Chapter 959 Mineral Water is a Good Gift
Xiao Peng had been checked at checkpoints many times along the way, and he took out his passport copy and relevant documents with ease. Because his car was a UN car, he basically just had to hand the passport copy to the inspector and fill in a number to pass.
Ould told Xiao Peng that in fact, Mauritania did not have as many checkpoints as it does now. However, due to war, famine and other problems in neighboring countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Western Sahara, many refugees poured into Mauritania. Although it is also quite poor, the political situation is stable.
Well, there have been several coups in Mauritania, but they were basically bloodless coups. The state power was changed without firing a shot. It felt like playing house.
However, these refugees also bring security problems. A few years ago, a refugee bank robbery occurred in the capital, an unprecedented incident in Mauritania's history. This is why there are so many checkpoints.
Normally, a checkpoint in Mauritania is just a few tents and a few cars, but here there are way too many cars! Seven or eight cars parked in a messy mess. Is this someone coming for an inspection?
A Mauritanian soldier waved at Xiao Peng, signaling him to stop. Xiao Peng stopped the car and handed the relevant documents to the soldier through the window. The soldier looked at Xiao Peng's documents and gestured for him to take off his sunglasses to compare them with the photo. After Xiao Peng did so, the soldier excitedly asked in English, "Chinese?"
Xiao Peng nodded, not understanding what the soldier meant.
As a result, the soldier excitedly said to several soldiers standing aside in Arabic: "This is a Chinese!"
Then he returned the ID to Xiao Peng. Seeing Xiao Peng's confused expression, he gave a thumbs up and said in English, "Chinese, very good, very good."
Xiao Peng laughed and said in his not-so-fluent Arabic, "You can speak French or Arabic. I can understand both. It would be even better if you could speak French."
The soldier was stunned for a moment, then burst into joy: "Great, great! Welcome, our Chinese friend!"
Now it was Xiao Peng's turn to be confused. When had the Mauritanians ever seen Chinese people so welcoming? He had just come from Nouadhibou, where China's largest company in Mauritania was located. There were also some Chinese people there, and the locals were used to seeing them. They had never been as welcoming as these few soldiers were towards Xiao Peng.
"My name is Ismail, this is Sheikh, this is Beda, and this is Sidiya." The Mauritanian soldier introduced the people around him to Xiao Peng and said, "We are all from Akrut, so we are especially grateful to the Chinese!"
Xiao Peng was stunned after hearing this: "Akrut? What does this have to do with thanking the Chinese? Oh, you can call me Xiao."
Ismail said, "People from your Institute of Ecology and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are building a sandstorm prevention zone in our hometown. Akjut is one of the seedling protection zones. The families of the four of us all work there. Now, not only have we done a good job of sandstorm prevention, but our animal husbandry has also developed much more than before! You Chinese people are really amazing!"
Xiao Peng knew about this. Nine years ago, China had participated in the African Green Wall Project, providing greening assistance to eleven African countries severely affected by desertification.
If completed, this plan would undoubtedly be the greatest environmental project in human history: a 7,500-kilometer-long green belt would be planted across Africa, along the Sahel and Sahara regions on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, to combat the continent's increasing desertification. The western starting point of this "African Green Wall" is Mauritania.
Although this is a UN project, let's be honest: when it comes to farming, no country in the world can compare to the Chinese. This is a racial talent imprinted in their genes! When other countries bring back lunar soil, they consider its scientific content, but when the Chinese bring back lunar soil, people are concerned about whether it can be used for farming...
Judging from the attitude of Ismail and others towards Xiao Peng, it seems that the Chinese have done a good job in desert control here!
Desertification control in this area is no easy task: about three-quarters of Mauritania's population relies on animal husbandry for their livelihoods. Uncontrolled livestock breeding has led to severe grassland degradation and exacerbated desertification. When the Chinese first arrived to green the area, the seedlings they had painstakingly planted ended up being used by local workers to feed their sheep! This has seriously hampered the progress of desertification control.
When Xiao Peng heard the news, he was furious. How could these people not distinguish right from wrong? So he didn't pay much attention to this matter. I didn't expect that there seemed to be new changes now.
Xiao Peng was also very curious after hearing this, but he didn't dare to take all the credit: "Some of us Chinese are really great. They are people who get things done."
"That's right!" Ismail nodded. "You Chinese are all doers! Are you in a hurry to leave? Come and have a cup of tea with us."
Xiao Peng was completely confused after hearing this. He really couldn't get used to drinking Mauritanian tea.
They like to drink green tea here, but they add mint juice and other things to it, which Xiao Peng really can't get used to! Xiao Peng also can't complain about the water quality here.
Believe it or not, water is the most precious commodity in Mauritania. Nouadhibou, the economic center, even had to have water shipped from Marseille, France, a few years ago. Hydropower development has improved in recent years, but villages near Nouadhibou still have to go to Nouadhibou city to fetch water.
If you see nomads in the Mauritanian desert, mineral water is definitely the best gift!
Xiao Peng didn't want to drink their tea, so he took out some juice from the car and said, "Drink some juice. You've been working so hard here, exposed to the wind and sun. Drink more juice to supplement your vitamins."
He took out a box of juice from the back of the car and gave it to Ismail and others!
Ismail and others were so happy to receive the juice that they gave Xiao Peng a pass, saying that with this pass he could pass quickly through other checkpoints.
This was a good thing, so he accepted the pass. However, this incident caused dissatisfaction among the people in the car next to him, and they protested.
Xiao Peng then realized that the cars next to him were not from the checkpoint.
Ismail's expression changed. He was no longer as enthusiastic as when he treated Xiao Peng. His face darkened (well, his face was dark enough to begin with, don't ask Xiao Peng how he could tell his face was even darker): "If you want to get off the car and bask in the sun, shut up!"
The car suddenly became quiet.
"Ishmael, what's wrong with these people?"
Xiao Peng was extremely curious.
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