Beijing Bunker: Former Miss Sierra Leone on Staying Motivated With Music

As Beijing enters its fourth week in self-quarantine, the stories of how people have been dealing with the coronavirus outbreak – by staying, leaving, or watching on from afar – are many and varied. In Beijing Bunker, we quiz Beijingers on what approach they've been taking to stay safe and sane through the ordeal.

Known to her fans as the 'Black Pearl of China,' Sierra Leonean artist Mariatu Kargbo has been working and performing in China for more than 12 years, after first finding fame on the CCTV talent show Road to the Stars. The former Miss Sierra Leone regularly tours the country, and has performed for a veritable whos-who of the top names in Chinese business and politics, including the Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, and leaders of the African states during the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Concurrent to her entertainment career, Kargbo is active in charity work, and in 2014 in partnership with Tencent and World Food Program achieved a Guinness World Record for the most contributions to a charity fundraising event in 24 hours in support of the ebola-affected countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.

We caught her just after she dropped a new song, "Come on, China!", which she wrote to support the fight against coronavirus, to see how this she has been coping. 

Would you consider yourself safe, sane, safe and sane, or other? Why?
I feel safe in China because I take the necessary precautions and follow the official guidelines.

Has the virus disrupted your travel plans or those of your loved ones?
Yes, my job has been affected because I am usually traveling around China for public performances.

How have you been spending your time since the outbreak? How has your life changed or not changed on account of the situation?
By giving back to China through simple videos on my new teaching channel called Smallsmallchinese and posting on social media on how to keep fit and safe. I am spending much more time at home, learning to be patient and quiet, which is quite new for me.

Has the situation affected your work or business? If so, how?
Yes, my work has been affected greatly as there are no big public events being held at the moment and performing in public is my main work.

Have there been any unexpected "upsides" to this whole situation?
The one upside is being able to stop and reflect on life and how lucky we are compared to many people.

Which resources (online or real-life) have proved the most useful to you during this time?
Watching TV and checking the news on my phone are both very useful for keeping up-to-date with developments both here and abroad.

What's one thing that you've done that has saved you a lot of hassle/time/insanity?
Taking regular exercise, particularly walking around my neighborhood, and noticing many things that I usually miss when driving.

What do you most look forward to doing once all of this has blown over?
Being able to go outside and film more interesting episodes for my Smallsmallchinese project, teaching people more about Chinese language and culture.