On November 16th, 2018, the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship Award Ceremony and the 2018 End of Year Celebration of the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) was held at the West End International School in Ghana. The school was adorned with shining red lanterns and flying colorful flags. Nearly 1,000 people attended the event including H.E. Mr. Shi Ting Wang, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Prof. Hu Liangcai, the Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at UCC, Prof. Ishmael Mensah, the Ghanaian Director of the Confucius Institute at UCC, as well as faculties and students of the Confucius Institute.

Ambassador Wang personally presented the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship Award to the award-winning students. The award-winning students come from the Confucius Institute at UCC and its teaching points in Cape Coast, including Mfantsipim Senior High School (the Alma Mater of the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan), University of Cape Coast Primary School, Penuel International School, the University of Cape Coast Junior High School, West End International School, Cape Coast University of Technology,Twyford (Ghana) Ceramics Company Limited, Central Region Immigration Bureau, Perez University College, etc..

Ambassador Wang congratulated the awardees and highly praised the achievements of the Confucius Institute at UCC in developing Chinese language teaching and disseminating Chinese culture in the past two years. He introduced the recent achievements of the people-to-people exchanges between China and Ghana and stated that China will continue to support the development of the educational sector in Ghana. He hoped that the Confucius Institute at UCC will continue to enrich the teaching content, innovate teaching concepts and cultivate more high-end talents. Ambassador Wang pointed out that Chinese is the golden key to the future and encouraged students to diligently study the language and go to China in the near future so as to benefit the Ghanaian people.

Professor Hu thanked the Chinese Embassy in Ghana for providing the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship and its long-term support to the Confucius Institute. The Confucius Institute at UCC will continue to promote the Chinese language teaching and contribute to the friendly cooperation between Ghana and China.

Since its inception two years ago, the Confucius Institute at UCC has established 14 Chinese teaching points with 8,000 enrolled students. Five schools have incorporated the Chinese language into their academic curriculum system. The Ghanaian people’s enthusiasm for learning Chinese has increasingly soared. Walking in the streets of Ghana, many Ghanaians say “你好” (Hello) and “谢谢” (Thank you) to exchange pleasantries with the Chinese people. When asked why learn Chinese, many Ghanaians will seriously tell you that learning Chinese can change their destiny and the Chinese language can bring them a brighter future!

Faculties and students of the Confucius Institute gave brilliant and wonderful performances, displaying their high level of Chinese proficiency and artistic accomplishment. The martial arts performances such as Tai Chi, the Chinese songs and dances such as “Love me, Hug me”, “Learn to meow” were full of childhood fun. The song “My Motherland and I” and “The Glorious Years” were magnificent and meaningful. There were repeated applause from the audience in a warmth atmosphere.