The 11^th anniversary of the Global Confucius Institute was celebrated in Yaounde on September 30, 2015.

The Confucius Institute and ‘Les Dégourdis’ school at Montée Jouvence, Biyem-Assi, Yaounde on September 30, 2015, celebrated the first anniversary of their Chinese language and culture learning partnership in the campus of the school. The celebration was also to mark the 11^th anniversary of the Global Confucius Institute.

The anniversary, which happened to be the eighth to be celebrated in Cameroon, held at ‘Les Dégourdis’ for the first time. The celebration was in the presence of the Head Teacher of ‘Les Dégourdis,’ Lydie Akam Evina, the Director of Confucius Institute, Yu Guoyang and staff of both schools. Lydie Akam Evina expressed her profound gratitude to Confucius Institute for choosing their school to celebrate the anniversary. “The launch and anniversary of our partnership is to show the positive things we can emulate such as learning Chinese culture,” she said.

Pupils of the school performed Chinese songs and also did recitations in the language. Some 10 Class One pupils dressed in pink short gowns, thighs and white stockings and  holding Chinese hand fans, twisted their waists and waved the fans as they danced to the sound of Chinese music. At the end of the musical interlude, they came together and raised their fans high in an apparent sign of peace. Their performance was highly applauded.

Yu Guoyang said the one year cooperation with ‘Les Dégourdis’ had proven to be very successful, especially the introduction of Chinese language to the pupils. He added that they took advantage of the new school year and the partnership anniversary to sensitise the public and other kids on China. “Children can have fun in experiencing the Chinese culture,” he added.