My Years in Comoros

Text by Ye Huihui Edited by Huo Yao

The tough days

At the end of 2013,I went to Comoros,an African island country,for the first time.I was 24 years old,serving as client manager during my first month working for Huawei.

Leaving the airport,I got in a car and saw the shabby buildings and old streets through the window—I felt a little uneasy.

I was assigned by my boss to follow up on a submarine cable system project which had just restarted on the island.

My colleagues reminded me that the living conditions there were quite tough.Only one or two hours of electricity were supplied every day,and they were still using the outdated ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) internet service which was spotty.Hence,staying there meant we were basically cut off from the outside world.

艱難歲月不堪提

2013年年底，我第一次來到非洲島國科摩羅時，我24 歲，進華為不到一個月，做客戶經理。

從機場出來，透過車窗玻璃，我看到道路兩邊都是破敗的建筑和街道，隱隱感覺不妙。

領導對我說，華為在科摩羅耕耘多年的海底光纜項目最近重新啟動了，派我去跟進。

同事給我打預防針，說這邊條件很艱苦，每天只有一兩個小時有電，通信信號很差，還是ADSL（非對稱數字用戶線路）網絡撥號上網，來這邊基本就是“失聯”。宿舍年久失修，設施破舊，沒有水也沒有電。我拿出手機給國內父母報平安，剛叫了一聲“媽”，電話就斷了。當時天已黑，我只能借著手機屏幕的光摸到床前，準備歇息，熟料，一屁股把床坐塌了。床垮塌的聲響驚動了我的同事和本地司機，大家七手八腳幫我重新拼了床。

我的科摩羅生涯就是這樣開始的。

每天晚上供電1 小時，這對我來說非常寶貴，我抓緊燒水做飯。由于天熱，睡覺前，我會從水窖打一桶水拎到衛生間，用瓢舀水澆著洗澡。這個時間段，我還要把手機、手電筒都充好電，然后，要么躺在床上思考，要么伏案寫點東西。

深夜，吹著印度洋的風，看著窗外深邃而閃爍的星空，聽著手機里播放的古典音樂，我覺得內心格外平靜。記得有天晚上停電的時候，一位本地員工拿出吉他彈了起來，我會點口琴，跟他合奏起來，其他幾個本地的兄弟把手機的照明燈打開，跟著旋律左右搖擺，跟著我們們的音樂唱起來，這個場景一直珍藏在我心里。

到了2014年下半年，科摩羅業務有了起色，公司在科摩羅設立辦事處，還配了一名中國廚師。我成了一個擁有“御廚”的人。

廚師老王已經50 多歲，會做一手好川菜，我們食堂也被譽為“科摩羅最好的中餐館”。這個地方蔬菜和水果極度缺乏，但盛產金槍魚，老王研究出18道不同的吃法，清蒸、紅燒、醋熘、燒烤……甚至能做出雞肉的味道，我們管這道菜叫“金槍雞”。

這么多年來，老王一直堅持“留菜”的傳統。他說，人在外，吃飽了才不會想家。每到開飯時間，老王都會細心觀察誰沒能在飯點趕回來，然后給他留好飯菜，菜量會比平時多出一倍。

風雨之后見彩虹

科摩羅幾個島之間的交通工具是螺旋槳小飛機和沖鋒舟。有一天，我陪客戶乘飛機去另外一個島考察站點。飛機在空中遭遇雷暴，螺旋槳一度停轉，所幸有驚無險，但那種劇烈的失重感讓我有了濃重的心理陰影。

The company rented an old dorm for us to live in.The facilities were poor—the building had no water and only a limited power supply.I tried to call my parents when I arrived there,but I got cut off just as I said,“Hello,Mom.” It was dark at night.I had to find my bed with just the light of the phone screen.The bed fell apart suddenly when I sat on it.Hearing the noise,my colleagues and the local drivers rushed to my room and helped fix the bed for me.That was how my life started in Comoros.

I had to make good use of the one hour of electricity every night.During this short period,I had to fetch water to cook dinner and take a bath with a ladle.More importantly,I had to charge my phone and torch.Then,I would meditate on my bed or write in my journal.

At night,I preferred watching the vast starry sky,feeling the breeze from the Indian Ocean in my face,and listening to classical music on my phone.My heart was filled with serenity.I still remember one night when our dorm building was out of power,a local worker played guitar,and I played harmonica.The other workers turned on the flashlights on their phones,danced to the music,and sang together.The scene will remain in my mind forever.

The work in Comoros started to make progress in the second half of 2014.The company then decided to set up an office and assigned a Chinese chef for us.

