In 2008, an unprecedented disaster befell Wenchuan, and the huge destructive power caused by the magnitude 8 earthquake turned Wenchuan into ruins in an instant.
Just when we are gathering the strength of the whole country to rescue the disaster areas, countries around the world have also come to the rescue.
Many countries have sent tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of materials, of which one donation amount has attracted people's attention, it is the 40,000 yuan donated by Mozambique.
That figure is so insignificant in a pile of huge donations that the West ridiculed Mozambique: Is it good to even give this little money?
But Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world, and even the forty thousand yuan is saved from between their teeth.
Etiquette is light and affectionate, and mozambique's heart has always been remembered.
Since then, the mainland has increased its assistance to Mozambique, which has promoted the rapid development of the local economy, and many countries are very envious.
Difficult development in Mozambique
Mozambique was a coastal country, but the sea did not bring them benefits, but instead allowed the Portuguese invaders to land from the coastline and take Mozambique for themselves.
It took four centuries of struggle for the local people to drive out the invaders and win their independence.
Just when people thought peace could be ushered in, Mozambique was plunged into the abyss of civil war. Nearly 20 years of continuous war have dragged down this nascent country and brought heavy suffering to people.
It was not until 1990 that the FMO and the Party of Arrivals began peace talks under the mediation of the international community. And four years later, a general election was successfully held. At this point, Mozambique was freed from the chaos of war and began peaceful development.
However, due to the perennial war, Mozambique's industry and agriculture have no respite, and they have been in a state of stagnation for a long time and the economic development is slow.
The income of the Mozambican people is mainly based on agriculture, it is reasonable to say that the farming conditions in Mozambique are not bad, the climate is suitable for crop growth, the cultivated area of arable land has been developed is 6 million hectares, and there are more than 30 million people in the country, and the development of agriculture will not be so poor.
Indeed, Mozambique is facing severe natural disasters, extreme climates that make agriculture more vulnerable, and the small country more precarious.
In 2021, Mozambique was hit by a tropical cyclone.
Extreme weather was brought about by the cyclone, the roofs of the houses were blown away by the strong winds, even the trees were uprooted, and the crops in the farmland were thrown upside down.
Mozambique was also hit by several days of heavy rainfall, flooding low-lying areas and destroying and displacing thousands of civilians.
In Mozambique, this type of cyclone is not uncommon. As early as 2019, a strong tropical cyclone made landfall in north-central Mozambique, forcing millions of people to leave their homes.
Agriculture is the mainstay of Mozambique's economy, but due to the frequent influences of bad weather, there is often no harvest of particles. In the long run, Mozambique's economy will be difficult to grow.
In addition to agriculture, another pillar of Mozambique's industry is tourism. The Mozambican government has vigorously promoted the tourism product of "beach and jungle", with the gimmick that "tourists can experience the beach and the jungle at the same time", which attracted many people.
However, terrorist attacks in Mozambique are frequent, which seriously affect the development of tourism.
Since 2017, there have been armed attacks by the local terrorist organization Islam. By April 2020, 52 young people from the village had been brutally murdered by terrorist groups, causing a lot of panic in the area.
The local government calls on young people to boycott Islamist groups and hopes that they will be part of the fight against Islamist groups.
In peacetime, it is necessary to raise security awareness, do not act alone, avoid going to areas where terrorist attacks occur frequently, and contact the embassy in time if you need help.
In addition to terrorist attacks, law and order in Mozambique itself is relatively chaotic.
Unemployment remains high as a result of the deteriorating economy in Mozambique. As a result, there have been a large number of unemployed vagrants, which directly leads to the continuous occurrence of criminal cases such as robbery and theft.
A Chinese citizen living in Mozambique was robbed and robbed, but fortunately only lost some of his money and did not cause casualties.
For a long time, the social security situation in Mozambique may not improve.
It can be seen that the natural and man-made disasters in Mozambique have seriously hindered the local economic development.
Mozambique not only has a low income, but also owes a lot of foreign debt. The country's public debt was at one point close to 110 percent of the country's gdp. This huge fiscal deficit overwhelms the Mozambican government.
According to relevant statistics, Mozambique's per capita GDP at that time was only 476 US dollars.
The lowest global level is $600, which means that Mozambique's per capita income is not even at its lowest level.
However, this country, which is difficult to solve even the problem of food and clothing for its own residents, has chosen to help China at its most difficult time.
Mobilize the strength of the whole country to assist China
2008 was a year that all Chinese remember fondly. In this year, we hosted the Beijing Olympic Games and also experienced the Wenchuan earthquake with a magnitude of up to 8. The devastation of the Wenchuan earthquake dealt a huge blow to China.
Many countries in the world have sent donations to China, hoping to help China tide over this difficulty.
