President Ma Ying-jeou praised a Burkinabe student for his fluent Mandarin and said he welcomed more young people from Taiwan's allies to take advantage of the country's scholarship program. Ma, speaking at a meeting with visiting Burkina Faso Minister of Defense Yero Boly at the Presidential Office on Monday, was referring to a student he met when attending a May 25 Africa Day celebration at Huashan Creative Park in Taipei, The student was a recipient of a Taiwan Scholarship and has been studying at Shih Chien University in Taipei for two years, Ma told Boly. 'The fluency of the student amazes everyone,' Ma said, adding that a lot of his usages are similar to that used by local people. Ma said he hopes more people can be part of the scholarship program. He also mentioned another cooperation program between Taiwan and Burkina Faso, the 'Lamp for Africa' project, which provides schoolchildren with rechargeable LED lighting kits they can charge at school and take home to use as a light source. Ma expressed his appreciation to Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore for attending his inauguration in 2008 and for supporting Taiwan by speaking up at several international events. He said the recent visit by the country's Prime Minister Tertius Zongo in early May proves the strong ties between the two countries. 