying job as a Chinese translator in the Special Security Branch of my country’s police force. My workplace is at a project site of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative – the Peshawar-Karachi Expressway. This project has improved the traffic capacity of the main road between China and Pakistan and in Pakistan. This initiative not only changed my life, but also changed the economic situation of our country. I think my current success is due to my Chinese teachers, and even more to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

People always say, don’t think about the past, but I wish I could go back to those happy days and pause for a while. Thanks to China for giving me so many wonderful memories, and thanks to my Chinese teachers for encouraging me every time I was about to give up, for letting me believe in myself, for having the courage to realize my dreams, and for allowing me to soar in the sky. We cannot undo the past, but we can restore our memories. And, I will return to China in the near future to continue my PhD study.