The 50-year-old chef Wang was good at cooking Sichuan dishes.Therefore,our canteen was known as the best Chinese restaurant in Comoros because of him.Despite limited varieties of vegetables and fruits,Comoros was rich in producing tuna fish.Wang developed 18 ways of cooking tuna,such as steaming,braising,sautéing with vinegar,grilling,etc.He could even make the tuna taste like chicken,so we named the dish“tuna chicken.”

Wang had a habit of saving dishes for the latecomers.He said that people won’t feel homesick if they eat enough.At mealtimes,Wang would always know who were not back in time and then reserve dishes for them with a double portion.

Rainbow after the storm

The Comoros Islands are linked by airplanes and boats.One day,I accompanied a client to visit an island by airplane.The airplane flew in a thunderstorm,and the propeller stopped working for a few seconds.Luckily,we arrived safe and sound,but I was traumatized for some time by the feeling of weightlessness.

We chose to take a boat to visit the island the second time.The journey was very smooth and we felt quite relaxed when the client finally signed the contract.However,we suffered from the storm again.The blue ocean was suddenly covered by dark,thick clouds.It was the first time that I experienced a storm at sea.As soon as we put the life jackets on,the waves and raindrops fell on our faces.The wind blew so strongly that we couldn’t open our eyes.The boat bounced up and down violently,and seemed to be on the verge of being overturned.

A local woman prayed for God’s blessing.I felt desperate and helpless.

I wrapped the contract file with my clothes and tried to keep it dry.The contract with yellow stains from the rain is still kept at our Shenzhen HQ.

The storm came and went quickly.Our fear didn’t last long.The ocean returned to its tranquility when the dark clouds disappeared.A splendid double rainbow arched above the sea.Amazed by the stunning scene,I suddenly realized how important life was and how lucky I was to have control of my life.

So I started to improve myself.I spent more time learning French and practiced oral French with a local worker.I studied business management and product information attentively,and organized lectures for our clients,including engineers,ministers,and even the President of the country.

Our client gradually acknowledged my efforts and the brand of Huawei.I was too busy to leave Comoros.The planned temporary post became a resident job,and I became the only Chinese worker from Huawei in Comoros.Over the years,I had experienced three presidential elections and worked with six CEOs of the client company.

We rented a bright,spacious new building with two watchdogs.I named them “Revenue” and“Cash Collection” to remind me of the working goals.

Despite countless challenges,our team completed the building of a national backbone transmission network in 2016,which has facilitated communication between Comoros and the outside world.As life has improved in Comoros,the local people have become more and more friendly towards Huawei.

(FromHuawei Story,SDX Joint Publishing.Translation:Li Li)

再次來這個島時，我們選擇了沖鋒舟。這次很順利，客戶終于在合同上簽了字，我們心情格外輕松。返程時，碧波蕩漾的海面瞬間烏云密布，暴雨壓來。這是我第一次經歷海上暴風雨，我們火速把破舊的救生衣套在身上。風卷起浪花和著雨滴，打在臉上，眼睛都睜不開。沖鋒舟顛簸得厲害，感覺要被掀翻。

那名本地婦女一直在禱告，祈求神靈的庇護。我特別絕望和無助。

我把合同文件夾塞到衣服最里面，盡力保護它不被打濕。這份合同如今還在深圳坂田總部，上面泛黃的水漬就是這么來的。

暴風雨來得快，去得也快，我們的絕望和害怕沒有持續多久，烏云散去，海面恢復平靜。兩條壯美的彩虹橫跨在大海上。這是我人生第一次看到如此壯麗的景象，我刻骨銘心地領悟到生命是如此寶貴，能掌握自己的命運是多么幸運。

于是，我開始改變自己。我更加努力地學習法語，還纏著一個本地的兄弟練習口語。我還努力學習業務管理和產品知識，給客戶開講座，上至總統、部長，下至工程師，都聽過我的講座。

客戶對我、對華為越來越認可，我也根本無法離開科摩羅，原計劃的出差變成了常駐，于是我就成了科摩羅“唯一的華為中方員工”。這些年來，我在科摩羅經歷了三次總統大選，對接過六任客戶CEO，真的是“流水的客戶鐵打的我”。

后來，我們租了一棟寬敞明亮的新樓房，并養了兩條小土狗看門，給它們取名“收入”和“回款”，這兩個名字時刻提醒著我們要認準奮斗方向，一個也不能少。

2016年，我們團隊克服重重困難，在科摩羅完成國家骨干傳輸網的建設，從此科摩羅與世界暢連?？颇α_人對華為也越來越友好。

（摘自《一人一廚一狗》生活·讀書·新知三聯書店）