Among them, countries such as Saudi Arabia have sent up to $50 million in cash and $10 million in materials for China's earthquake relief, which translates into 420 million US dollars.
There are also many small countries that have donated money to China, and Pakistan, China's good brother, has sent all the tents of the whole country to China, and even the tents for war readiness have not fallen.
Among them, Mozambique's actions have also moved countless Chinese people to tears, because Mozambique has also donated 40,000 yuan to China.
This 40,000 yuan is not even a fraction of the donations made by some countries. At that time, the Western countries still said in a strange way: "This little money, before I do anything, I will spend it." ”
However, Chinese people also know that Mozambique has tried its best for this forty thousand yuan. Mozambique at that time was also very poor.
In Mozambique in 2008, the per capita daily income was less than 2 yuan, and many people could not even get a meal.
More than half of the population of their country is living in extreme poverty, and the standard of living is even worse than that of some poor areas in our country.
There was once an anecdote about the country:
It is rumored that when Mozambique was at its poorest, the president wanted to go to the United Nations for international support, but he gave up because of financial constraints and could not afford to pay for the road.
Although the authenticity of this incident has not yet been confirmed, there are rumors that mozambique is poor.
When the news of the Wenchuan earthquake was learned, the Mozambican government immediately launched a fundraising campaign and carried out it nationwide.
At that time, the people of Mozambique donated enthusiastically, and the slightly wealthier people would donate more, while many people did not have so much money, so they donated 10 or 20 points.
In the end, thanks to the efforts of the people of the whole country, the Mozambican government raised a total of 40,000 yuan from various provinces.
In the eyes of mozambicans, this is a huge amount of money, which is enough to support their family for a long time.
Although the number is not large, every penny is the sweat of the Mozambican people and their desire to help China, which is the most precious.
Mozambique has done its best to help China, and China will certainly not forget its good friends.
China has also provided support in many ways to the development of Mozambique, which has made the countries that mocked Mozambique red-eyed.
The Chinese side reciprocates the envy of others
After China emerged from the Wenchuan earthquake, it has always repaid those countries that have helped us, and Mozambique is naturally one of them.
In fact, diplomatic relations with the mainland were established shortly after Mozambique's independence.
After the establishment of diplomatic relations, the relations between China and Mozambique have always been very good.
Before 2005, China also cancelled Mozambique's debt to China several times, which is one of the reasons why Mozambique will help the mainland.
Mozambique has also sent dozens of students to China, and these Mozambican students can receive a scholarship provided by the Chinese side. In order to ensure that they can successfully learn more knowledge in China, after completing their studies, they can return to China to build their hometown.
Most of Mozambique's residents live on agriculture, and China intends to help Mozambique with agriculture.
So the "Wanbao" project was launched in Mozambique, and you know, China has never invested in such a large-scale rice planting project in Africa.
At that time, the "Wanbao" project was the "fishing" granted to Mozambique by the Chinese side.
The project is managed by Chinese investment and Chinese professionals.
The specific measures are that the local government allocates land to farmers, Wanbao teaches farmers advanced planting techniques, and after the harvest, Wanbao advances funds and provides large machinery to harvest, and finally sells the rice to Wanbao for processing and sales.
The integration of planting, storage, processing and marketing has been realized, so that local farmers can truly benefit from it.
Mention "Wanbao", the local farmers can't stop talking.
According to them, they did not know how to grow rice before, and they completely relied on the sky to eat.
Since joining Wanbao and learning Chinese rice cultivation techniques, the yield of grain has been increasing, and the income has increased a lot compared with before.
Not only that, but the rice fields planted cooperatively can also withstand local natural disasters very well.
In the past, in extreme weather, there was often no harvest of particles, and farmers worked hard for a season without any income. Now, Marlboro always guarantees their earnings.
At the same time, China has continuously introduced advanced domestic planting technology into Mozambique to help complete the local agricultural modernization.
The 12th Bureau of China Railway has also made breakthroughs and innovations to help local farmers extend from a single rice industry chain to a diversified operation with multiple industrial chains and simultaneous development.
The most immediate benefit of the "Wanbao" project to Mozambique is to avoid the starvation of the local population due to food shortages and to achieve food security. Looking to the future, the benefits brought by "Wanbao" are far from stopping here.
Whenever Mozambique suffers from various disasters, China also actively assists.
In 2019, Mozambique was severely affected by a strong tropical cyclone, with a large number of crops damaged and millions of people affected.
After the incident, the Chinese rescue team rushed out to bring a large amount of supplies to Mozambique.
Chinese medical staff actively carried out medical assistance and treated more than 3,000 patients, and local residents gratefully said that "the arrival of the Chinese rescue team has alleviated our pain." ”
Because of the easy outbreak of disease after the disaster, the Chinese rescue team reminded the local government to carry out the disinfection work, and the Chinese team members also went to the shelter every day to disinfect. The whole country of Mozambique is extremely grateful for China's timely assistance.
