TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan News on April 23 interviewed English teacher and YouTuber Lamin Jarjusey on the rewards and challenges of working as a professional from Africa in Taiwan.

Jarjusey moved to Taiwan from the Gambia 11 years ago after receiving a scholarship to study engineering at Kun Shan University. After completing his studies, Jarjusey decided to stay because of his Taiwanese girlfriend, the healthcare system, and the convenient lifestyle.

Although the Gambia severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2013, Jarjusey said it did not affect him directly because he obtained a scholarship with his university rather than through a government-to-government program. However, since the Gambia does not have an embassy or representative office in Taiwan, processing documents can be difficult. 

Jarjusey said there are advantages to living in Taiwan over his native country such as the transportation infrastructure, efficiency of the bureaucracy, and the prevalence of convenience stores. He said that air conditioners are a luxury in his company only seen in offices and cars driven by the wealthy. 

While pursuing his bachelor's degree, Jarjusey said he met his long-time girlfriend, who has been a major factor in his perseverance. In addition, he said he remained due to a medical condition, for which he can receive regular treatment through Taiwan's National Health Insurance. 

In the English teaching industry, Jarjusey said that he faced some discrimination as an African, but has since overcome it through his experience and network of clients. He said this is an area where he feels Taiwanese could improve, by opening their minds and “give people the opportunity to show them what they can do rather than just, judge people because of how they look.”

As he began to discover Taiwan's scenic beauty, Jarjusey was inspired by a friend to start a YouTube channel covering hot springs and waterfalls called “Funventures Taiwan,” but was frustrated by its modest following of 3,700 subscribers. After posting an interview with a friend during a camping trip, he inadvertently discovered a winning formula for his new channel introducing foreigners living in Taiwan.

Jarjusey started “Welcome to Taiwan” in 2022 and by 2023, it had risen to 11,000 subscribers. The channel has now reached 27,600 subscribers and has videos garnering up to 600,000 views. 

What brought you to Taiwan?

I didn't know anything about Taiwan. I just wanted to get out of my country to go and study, so I started looking for universities. 

A friend was here before, so he told me, “Hey, I'm in Taiwan. Why not apply for universities in Taiwan? They offer good scholarships and the weather here is similar to the Gambia." So I said, "Okay, let's give it a try.” 

I applied to some universities and got a good package at Kun Shan University. It's a technical university in Tainan.

What impact did the severing of ties between the Gambia and Taiwan have on you and your people?

There were people here on the Taiwan ICDF Scholarship, this government-to-government scholarship. So when the relationship was severed, it affected them. 

Some were even worried that they were going to be sent back to the Gambia. But some arrangements were made and those deep in their studies were allowed to stay. 

But, on a personal note, that didn't have any effect on me because I came through the school scholarship. So, I wasn't related to anything that the government had to do. So it doesn't affect me personally. 

But on other matters where you want to maybe change your passport, we don't have any embassy here. We'll have to do it right directly in the Gambia and in any issue that maybe you need, some international issues or do something from the Gambia, you have to do it directly.

The Gambia is very far away, so we'll have to keep sending our passports. If the embassy was here, if needed something, you could quickly just go to the embassy and sort it out. 

So it's one of the issues that we have to face.

What are the advantages of living and working in Taiwan over your country?

The Gambia is a third-world country, so that's one big difference. You have access to so many things here that you wouldn't have over in the Gambia. 

The road network is fantastic here compared to the Gambia, and the environment is cleaner compared to the Gambia. There are so many things I could go on and go on and go on.

Even the government, the structure of the government, how things work, if you need something in Taiwan, they'll just ask you, “This and this and this is what you need. You just get them and it's done.” 

But in the Gambia, you have to go through so many things and people will not be serious about what they're doing. People will not even pay attention to you. 

They won't take anything seriously. So it takes time to get things done. 

But in Taiwan, if you need something, it is quickly sorted out, if you get the right requirements or the right documents. 

And also in terms of just normal day-to-day living, there are stores everywhere, 7-Eleven, everywhere. We don't have those kinds of stores. 

We have small shops that sell basic needs, but it's not as well advanced as in Taiwan. 

In 7-Eleven, we have air conditioners. In the Gambia, we hardly even have air conditioners in our homes. 

You only have air conditioners in offices. And if the weather is hot, the only time you get AC is when you get into an office, or maybe a car, some rich person's car. 

