非洲乡村的“光明使者”

戚永晔

“作为非洲乡村的‘光明使者，他们不遗余力。”

这是中央电视台新闻联播采访在非洲工作的年轻人李力时，播音员对他的评价。

这位供职于杭州一家跨国公司的年轻人，是派驻非洲的项目经理，而四年前，他还只是个初出茅庐的大学生。

究竟因何事，中央电视台、浙江电视台、杭州电视台等媒体纷纷对其进行出镜采访，长期在非洲工作，他又创造了哪些成绩？

最近，笔者与李力进行了一次面对面的访谈。

入职两年荣任派驻非洲代表

李力是怎样进入跨国经营的企业，又是怎样晋升为派驻代表、业务骨干的？2014年，在老家一所高校就读商务英语专业的李力面临毕业，一个偶然的机会，他发现从事海外贸易和工程的浙江华立国际发展有限公司正在招聘。这与李力所学的专业非常对口，凭着年轻人的闯劲和向往，李力只身一人来到杭州这座他从未生活过的城市。经过面试、笔试，他过硬的商务英语能力和综合潜力获得了认可，成为华立国际新一批的员工。

经过两年多的历练，李力从青涩的应届生，变成了一个善于学习的业务骨干。2016年6月，因为工作职务的调整，领导找到李力：“想不想去一线干？”

李力明白这个“一线”的意义，就是去举目无亲的非洲工作。“但是，与困难相伴的，是自己更大的发挥空间。”所以，在进行了短暂的考虑之后，没有国外生活、工作经验的李力毅然登上了飞往非洲东部埃塞俄比亚的航班。

“比想象中的非洲要好一点。”当李力降落在埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴的时候，这是他的第一感观。20摄氏度左右适宜的温度、还算平整的马路、路上车辆繁多……条件似乎不比国内四五线城市差。

但困难也与之同行，与公司办事处所在的地方仅隔一条街就是贫民窟，治安问题很严重，几乎所有来过的同事都曾经遭窃。不久后，原本负责办事处具体事务的同事也回国了，留下李力独自工作。而这，对于一个从未在国外生活过的大男孩来说，难度可想而知。

更麻烦的还在后头，由于文化的差异，非洲社会节奏慢、效率低、迟到情况普遍，这让李力很不适应。原本在国内，他对工作习惯于当日事当日毕，但非洲客户的工作风格让他不得不调整工作方式。“变集中突破为各个击破，在不降低自己工作效率的同时，尽量适应工作伙伴的节奏。说实话，在非洲的这段时间，磨平了我原本的急性子，家人朋友们都说我的性格越来越稳重了。”

光伏项目事关民生责任

李力所在的公司，在他前往之前就与埃塞俄比亚卫生部签订了1409套光伏系统供货安装的项目，这些光伏系统都会安装在埃塞各地的医疗中心，由于地处偏远，这些医疗中心一直都没有电力供应。

但通过光伏发电系统的安装，这些地方也可以进行发电。这使得医疗中心的条件得到了改善。“当了解了这一民生工程之后，我觉得肩上的压力格外大，这已经不是简单的项目实施，而是担负着事关民生的责任。”

为此，李力与当地项目负责人进行了通力合作：“当跟他們谈到工作时候，他们会刨根问底。举个例子，我们公司和当地电力局有一个变压器附件项目，电力局的质量部负责人是 Mr.Haile，每次跟他谈产品时，他都会追究到每一个细节，会对产品材料、产品生产流程、产品使用、产品标准等等提出一系列问题，如果意见不统一还可能争执起来，所以每次跟他交流时候都得耐下心来，一一解释才可。他们对于工作的态度极其严谨，令人印象深刻。”

就这样，大半年的辛勤工作，让光伏项目最后得以落地。“这样一来，满足了上千家医疗中心和乡村医疗站的需求。每天大约有30～60名患者来求医，当地的医生说自从有了电，电话络绎不绝。不仅如此，还为医疗中心的照明需求提供了保障，这样在夜晚也可以进行治疗，还有一些看病器材例如电子显微镜可以使用了，病情诊断更加精确快速，冰箱的使用可以让药物及疫苗得到低温保存，这些都得益于光伏系统的使用。”

与非洲朋友的文化交融

两年的生活，让李力对埃塞俄比亚有了很深的感情，他也描述在当地生活好的一面：“没来非洲之前，和大多数人一样，谈到非洲我想到的就是贫穷、饥荒和各种疾病。但在这住了近两年，觉得埃塞是一个非常适宜居住的地方，地道的咖啡，可口鲜美的牛油果果汁，全年20摄氏度的气温，新鲜无污染的空气，没有国际大都市的喧嚣，多的是一份宁静与安逸。”