When Mozambique was attacked, China also responded quickly, providing Mozambique with food and medical supplies and transporting them to the affected areas.
Not only that, China has also set up a medical team dedicated to assisting Mozambique to go to local hospitals for professional medical technical guidance to help them improve their health and epidemic prevention and medical treatment.
Since 2017, the mainland's medical technology assistance against Mozambique has not been interrupted.
China's assistance to Mozambique has not stopped there.
In 2018, in the capital of Mozambique, a cross-sea bridge was erected, connecting the two sides of the bay, and the graben has changed its course ever since.
This is the Maputo Cross-Sea Bridge, which was built by China Road and Bridge Company and completed after 5 years.
Before the arrival of the China Road and Bridge Company, the two sides of the bay were two very different scenes.
Maputo on the north shore is the capital of Mozambique, so the commercial district is lined with high-rise buildings, residential areas and industrial areas are lined with houses, and the permanent population exceeds 2 million.
The Katenbe area on the south bank is a rural scene, full of farmland, with a population of just over 20,000 and incomplete living facilities.
At that time, residents of the Katenbe area wanted to get to Maputo by taking a detour of more than 130 kilometers, a four-hour drive.
Even if you choose to take the ferry, you have to wait nearly two hours to get on the boat, and the cost is high.
The people of Katenbe said with dissatisfaction that "all the money to work in the city has paid for the road."
After the arrival of the Chinese construction team, they did not choose to work hard, but decided to train technicians for Mozambique.
In the beginning, the project required a large number of construction workers, so the Chinese company selected from local residents and provided more than 2,000 local jobs.
The Chinese construction team also regularly trains construction personnel, trains welders, drivers and other professional and technical personnel, and greatly improves local employment.
Chinese companies also train local employees on insurance, financial management and other knowledge, and many people have changed the idea of "spending when you have money".
After the Chinese construction team came, Morgado applied to become a driver on the bridge.
Before that, their family was a well-known "poor household" in the village, and the family's source of income was to rely on their parents to sell cassava flour on the side of the road.
And this meager salary could not support the expenses of the whole family, always eating and eating, and the family was crammed into a leaky thatched hut.
With a job, Morgado had a steady income and saved a lot of money. With this money, a new house was built, the elderly parents did not have to get up early and greedy, and their family became the envy of the village.
Morgado said that since chinese companies came here, their lives have changed dramatically and are getting better and better.
During the construction of the bridge, the Chinese company also established a quality community in Katenbe to help residents connect water and electricity. Infrastructure such as schools and hospitals have also been built, so that the people on Katenbe's side no longer have to run to the other side because of medical treatment.
With the completion of the bridge, Maputo and Catembe were connected, and there was no longer a long detour to the other side, and it could be directly accessed through the cross-sea bridge, and it only took ten minutes.
As long as the traffic is successful, the residents of Katenbe will be very convenient to go to Maputo, and realize their desire to get up early to buy bread on the other side.
On the grand day of the 131st anniversary of the founding of Maputo, the Maputo-Katenbe Bridge also ushered in the official opening ceremony.
President Nyusi personally came to the scene to hold the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the bridge opening to traffic, and delivered a speech.
He said the construction of a bridge connecting Maputo and Katenbe was the wish of successive presidents. Now, with China's assistance, this long-cherished wish has finally been realized.
This cross-sea bridge opened up the development of Mozambique. This great project, which also connects Mozambique with the south African country, has great significance for the entire southern African region. This bridge is also another business card built by China.
After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Mozambique, China has vigorously supported Mozambique and provided a large number of epidemic prevention materials.
In 2020, China's Huaxi Village set off a number of trucks full of epidemic prevention materials to the Beijing airport, and the Mozambican ambassador to China, Gusta, was already waiting at the Beijing airport, waiting for confirmation and then sending them directly to Mozambique.
Hospitals in China and Mozambique also video link from time to time to share China's epidemic prevention and control experience with Mozambique, and also answer questions raised by Doctors in Mozambique in the process of fighting the epidemic.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic in Mozambique, China has sent more support teams to treat patients on the front line and provide various medical equipment. It shows China's brotherhood towards Mozambique.
Gusta said in an interview: "Mozambique's medical conditions cannot fight the new crown epidemic, and with China's assistance, we have enough confidence to deal with the epidemic." ”
Gusta also said that China is an indispensable partner of Mozambique and hoped that China and Mozambique can continue to strengthen cooperation in the future.
Today, China's assistance to Mozambique has reached every aspect. From the countryside to the towns, there are Chinese figures everywhere.
China has always remembered the help that others have helped us and done its best to pay back.