STORY: Tanzanian young man pursues career in Kung Fu 
DATELINE: Aug. 10, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:46
LOCATION: DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania
CATEGORY: SOCIETY/CULTURE
 
SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE (English & Swahili): YASINI BAKARI, Kung Fu trainer
2. various of Chinese Kung Fu training
 
STORYLINE:
 
Yasini Rajabu Bakari, 26, comes from Tanzania's commercial hub of Dar es Salaam. He now works as a Kung Fu trainer in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
 
"Chinese Kung Fu is in my blood. The Chinese martial arts is my lifetime savior," said Bakari.
 
In 2014, the Tanzania Wushu Association, in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, sent Bakari to be trained in Kung Fu for four weeks at the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan Province.
 
In 2017, Bakari was sponsored to get further training for three months at a martial arts school in north China's Tianjin, where he was awarded a diploma after completing a program in martial arts coaching.
 
After that, Bakari landed a job as a trainer at Dragon Warriors Martial Arts Club in Dubai for nine months before he joined Elite Karate Club, where he is currently teaching Kung Fu to people from different nationalities.
 
SOUNDBITE (English & Swahili): YASINI BAKARI, Kung Fu trainer
"China, they have a different culture, but the one which I love is Wushu (Chinese martial arts) and it was the one I was concentrating on. I made a lot of friends, a lot of beautiful friends, good friends in China, and China is beautiful and I plan to go there again.
Tanzania and China have been friends a long time ago, so we share a lot of common interests. Without the scholarship to train in Wushu, I don't know if I would be here because I was not paying for training there. It was for free and this is a huge benefit because from then I obtained my diploma certificate, which is the reason I got a job because people need to see your CV, where you have been and what you did."
 
Now, Bakari has new ambitions and wants to hone his martial arts skills.
 
He said he looks forward to a flourishing cultural exchange between China and Tanzania. "Tanzanians need to learn more about the Chinese culture, and Chinese need to learn more about the Tanzanian culture," said Bakari.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
(XHTV)