沙里夫南京“尋根”記

600年前鄭和率大型船隊七下西洋，在東非肯尼亞附近海域曾觸礁擱淺，于是有的船員便上岸定居下來。從此，中國人的一支血脈就這樣在遙遠的東非繁衍……

2005年7月，肯尼亞中國后裔，一個叫姆瓦瑪卡·沙里夫的19歲小女孩來到了中國，來到了南京，許慧玲副市長親自把一方漂亮的頭巾裹在了她的頭上。

你不能不感嘆歷史的神奇，命運的神奇。

寫信給大使改變人生

沙里夫出生在肯尼亞帕泰島上的西游村，據當地傳說，她的家是島上唯一的中國后裔家庭。帕泰島上的村民基本上以捕魚為生，十分貧困，沙里夫從小就生活得十分艱難，父母早年離異，父親在隔壁村子里以撈龍蝦為生，而媽媽則用賣早餐的錢來養活子女。沙里夫排行第四，她有兩個姐姐，一個哥哥，一個弟弟。姐姐們都嫁人了，哥哥在種地，尚未娶妻，弟弟則在上學。

在肯尼亞女子結婚都相當早，沙里夫的姐姐們也不例外，孩子都有一大堆了，但沙里夫卻不肯隨俗，她不僅不想那么早結婚，還對求學有著異乎尋常的熱誠。當她到了該上高中的年紀卻因為家庭貧困不得已要放棄學業時，肯尼亞媒體披露了她是中國人后裔這一消息，當地一個華人十分感動，捐了一筆錢幫助她完成了高中學業。

高中畢業后一般的女孩子可能就安于現狀了，但燕雀怎知鴻鵠之志?沙里夫的夢想是到自己遙遠的家鄉中國去讀書!更重要的是，她想親眼去看一看自己遙遠的故鄉到底是什么樣子?她的中國親人們是怎樣生活的?于是，她做了一件讓大家都大吃一驚的事：她寫信給中國駐肯尼亞大使，向大使訴說了自己的愿望。大使先生深受感動，親自去島上看望了她，表揚了她孜孜不倦的求學精神，并鼓勵她成為中肯文化交流的代表。其后，南京電視臺《鄭和下西洋》攝制組更是不遠萬里地來到肯尼亞，想找到沙里夫，把她“介紹”給十幾億的中國親人們。

在偏僻的肯尼亞，南京電視臺專題部主任、《鄭和下西洋》攝制組的帶頭人吳建寧一行扛著器材在沙漠中行走了兩個多小時，才摸到那個荒涼的小漁村，見到了18歲的沙里夫。沙里夫的皮膚不像別的非洲人那么黑，嘴也不那么突出，臉部有許多亞洲人的特征，非常漂亮。她見到來自遠方的同胞，高興地沖泡了當地的肯尼亞茶給親人們喝，雖是初識，但那種血濃于水的親情就在茶的淡淡香氣中彌漫開來。在翻譯的幫助下，吳建寧等人與沙里夫一家愉快地交談著，沙里夫小心翼翼地捧出一些瓷碗的碎片，這只瓷碗原本是沙里夫家代代相傳的一只明朝青花瓷碗，可惜，這只碗在去年被英國考察隊的隊員不小心打碎了。由于這是沙里夫家惟一流傳下來的來自中國的物品，盡管碗已經碎了，但沙里夫舍不得扔，她把碎片精心地保存著。吳建寧看到沙里夫凝視著碎片時惋惜的眼光，就拍著她的手安慰道：“你放心，我們來把它粘起來?！苯又?，他取出隨身帶著的萬能膠，精心把碎片粘合起來。當地非洲人沒有用過萬能膠，覺得特別神奇，當場鼓掌歡呼，沙里夫激動極了，連連說道沒想到這只碗還能夠再粘起來!