此外，李力还以自己的方式克服了一个人在非洲的孤单。他喜欢交朋友，不管黑人、白人还是黄皮肤黑眼睛的同胞，他都乐于沟通。偶尔周末的时候，甚至会有当地朋友邀请他一起聊天、看电影。他说：“吴京演的《战狼2》里面有句台词：给这帮黑人一箱啤酒、一堆火，他们就能嗨一整晚。这里虽然不会经常有篝火，但随处可见小酒吧，经常看到黑人三五成群坐在板凳或者长椅上，喝着啤酒，有时兴起会跟着音乐扭动身姿，节奏不紧不慢，一如这边的生活，自由惬意。”平时孤单的夜晚，他还以阅读为乐：“除了英语专业书籍之外，我最喜欢看心理学方面的小说，比如最近就在看日本作家东野圭吾的悬疑小说《嫌疑犯 X 的现身》。”

事实上，埃塞俄比亚已经有许多和李力一样的中国人在这里生活、学习，并融入当地社会，据统计，埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴已经有4万左右的中国人。因为随着埃塞俄比亚这些年的发展，越来越多的中国企业来该国寻找机会，例如，华为、中兴为埃塞电信局提供了电信服务，让埃塞人民享受4G服务;中国中铁承建了首都亚的斯亚贝巴的轻轨项目，让埃塞人民感受到轻轨的便捷;中土和中铁公司合作修建的亚吉铁路，更是加快了两国之间的货物运输和经济沟通。

李力說，中国文化和当地文化碰撞到一起，会发生一些很有趣的事情。譬如在大街上当地人见到中国人都会说一些汉语，“你好”“谢谢”“再见”之类，中国人跟当地人打招呼有时候也会用当地语言。我们公司的当地代理 Mr.Hailu 经常会邀请我们去当地著名的文化餐厅 Yod Abyssinia 品尝传统美食和啤酒，我们也会邀请他去当地的中国餐馆品尝中国特色佳肴，畅饮畅聊，特别有味。

Li Li joined the Hangzhou-based Zhejiang Holley International Co.， Ltd in 2014， upon graduation from college， and started his new life in Hangzhou， a city he had known little about. He boarded the flight heading to Ethiopia in June， 2016， and landed in Addis Ababa for a two-year engineering project. “I knew it was an opportunity for me to grow into a bigger player in the company， but it was also a big challenge for someone as young and inexperienced as me. I did not flinch， though.”

“Africa is better than I imagined，” walking out of the airport， Li Li thought to himself. Difficulties set in right after he settled down - the neighborhood his office was sited was close to a slum area. The low efficiency of some of his Ethiopian partners also turned out to be a big headache for him. “The adaptation to the local work habits and living conditions took a while，” Li recalls.

Lis responsibility in Ethiopia was in charge of the coordination for a photovoltaic project that involved the delivery and installation of 1，409 sets of photovoltaic systems used in the medical centers across Ethiopia. The contract was signed between his company and Ministry of Health of Ethiopia before his arrival in Addis Ababa. “I came to realize that the project was more about the livelihood of the locals than about making money for my company， and I felt more weight on my shoulders with each passing day when I was there，” Li Li recalled.

“I worked with people who always wanted to get to the root of the matter. Their obsession with details and precision made me think more and harder. Every day I answered a lot of questions regarding the materials and production and the work flow， and had a lot of ‘fights with Mr. Haile， a quality control official representing the local electricity bureau for a transformer project. It was a test of not only my technical know-how but also my patience.”

The coordination that took half a year to reach the finish line led to the success of the project that is now benefiting more than 1，000 medical centers and rural medical stations. “The project has brought reliable power supply to the medical centers， making night operation and the use of many medical apparatus and instruments such as electron microscopes possible and improving diagnosis efficiency in the process.”

The two years in Ethiopia has enabled Li to understand Ethiopia and Africa better. “It is great injustice that Africa is seen by many as the synonym of ‘poverty， famine and diseases. It takes really being in the country to realize how livable it is， how delicious the local coffee and avocado taste， and how many beautiful things the country has to offer. It has balmy temperatures and fresh air throughout the year. Life is serene and happy， free of urban sufferings.”

During the two years there， Li Li made a lot of friends with the locals. “They invited me to weekend parties and go to the cinema. We hanged out in bars and enjoyed al fresco beer parties in which Id watch them dance to the beat of the music like the happiness will last forever. There were some lonely nights， but I had the company of the novels by Higashino Keigo.”

In fact， Li Li had no reason to feel lonely in the foreign land. Statistics show about 40，000 Chinese people are now living and/or working in Addis Ababa. The city has drawn in investments from a dozen Chinese enterprises that have brought the African country 4G services and the modern luxury of light rail transport. One of the infrastructural improvements brought by Chinese companies is the newly launched Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway that links the Republic of Djibouti and the capital city of Ethiopia. The first electrified railway in East Africa serves as a key cargo transport solution and contributes greatly to the economic communication between the two countries.

“The so-called ‘cultural shock never bothered me， but was a lot of fun. I picked up some basics of the local language and used what I learned to greet my African friends. We had a good time at the famous Yod Abyssinia restaurant， enjoying local beers and traditional Ethiopian cuisine; and brought Mr. Hailu to the Chinese restaurants. The friendship and cultural exchange through daily routines filled in me fulfillment Id never experienced before.”