Ugandan witness the poverty alleviation in Chinese village

Nabuliya has been living in Mengjin district in Luoyang, Henan province, for eight years. She speaks the Henan dialect fluently and has two sons with her husband, Xie Xiaowei.

"Our eldest son is named Xie Buwei, a combination of his and my names. Our second son is named Xie Yafei, which means the combination of Asia and Africa," Nabuliya said.

Nabuliya and Xie's love story and marriage have gained fame in their community. They often share videos about their daily lives on Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik Tok, and have received the blessings and attention of tens of thousands of netizens.

Through their videos, more and more Ugandans have come to understand China better, while more Chinese netizens have learned about and grown fond of this African woman, with her different skin tone and culture.

Unlike heavily edited and professionally produced short videos, Nabuliya's are usually shot by her husband using his phone. The videos are not high quality, the shoots are not steady and there is no meticulous grooming.

Nabuliya can be seen either cooking Henan cuisine such as noodles for her children, skillfully working in the fields or taking a leisurely stroll and chatting with friends in the village.

The couple's recent videos have been centered on the Chinese pepper harvest, which has been keeping them busy.

Since 2017, they have been contracted to cultivate the peppers on nearly 20 acres of farmland. Before that, their household in Yangzhuang, chengguan town in Mengjin was registered as impoverished.

Since coming to China, Nabuliya has witnessed the comprehensive poverty alleviation process in this village in Henan. She said that over the past eight years, she has personally experienced the improvements in Yangzhuang's living standards.

In 2019, she learned how to use Douyin and started sharing videos about her daily life, showing viewers how to cook Henan cuisine and recording her experiences with growing Chinese peppers, among other things.

Her husband said: "We just thought we were very happy, so we shared casually. We didn't expect to gain over 100,000 fans."

What surprised Nabuliya even more was that she met some other fellow Ugandans on Douyin, some of whom were studying or had also formed families in China. She has communicated with them often online, and it has helped alleviate her homesickness.

As for the couple's future, Nabuliya and Xie don't have grand dreams. They said they want to find an opportunity to visit her family in Uganda. They hope to continue improving their lives through hard work and watch their two sons grow up healthy and happy.