從此，世界之窗在沙里夫的眼前徐徐打開了，中肯兩國人民的情誼也以她為橋梁，熱切地流動著。

“這個女孩很聰明”

3個月前，從來沒有出過帕泰島的沙里夫面對《鄭和下西洋》攝制組的鏡頭，用東非沿岸的土語唱了支歌，歌的大意是希望親人們愉快安康。當時的沙里夫還很羞澀靦腆，唱起歌來像蚊子哼，以致于不得不一遍遍地重錄?？偩帉墙▽幍谝淮我姷剿退帐謺r，她的臉頓時羞得通紅。

3個月后，沙里夫與肯尼亞的林迪市市長應邀從肯尼亞來到南京。當她在南京電視臺門口看見吳建寧時，遠遠地就笑開了，并且主動伸出手來與他相握。7月3日，南京電視臺舉行了盛大的《鄭和下西洋》首映式，沙里夫穿著米黃色的當地民族服飾，頭裹一條黑色紗巾，顯得文靜典雅。當她走向發言席時，場內所有的攝像機、照相機齊齊聚攏過來，閃光燈、“卡嚓”聲此起彼伏，沙里夫卻毫不怯場，落落大方，發言應答都非常得體。她說：“非常高興能夠來到遙遠的故土中國，在短短地幾天中，我感受到中國親人們對我的熱情和關心。對此，我十分感動。我要在即將來到的大學生活中努力學習，在將來用自己的實際行動，為中國和肯尼亞兩國人民的交流做貢獻?！弊詈?，沙里夫熱情地邀請大家去她的家鄉帕泰島做客。

“這個女孩很聰明”，這是與她打過交道的工作人員的一致評價。沙里夫的學習能力很強，比如教她用中文說“我愛中國”、“我愛南京”，她一遍就學會了，發音也十分標準。許慧玲副市長送給她一條紗巾，她總是舍不得戴，可當媒體采訪她時，不用人提醒，沙里夫就會拿出紗巾戴上。在中國的這幾天，她住的都是如古南都這樣比較豪華的酒店，以前連電梯都沒有坐過的沙里夫對于酒店衛生間中的沐浴設備開始有些不知所措，不過翻譯小陳只教了她一次，她便很快就“熟門熟路”了。

中國小伙子很帥

沙里夫來到中國沒幾天，對家鄉是什么印象呢?當記者問到她時，她羞澀地笑了笑，說：“中國非常漂亮，有很多很多高樓和汽車，這在肯尼亞是見不到的。中國的科技也十分發達，希望以后能在技術上多多幫助肯尼亞，肯尼亞有很多土地和勞動力，兩國的情誼源遠流長，可以很好的合作。中國人都非常勤勞，工作節奏也很快，我也要做一個勤勞的人。”

問沙里夫覺得中國的小伙子帥不帥，她低頭不好意思地笑，然后點了點頭。又問她以后在中國讀大學，想不想找一個中國小伙子做男朋友，沙里夫臉紅了，但還是羞澀地搖了搖頭，說暫時還不能適應，樣子很是可愛真誠。

到達南京后盡管她非常疲憊，但當南京電視臺專題部副主任孫麗華提出晚上帶她逛街時，沙里夫眼睛發亮，很是欣喜。孫麗華很喜歡這個聰明伶俐的小姑娘，于是帶她到華麗的百貨大廈買衣服。沙里夫幾乎看花了眼，但她挑衣服有兩個準則：一是要黑色；二是不能露胳膊露腿。孫麗華就勸她：“你看你的中國小姐妹們穿得多艷麗，小姑娘嘛，穿花一點才好看。”沙里夫看看鏡子里穿著漂亮衣裙的自己，開心地笑了，接受了孫麗華的意見。每天早上，沙里夫都要花很長時間梳頭，發型常有變化，紗巾的造型也時常會變，人們夸她漂亮，小姑娘雖然羞澀但特別開心。

在南京，沙里夫吃了很多中國的食物，但她最愛吃的還是非洲的傳統食物：雞肉和面包。遠在帕泰島上的媽媽不放心女兒出這么遠的門，一天要用村子里的電話打好幾次過來。但因信號問題，經常接不上，一旦接通，母女倆就會興奮地在電話里用斯瓦希里語訴說思念之情，而沙里夫更會告訴媽媽她在中國受到了多么熱情的招待和歡迎。

