Ghanaian Taking China by Storm

Ada is admired by many Chinese students in China, especially Wenzhou. He is a 2016 graduate student at Wenzhou Medical University. His full name is Akuetteh Percy David Papa.

"... (The reason) I want to be a doctor is because my mother is a nurse who has been in the medical industry for 30 years. I searched for numerous medical schools in China and finally decided to apply for Wenzhou Medical University. I found that there are many Ghanaian students here, and I know Ghanaian students are very picky about the quality of teaching." After coming here, he loved the city and he never left, the important thing is, he never regretted this choice.

He speaks fluent Chinese, and makes one wonder whether he is a "Chinese in a foreigner's skin". In fact, when he first came to Wenzhou in 2010, he knew nothing about Chinese, and language barriers did not allow him to make new friends. However, he knew that such opportunities for learning were hard to come by, so he decided to learn Chinese and in case the first video didn't impress you, listen to him singing a song in Chinese on the video below.

"Many old people visiting hospitals don't speak Mandarin very much. I  need to learn the dialect more to facilitate better communication with patients." After learning Chinese, he began to learn the Wenzhou dialect and music. Two authentic Wenzhou folk songs "Wenzhou is a good place" and "Ding Ding Dong" made him famous in Wenzhou, he is known as "Wenzhou version of the Dashan" and he later won the Wenzhou pop music Best Foreign Singer Awards. Ada said: "My goal is to sing 'Chinese Red Songs!'"

▲ Ada sang at the "Speaking Wenzhou Dialect" section hosted by Wenzhou TV

It was in this process of learning the Wenzhou dialect by singing Chinese and Cantonese songs that Ada discovered his talent. He has participated in the "Dream Travel Zhejiang" talent show for foreign students in China and won the third prize. He went on to participate in the 2013 "Stay in China" talent show and won the first prize in singing "Wenzhou is a good place". He participated in the 2014 New Wenzhou singing competition and won the bronze, he further participated in the 2015 Wenzhou Pop Music Award and won the Best Foreign Singer Award. He was later successively invited to participate in Wenzhou Spring Festival Gala, Dongtou Spring Festival Gala and Wenzhou Pop Music Annual Ceremony. During the Ghanaian President's visit to China, Ada was also invited to meet with the President, and he served as the lead singer of the SOULBAND band at the dinner party, singing songs for the Ghanaian President and national leaders.

▲ Ghana ’s President Akufo Addo (fourth from left) and Ada (second from left)

Love and Focus

"You came to China to study medicine", Ada has never forgotten his instructor's instructions to him. The linguistic talent also makes Ada save more effort in professional studies than other students, but he has never been slack. A colleague at the surgical laboratory said, "Don't look at Ada's hippie smile thinking that he is not serious. In fact, usually, he arrives in the laboratory earlier than us."

During his second year of masters degree, Ada was in the clinical rotation of the Hepatobiliary Surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital and assisted the director. A pancreaticoduodenectomy operation usually lasts for six hours or more, and sometimes it finishes late at night when it started at two or three in the afternoon. 

"When the surgery is done, I have to go to the laboratory to check up on myself and then pack to return to my place. But I will still come back to the hospital earlier the next day." 

"The amount of surgeries performed here in a week is about the number of surgeries performed in our general hospital in Ghana for a month or two. It is often open on holidays but I have to say that I have learned a lot." Ada sometimes also envy that his peers back home have more vacations, but thinking about the growth he has achieved, he said, "It's worth it."

"He really loves to study, and he is willing to put more effort into it. He also spent more time than others to balance his hobbies and profession. It is not easy and I admire him." This is how his classmate commented about him.

During his stay at the university, he won several scholarships from the Chinese government for outstanding students from abroad, provincial government scholarships for outstanding students in China, top ten university student, and also won the silver prize of the 4th China "Internet+" University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. As well as the Gold medal of Zhejiang Province "Internet+" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and he was invited to participate in the second Global Healthy Young Leaders Roundtable and gave a speech.

He has also participated in the "I speak for Wenzhou" online celebrity contest and was named "Top Ten Internet Celebrities". He also served as the host of the "Adama Moda" column.

In December 2018, he was hired as the first network communication officer in Wenzhou and became one of the messengers of international cultural exchange. "I want more people to know how the "foreigner" lived at Wenyi University."

Ada as a foreigner in China is actively studying Chinese culture and broadcasts traditional Chinese culture to his own country, Ghana. This way, he is a bridge of friendly exchanges between China and Ghana.

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