Even taxis don't have AC in the Gambia. So all these things are factors that Taiwan is way better living here than in the Gambia.

Why do you wish to stay in Taiwan permanently?

At first, I didn't have any intention of staying longer. I just wanted to come get my degree and get back because I had a very good job in the Gambia. 

I was working for a telecommunication company as a senior engineer, and that was a very good opportunity. I was able to travel even while I was there, travel to China, travel to different countries to study. 

So I was okay. I needed to just get my full education, come here, study, and then go back and continue what I'm doing. Then when I came here, because of the ease of living and the ease of access to things, I thought to myself, “Okay, I did my bachelor's, I want to study further. I did my master's. At least when I get home with my master's degree, I will be able to scale up the ladder, climb up the ladder much faster and easier.”

Then during my bachelor's degree, I met my girlfriend, who is now still my girlfriend. So that's one of the factors that still keeping me here because of her and also, my lifestyle. 

I started enjoying Taiwan. I started going to places and feeling like I belonged. I've traveled almost everywhere in Taiwan.

While I was in the Gambia, I didn't go anywhere unless it was a work thing. We don't have anything like “Go to this place.” 

There are tourist sites, but Gambians don't do that. We don't travel. We don't go to places like that. 

On weekends we just stay at home, have time with our families, that's all. But while I'm here in Taiwan, I am able to travel to different places. 

And being in Taiwan, you have access to other countries around. It's easier to travel from Taiwan to other countries, but if you're in the Gambia, it's very difficult to travel around.

Even if you're in the Gambia, and you want to go to the U.S., it's very, very difficult unless you have a very, very good background. 

But in Taiwan all you need is money. You can travel anywhere you want. So one main factor that is keeping me here is the love that I found here. 

Also, I had a medical condition where I had to have surgery in Taiwan, and because of that, I still need to see a doctor every now and then, every month. So my girlfriend and my medical condition, these two together are what are really keeping me here.

What are the challenges of being an African English teacher in Taiwan?

There is a lot of stereotyping. People don't tend to know what you can do. They just see who you are and then make their judgment. 

Personally, I'm able to go through it. I'm able to get my job and I'm doing well. And even not long ago I changed my workplace, I can easily get another one because I have a lot of experience and those who I've worked with, know what I can do, so they're able to continue giving me the opportunity to continue working. 

But, if you apply to a new job, they probably will see, “Oh, he's a black guy from Africa.” So probably they'll just assume you won't be able to do a good job in teaching someone. 

That's one of the issues that maybe Black people face here. And I remember one time before I even got my first job, I applied to many different places, and I wasn't even given the opportunity to have an interview or do a demo or so. 

These are some of the things that I would feel if Taiwanese could open up their minds, and try to give people the opportunity to show them what they can do rather than just, judge people because of how they look. That will make a big difference.

Do you face discrimination in any other ways in Taiwan?

I would say no, I don't directly face any discrimination. Just sometimes people will say things to you that you can feel like it's more of ignorance. 

Just not long ago, last weekend, I was in Kaohsiung. An old guy was calling me a Negro.

At first, I asked in Mandarin, “What are you saying? Are you speaking Chinese or English?” He kept repeating the word. 

I wasn't expecting that in 2024, an old person, not a very old person. He's just a grown-up person who is still not aware of certain things. 

I thought he was saying something in Chinese, so I didn't understand and he kept repeating it. At one point, I got closer to him and he said it again. 

I then realized this guy was calling me a Negro. So the person that I was with went back to him and said, “Hey, you don't say this to people.”

I wasn't offended. I just see him as someone who is ignorant. 

There were a few encounters like that. Some people sometimes.

I was going to Taitung and a person came to me, “Hey, can I touch your skin?” I said, “Why do you have to touch my skin?”

The person said in Mandarin, “I just want to see it.” I replied in Mandarin, “What is there to see?”

So things like that, I don't easily get offended. I just feel people don't know certain things, but it's surprising that in this age people are still unaware of certain things. 

We have TVs, we have internet everywhere. So people should be able to be knowledgeable to know what is going on around the world. 

We have different races, but still. So those few encounters. But otherwise, I didn't have any real serious discrimination. I didn't encounter any.

What was your inspiration to become a YouTuber?

The YouTube thing started three or four years ago when I started going to hot springs and waterfalls, and a friend suggested to me “Since you're going out already, why not make videos and put them on YouTube also?” 

