Wang Yuanyuan and Gu Sixian

SHENZHEN is recruiting 20 volunteers across the country to work in the western African nation of Togo beginning August.

Eligible applicants should be aged 20 to 35. They will work in Lome, capital of Togo, and Kara, the nation’s second-largest city, in fields that include communications, Chinese language, medicine and physical training, the information office of the city government said at a press conference yesterday.

The one-year program is part of a plan for young Chinese volunteers to serve overseas initiated by the Ministry of Commerce in 2002.

“All young Chinese with bachelor’s degrees and fluent English or French can apply for the program through www.szyouth.cn and www.sva.org.cn,” Liu Yan, secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, said.

They will be sent to Togo after a week of training in Shenzhen and each volunteer will receive US$300 a month, Liu said.

Those who perform outstandingly may also be recommended by the ministry to work in Chinese consulates in other countries.

The ministry has sent hundreds of volunteers to Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Myanmar under the program.

China promised in 2006 to send 300 young volunteers to Africa in three years to help with construction and development, Liu said.

Shenzhen established a sister relationship with Lome in 1996.