Chapter 711 Returning Home
Dar es Salaam city.
Wells finally chose to work in Bulawayo. After all, Bulawayo, located between Nairobi and Kisang, can be said to have the advantages of both, which makes it easier for people to accept. Of course, this was also due to the persuasion of his family. They hoped that Wells would be more motivated, and Nairobi was obviously saturated and there was not much room for advancement.
Wells did not return from Europe alone. He brought his German wife and son with him. After all, he had lived in Germany for many years, and a high-quality marriage partner like Wells was quite popular.
In fact, it is very easy for East African students and workers to solve marriage problems in Germany, because these people have good economic conditions and are mostly engaged in "high-end" industries, which makes them more promising than ordinary workers.
In Dar es Salaam, the immigration officer responsible for receiving Wells and others was Adlis.
For returning talents like Wells, the government has a special reception location, which is the Talent Apartment in Dar es Salaam.
After Idris opened a door with the key, he introduced: "There are three floors here in total. Your apartment is on the second floor. A family of three has one room each, with a kitchen, two bathrooms and one bathroom. Of course, there are family apartments for higher demand. The one you are temporarily living in is a family apartment. It won't be too crowded for five people to live in this space. This is also the largest apartment."
Wells' wife Mary was very satisfied. After she arrived in East Africa with her husband, she completely changed her impression of East Africa, which her husband described as "poor and backward".
"Wells, didn't you say East Africa is very backward? Dar es Salaam alone is probably not much worse than Berlin. We also passed through Mombasa, which looks pretty good too."
"Mary, this is different. Just like Berlin is the capital of Germany, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are also the most economically developed regions in East Africa, but the land area of East Africa is more than ten times that of Germany, and the situation in the interior is much worse, especially in Iringa, where I grew up. In fact, the urban area is no different from the towns in Europe, not to mention that I grew up in the countryside of Iringa. And Dar es Salaam is far inferior to Berlin. Berlin has a population of more than one million, and the two urban areas of Dar es Salaam combined probably have less than half the population of Berlin."
Adlis said: "Mr. Wells is right. The population of Berlin should be around 1.5 million. Our city of Dar es Salaam has less than 500,000 people, and it is already the largest city in East Africa."
Mary: "I feel that Dar es Salaam is no worse than Germany in terms of urban construction and living facilities. And you have new things like trams, which are probably not common in Europe. Only a few large cities have them."
"That's because Dar es Salaam was built later, so its planning and design are more scientific. This advantage is more obvious in new cities. For example, Bulawayo, where you are going this time, may not have as good economic data as Dar es Salaam, but I think the environment is not much different." said Adlis.
“All in all, the living environment of this apartment alone is much better than the house we rented in Berlin. I wonder if it will be the same in Bulawayo?”
“Of course, this type of talent apartment is standard in every industrial city in East Africa. Bulawayo may just have a different design, but the basic facilities should be the same.”
"Bulawayo is an important node on the Central Railway. We can see it on the route map of Dar es Salaam Central Railway Station. The cities that can be marked are generally larger cities. In addition, the country has been vigorously developing Matabele Province in recent years. Bulawayo, as the second largest city in Matabele Province, will definitely develop well."
"Not only the talent apartments, but even the temporary residences of immigrants have been greatly improved. Seven years ago, all the resettlement sites in East Africa were renovated and rebuilt, including the resettlement site in Dar es Salaam."
"Mr. Adlis, can I go to the resettlement site and take a look?" Adlis' words aroused Wells' interest. The temporary resettlement sites in East Africa are the collective memory of the older generation of East Africans. His parents had lived there, so he really wanted to see it.
“Of course, but you have to hurry up. You will leave next Saturday and cannot live here permanently. It will be difficult for you to visit Dar es Salaam in the future. After all, Bulawayo is very far away from Dar es Salaam.”
The distance between Bulawayo and Dar es Salaam is enough to travel abroad even in Europe, so Adlis said so.
…
Afterwards, after taking care of the luggage, Adlis took Wells to "recall the past and think of the present".
The East African immigrant resettlement sites still use collective dormitories, but they have been replaced with four-person rooms, greatly improving the space.
A water tower was built on the roof of the dormitory and running water was provided, which also means that each dormitory has an independent bathroom. The canteen is still public, but it occupies an entire building and is divided into two floors.
"In East Africa, you don't need too many clothes or bedding. The old-fashioned military uniforms that were issued before have been replaced with common workwear styles. If you don't add labels, you can basically tell the difference between them and East Africans."
"At the same time, we have also established language schools specifically for immigrants, which did not exist in East Africa before. The development of education has enabled us to provide more teacher resources, and immigrants no longer need to adapt themselves."
"This is a super-large community, also called a 'super-large school' by the citizens of Dar es Salaam. It can accommodate 10,000 people every year. However, the number of immigrants in Dar es Salaam is not as high as before, maybe only 3,000 to 4,000 people a year."
“Have immigration policies in East Africa changed now?”
“There is this reason, but there are also other reasons for the diversion of new port cities. East Africa now has 18 port cities, instead of just Dar es Salaam and Mombasa as before.”
In Wells' opinion, the living standards in East Africa have indeed been greatly improved. Even these temporary resettlement sites for immigrants are built quite well. Bulawayo is definitely a place worth looking forward to.
"The standards for East Africa to accept population have been reshaped. Now, only those who can settle down in East Africa are educated or skilled people. This is also a big change in East Africa," Adlis introduced.
"Of course, the development of East Africa can be best observed along the railway. It just so happens that you are going to Bulawayo via the Central Railway. You can see the construction of East Africa over the years along the way."
As the Far East Director of the Immigration Agency, Adlis has visited many places in the country, so he is most impressed by the development of East Africa in the past decade or so.
The 1970s to 1980s was a period of great development in East Africa. During this period, East Africa completed the reshaping of the country. Both industry and agriculture were vigorously developed. Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, road transportation, water conservancy projects, cities and towns can directly reflect the changes in East Africa.
These construction achievements were presented to the people of East Africa through newspapers, shaping the collective sense of honor of the new and old generations of citizens, and the whole of East Africa was a thriving scene.
Of course, above this prosperous scene, the dark clouds of war are already gathering, which may set the entire African continent on fire at any time. It is also a big test for East Africa after a long period of peace, to test whether East Africa can keep the fruits of its harvest in addition to being good at construction.
(End of this chapter)
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