I asked, “But why do I need to put it on YouTube?” He said, “People can make a living out of YouTube, one. Two, since you are going there already, why not share it? And many people don't know these places."

I spent four years in Taiwan and I didn't know that there is something called something called a hot spring or a waterfall. It's only after I moved to the north. I started seeing these things and hearing about these things more. 

I started making videos randomly. I would just go somewhere and start shooting and taking videos and putting them out there, and people started watching them. 

I thought this seemed interesting. The more videos I put out there, the more people started subscribing and viewing my videos. 

That first channel was called “Funventures Taiwan.” It covered going to hot springs and waterfalls. 

I did that for two or three years, but it was not doing well. I would see other YouTubers who were doing the same content, but they were getting thousands of views, while I was not getting those kinds of views.

I heard as a black person, you have to work extra twice, three times harder than other people to get to the same level. But that was just a myth. 

I think if you do the right thing, people will reciprocate that to you. I went camping with this friend and he asked “What is the most asked question people ask you here? It's like, where do you come from? What do you do here? Wanna make a video and put it out there? Probably people might be interested in that too."

We were talking about why my videos were not getting a lot of views because I thought I was making very good content when I went to places. I made my videos very cinematic and I had a drone, I would fly over and show so many things and give detailed explanations, but people didn't view the videos or YouTube was not promoting them for whatever reason.

So I've had a one-to-two-minute interview with him. I asked questions such as, “Where do you come from? What do you do here? What's your name? Do you have any good or bad impressions about Taiwan?” I just posted it on one of my channels and within one day it got about 500 views.

With my other channel, it would take like a week, two, three weeks before I would get to a thousand views. I thought to myself, “Why people are watching this one instead of that one?”

I put a lot of effort into this other one rather than that one. For these interview videos, it will take a day to edit a video, but with the adventure one, it usually takes me a week to finish one video.

I tried another interview video, put it out there within two days, and it received 2,000 views. 

I did another one, and within a week it got 10,000 views. I thought to myself, “Let's do this!”

So the idea of that first one was to share what foreigners think about Taiwan. It started with “Why are you in Taiwan?” 

So I decided to share why foreigners are in Taiwan. Since Taiwanese tend to ask us “Why are you in Taiwan?” 

So I will go around on the streets and ask people, “Hey, why are you in Taiwan? What do you do here in Taiwan?” Do you have any good impressions about Taiwan or bad impressions about Taiwan?" These were the three questions that I was asking.

Since people started getting more and more interested in us, I needed to change this, to make it more informative and more knowledgeable. I would talk to people and let them share detailed information, knowledgeable information about Taiwan, and their experiences here in Taiwan. 

Before the videos were one-to-two minutes in length. Now, it's getting to more like 20-30 minutes per video because I will sit with people in a comfortable environment and we will talk in detail about things that they do here, and how they are contributing to society. 

The idea of this channel is to share how much foreigners are contributing to society. So Taiwanese can really see that, because some people just think that, “Foreigners are here just to exploit Taiwan, or foreigners are here just to use their medical insurance, or because it's just comfortable.”

But it's not only because it's comfortable, because people also have things to do, ways to contribute to society. So this is the idea of sharing. 

The other channel is to show the world how beautiful Taiwan is. So I'll go into hot springs and waterfalls and show people how beautiful the places are. 

This channel is to share what foreigners think and what they do here in Taiwan.

What's the most successful episode you've ever done, and why do you think that is?

I did a video one month ago that got about 600,000 views. That's the most successful one. 

Its title is “Taiwan is not good for foreigners anymore.” So probably people are curious about why Taiwan is not good for foreigners, but because he says he's been here for about 50 years. 

When he came to Taiwan, there were already many foreigners, and there were a lot of opportunities for foreigners to get jobs and teach in Taiwan. But what a foreigner can do basically is mainly teach or maybe have your own business. 

Few will be able to have company jobs, but not many. So that's what he means. 

Now we have so many foreigners, so there is less and less chance of getting a job in a company and also less and less English teaching jobs available. 

Because the birth rate in Taiwan is going down, we don't have many children anymore. So this reduces the amount of students, which means fewer teachers are needed. 

So this is what he meant by Taiwan is not good for foreigners anymore. Because if you're coming here to teach we're getting fewer students. 

He means that we don't have many teaching jobs available. I used the title Taiwan is not good for foreigners anymore and then it blew up.