Ilham Mounssif, a foreign girl from the beautiful and ancient coastal country of Morocco, is currently a foreign teacher of Pingyang experimental middle school in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. She has always been interested in different languages and cultures, with special preference for Chinese culture. In a recent interview, she said, “I’ve been always attracted by the Chinese culture, because when I imagine the Chinese culture in tradition, I always like picture in my mind the typical dresses, that kind of music, the moves, the dances.”
In 2019, Ilham gained qualification to join the cultural ambassador program of Zhejiang Province as she wished. On the recommendation of the Education Department of Zhejiang Province, she became an international network communication cultural emissary for Wenzhou. In August 2020, she worked as a teacher in Pingyang experimental middle school and quickly integrated into the campus life, carrying out teaching with a serious attitude, designing English activities and offering a wider range of courses to broaden students' international horizons. With her cheerful personality and active participation in faculty activities, she is a good colleague in everyone's eyes.
Last year, in order to let more people know about a real China, she made time to go around Wuhan and Xi'an and some other cities to record the China’s anti-COVID-19 stories. She shared those stories on overseas social media platforms, interpreting how Chinese people joined efforts to overcome the difficulties together and helped each other thick and thin, and conveying China’s confidence in epidemic prevention and control, which has sown more seeds of mutual assistance and trust for global anti-epidemic.
Commenting on false claims about China’s anti- COVID-19 efforts, Ilham said“I was so annoyed and bored by the amount of fake news and misinformation. I couldn’t stay silent.”, “I was here in China. I saw the things from the beginning till the current situation. So me, as many others, more than anyone else, is entitled to do so”. Therefore, she introduced the first-hand China's anti-epidemic stories on Italian TV and many other overseas medias, and shared her experience under anti-epidemic measures in China, with a view of helping other countries learn from China to effectively curb the spread of the pandemic. The program received widespread attention worldwide after it was broadcast. Ilham said that the virus is the common enemy of all mankind, and unity and cooperation will become the most advantageous weapon. She upholds on sharing more successful experience of China's anti-epidemic efforts with foreign friends, and continues to debunk lies about China’s anti-epidemic efforts with what she has seen with her own eyes.