9月將來中國學習中醫

這次沙里夫與林迪市市長在南京除了參加《鄭和下西洋》首映式之外，還參觀了鄭和遺址，并去凈海寺做禮拜。寺外，沙里夫堅持洗干凈腳才肯入寺。當在寺內看到古代肯尼亞向中國贈送長頸鹿的古畫時，沙里夫和市長虔誠地跪了下來，含著淚花，親吻著古畫。7月4日下午，沙里夫和市長離開南京趕往太倉，去參加當地市政府的有關活動。在回到肯尼亞之前，他們還參加了《鄭和下西洋》北京人民大會堂的首映式。9月，為圓自己的大學夢，沙里夫又來到中國，在一所大學里學習中醫。如果她能把握機會好好學習，那么她的心愿應該能夠實現：她想有一個美好的未來，讓父母過上好日子，為中肯文化交流出一份力量。我們祝福她在中國的“尋根”圓滿成功，也衷心希望她能為中肯兩國人民友誼的發展作出貢獻。

A Kenyan Girl Seeks Roots in Nanjing

By Guan Lijuan

The fleet led by Chinese explorer Zheng He arrived in East Africa six hundred years ago. Some ships ran on the rocks. Some Chinese sailors left the fleet and went to live on the land. That is how Chinese first set foot on Africa.

In July， 2005， a 19-year-old Kenyan girl named Mwamaka Shariff came to Nanjing seeking her Chinese roots. She was from Siyu village， Pate Island on the east coast of Africa. According to local legends， her family is the only family of Chinese descendants on the island.

From a poverty-stricken family， Shariff did not want to marry early like her two elder sisters when she graduated from junior high school. She wanted to have more education. A Kenyan Chinese donated money to help her go to high school after learning from the local media that she was a Chinese descendent. After her graduation from high school， she began to dream of her distant homeland. She surprised her village fellows by writing a letter to the Chinese ambassador in Nairobi. After receiving her letter， the Chinese ambassador came all the way to the island to visit her. Later， a group of Chinese television journalists came from Nanjing to shoot a documentary in Kenya marking the 600th anniversary of Zheng He’s historical journey. They came to shoot the story of Shariff. The team took a 2-hour trip across the desert to reach the village. Shariff entertained her Chinese relatives with tea made in Kenyan way. The family used to own a celadon bowl of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). But it was broken by an English archaeologist by accident in 2004.Shariff kept the broken pieces. She showed the broken pieces to Chinese visitors. Wu Jianning， the documentary director from Nanjing Television， offered to put the bowl together with an all-purpose glue. The villagers were all amazed and applauded when they witnessed the process of making broken pieces into a bowl again.

Shariff， a girl who had never traveled beyond the island， was shy when she first faced the camera and sang a native blessing song. Her voice was like the noise of a mosquito. And the song was recorded time and again until she got it right. When Wu Jianning shook hands with her， her face reddened.

But when she appeared at the premiere gala held at the Nanjing Television Studio， Shariff was not stage shy at all when facing cameras and microphones. People who came to know her during her Nanjing stay unanimously commented that the girl was brainy. She was able to say some Chinese phrases after learning them just once and her pronunciations were incredibly accurate. The deputy mayor presented a silk shawl as a gift to the Kenyan girl. Shariff loved it so much that she grudged it on small occasions. But when she came to meet the media， she put it on. She stayed in a luxurious hotel during her Nanjing visit. She had never even seen an elevator before she came to China. She managed to learn how to use devices in the bathroom in her hotel room quite efficiently after the interpreter explained just once.

When asked of her first impression of her ancestor’s homeland， she said， “China is beautiful. It has a lot of high buildings and cars. China is strong in science and technology. I hope China will give more scientific and technological assistance to Kenya in the future. Kenya has a lot of land and a large workforce. The two countries can work together since they share a long history of friendship. Chinese people are diligent and their work rhythm is fast. I want to be diligent.”

When a journalist from Nanjing Television offered to take her to do shopping， Shariff’s eyes shone. She was dazzled by a great variety of fashion clothes， and she stuck to her principle: she would buy clothes only in black and they must cover legs and hands. She spent a lot of time combing her hair every morning and changed her hair style now and then. She liked Chinese food， but her favorite was African food: chicken and bread. Her mother called her a few times a day from the public telephone of the village. The mother and the daughter were very excited when talking in Swahili.

In addition to the premiere， Shariff also visited the site of Zheng He in Nanjing and the Jinghai Temple. She knelt in front of a mural in which a giraffe was presented as a gift to Chinese in Kenya. She kissed the mural with tears. In July 3rd， she went to Taicang， where Zheng He set sail on his western voyage. In September， Shariff will come back to China and study traditional Chinese medicine in a university.

(Translated by David)