Mandarin language teacher Liu Mei (right) helps a local student at the Confucius Institute in Freetown, Sierra Leone, during a class for Fourah Bay College Secondary School students on Oct 15. PHOTO BY SAIDU BAH/AFP
In a small yard in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone on the southern coast of West Africa, dozens of students practiced their kung fu moves.
The city’s hot weather posed a physical challenge for the students, leaving them drenched in perspiration, but their passion for Chinese martial arts was obvious.
Liu Wei, a Confucius Institute martial arts teacher at the University of Sierra Leone, has been sharing his expertise in kung fu since he arrived in the country. Liu teaches multiple classes a week, with each session lasting three hours.