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UPDATED: December 10, 2006 NO.44 NOV.2, 2006
Decades of Devotion
Chinese medical staff put aside their own discomfort to secure the well-being of the Mauritanian people
By XIN WAN
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The dispatch of medical corps to Mauritania by the Chinese Government was initiated in April 1968, with Heilongjiang Province in northeast China assigned the task. Over the past 38 years, more than 1,000 medical workers from Heilongjiang treated nearly 1 million patients in Mauritania. This means that two out of every five people in the country have received treatment from Chinese doctors. The most recent squad is the 27th of its kind.

In his father’s footsteps

Yang Sen is the head of the latest medical corps to Mauritania. His father Yang Fengcai, now 77 years old, was a member of the third corps to the African nation.

Despite the passing years, Yang Fengcai’s memory of practicing medicine in Mauritania is as vivid as if it had been yesterday. Although he had been informed of the climate and environment beforehand, the scene on getting off the plane surprised him. He recalled that the sand in the wind made him unable to open his eyes and that his skin stung from the scorching 40 degrees Celsius heat. While local people lived in tents, the Chinese medical squad lived in cabins in the dessert. Although the medical team was equipped with power generators, the electricity generated was to sustain medical equipment like the X-ray machine. Chinese doctors therefore set their beds outdoors at night so as to stay cooler.

The area where Yang Fengcai was stationed is one of the most poverty-stricken areas in Mauritania. “My days there were filled with operations, one after another,” said Yang. He remembered that an endless queue of patients waited at the door of his clinic every day before it opened. When there was a major outbreak of malaria and cholera, Yang had to treat over 100 patients every day. “Our medical treatment is totally free of charge,” said Yang.

At the beginning of this year, knowing his son Yang Sen applied to join the medical crew to Africa, he was very supportive.

Aid couples

Two male members of the current medical team have special feelings for Mauritania although this is their first time there. Their wives were members of previous medical teams working there.

Sui Weidong’s wife Zhang Li served as an anesthetist in the 25th medical team. When she came to the country in 2002, she left her five-year-old son at home. She would never forget her first day there. The medical crew boarded a rented coach after getting off the airplane. On the way to the clinic, the coach was hit by mountain torrents. Zhang and her colleagues had a narrow escape by crawling out of the coach and waiting on its roof. When the water was about to submerge the coach, a passing truck rescued the 20-odd crew members.

Xu Guoqiang’s wife Yi Zhihong is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, who went to Mauritania with the 24th medical team. During her two-year-odd term of service, she earned fame as a “miraculous needle doctor” by relieving pains for over 1,000 patients with acupuncture and medical massage.

Counting stars

The greatest health hazards for medical team members are not the swarms of flies or snakes that frequently crawl into their cabins, but AIDS and malaria, since they are constantly exposed to infection.

Chinese doctors have to conduct operations and baby deliveries daily, both high-risk occasions for direct exposure to HIV. During the operations on patients who are living with HIV/AIDS, doctors can be infected through the slightest wound on their hands.

In China’s big hospitals, an HIV/AIDS virus test is made before each operation, but conditions for such tests are not available in Africa. In case the gloves are punctured during an operation, doctors usually wear two pairs of rubber gloves and slow down the stitching. Due to the effective prevention, no medical team member has been affected with HIV/AIDS.

This year, a psychological therapy course was launched for medical workers to be sent to Africa. Dong Bin, who has been on aid missions to Africa four times, said the enormous changes of environment can lead to loneliness. He added that when he was in Africa, he tried to dispel the sentiment by chatting with patients and their families during the day and counting stars on sleepless nights.



 
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